Customers shop at the salad bar for lunch at the Market Cafe in the Wegmans grocery store in Fairfax, Va., Thursday, May 27, 2010. The prepared supermarket food available today is a far cry from the modest offerings of fresh coffee, potato salad and …
NEW YORK (AP) — New Yorkers are flocking to greet a new arrival to the city — Wegmans grocery store.
The popular regional chain officially opened its first New York City outpost Sunday, a 74,000-square-foot (6,875-sq. meter) store at the Brooklyn Navy Yard with more than 500 employees.
Despite the rain, crowds turned out Sunday to take a look at a selection the company says includes almost 50,000 items.
Aside from groceries, the store offers a range of food options, including sushi, pizza and buffet bars, and has a bar serving alcohol in the cafe.
The new Brooklyn outpost is the 101st store for Wegmans, which was founded over a century ago in Rochester, New York, and is still family-owned.
At least one well-known Brooklyn native was glad to see the store come to the borough.
"It's an amazing supermarket, it's clean, it's beautiful, it's moderately priced and they treat the workers very nicely so I'm looking forward to it being in Brooklyn," said Sen. Charles Schumer.
The Navy Yard location is accessible by a number of transportation modes, including subway and ferry, and also has a number of spaces for drivers to park.
There are plans to have a grocery delivery service offered through the new location by the end of the month.
Wegmans has more than 40 stores in other parts of New York state, as well as store locations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina.
Another store is being planned for Westchester County.