Wegmans will support overnight tailgating before its massive Charlotte store opens October 14, answering years of local requests for the East Coast grocer.
The Sun reported that Wegmans Food Markets is preparing a 110,000-square-foot location on the Ballantyne campus in Charlotte, North Carolina, with shoppers allowed inside at 9 a.m. local time on opening day.
Staff will oversee festivities the night of October 13. The company is supporting overnight tailgating and arranging portable restrooms and hand-washing stations as crowds gather early.
Traffic plans are being coordinated with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. More than 450 full-time and part-time jobs are tied to the store, and hiring is still underway.
Company leaders framed the Charlotte arrival as the payoff after years of hunting for the right site. Dan Aken, Wegmans vice president of real estate and store planning, pointed to steady pressure from shoppers in the area.
"We've received hundreds of requests from locals asking for a store in their area, and we've spent years looking for exactly the right location. We're thrilled to bring the Wegmans experience to this community."
Aken also tied the project to the chain's recent footprint in the state.
"Four years after opening our first store in North Carolina, we're excited to announce that Wegmans is coming to Charlotte."
That is the free market in plain view. Customers asked. A private grocer spent years on site selection. Jobs followed.
Clifton Coble, senior vice president of development for the Northwood Office, said the Ballantyne mix still needed a stronger grocery draw as other offerings expanded across the campus.
"As we've continued to enhance the offerings all across Ballantyne, we've seen the need for a more experiential grocer in the community. Wegmans, of course, was top of mind. We recognize how beloved it is throughout the East Coast and North Carolina and are ecstatic for it to join our tenant mix."
Wegmans has long competed in the same premium lane as Whole Foods Market, with large-format stores, prepared foods, and beer and wine service. Charlotte is next. Holly Springs, North Carolina, is listed for another store soon, and customers in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, are also in line for a location.
Older stores are being renovated or replaced as the chain grows. Rival grocers are moving too. Aldi has kept up a mass expansion push, including a recently confirmed $2.75 million store, while Hy-Vee has poured money into technology meant to speed up checkout lines.
Overnight lines outside a supermarket are uncommon. Wegmans is treating the Charlotte debut like a major event anyway, staff on site overnight, basic sanitation set up for campers, and police help on traffic so the first morning does not turn into gridlock.
Shoppers who want in at the start will show up hours early. The company is not pretending otherwise. It is planning for the rush instead of hoping it stays polite.
For a city that spent years asking for this banner, the message is simple enough. Private investment still answers demand when the location, the payroll, and the product line line up.
When a grocer draws a tailgate before the doors open, that is customers voting with their time, and a company willing to meet them there.