Wegmans coming to town! 2798

I live near the Wegman's the opened in Cherry Hill, NJ two weeks ago. In fact, that store is a modest bike ride from where I live and no more than a five minute drive.

Wegman's is what supermarkets should all strive to be. I have shopped at other Wegman's stores before and they all appear to be run with the same customer-focused strategy.

The store near me is HUGE, but very easy to navigate and get into and out of for those who are in a hurry. The produce section has a mind boggling selection of organic and regular fresh produce with a selection that far exceeds any of the competitors in this area. Plus everything is such high quality. I went shopping there four times and each time, every tomato I saw in the beefsteak tomato bin was acceptable. I did not have to rummage through any of the produce bins to avoid defective items. What a nice treat that was!

Wegman's is known for its huge selection of prepared and pre-cooked foods, but it has a huge selection in every clbuttification of foods. For example, the Wegman's low fat bacon is wonderful and 1/3 the calories and salt of regular bacon, but with excellent bacon flavor and a very reasonable price.

There's a huge food court area where people can buy pre-cooked items such as pizza, breads, soups, sandwiches, etc. The bread and pastries are baked there. They have a section that's like a NYC style buffet where you can pick from at least 20 hot dishes and pay by how much your food weighs. There's a second floor where people can go and eat their food and relax. This area has comfortable tables and chairs, including several sofas and coffee tables where people can go and sit casually and relax while eating their lunch or dinner. The prices for regular groceries are very competitive, but the prices for the cooked foods are a bit steep, but the quality is impressive, as is the selection.

I had a day off work on Monday, so I went to Wegman's for lunch. I ended up getting a quarter pound of their tuna salad, a fresh rye roll with caraway seed, and a drink and I ate it at home. My lunch was fantastic!

They also sell very inexpensive turkey thighs that provided me with an excellent dinner. One morning for breakfast, I had a Wegman's pumpernickel bagel with some low fat Wegman's cream cheese and some sliced nova lox that I also bought there.

Wegman's offers a full range of name brand products, but I am trying their store brand products. The Wegman's pickle spears are great too.

Unlike Sandy's and Andy's experience at Wegman's, I have not found the store near me too crowded at all. I avoided the store on opening day. The second day that the Wegman's near me was opened, I stopped by around 5:00pm after work and I had no problem with the crowds. The store was packed and yet I had plenty of room to walk through the store to explore it and when I went to check out, I was finished in two or three minutes, tops.

What's weird about the Wegman's near me is the parking lot. This parking lot is shared by the other stores in the same strip mall, most of which are still under construction. For some reason, the Cherry Hill Township police department has decided to put up speed traps IN the parking lot. As I drove through the parking lot from the end opposite of where the Wegman's is located, I found one cop hiding by the entrance, another one about midway to the Wegman's, and a third hiding off to the side of the Wegman's. On a different visit, I saw a cop with its emergency lights blinking while it was parked outside the Best Buy that is still under construction and which looks like it won't open until at least November. There's a ShopRite less than half a mile away on the same tract of land that opened a few years ago in another strip mall and I don't recall ever seeing cops set up speed traps there. Fortunately, I am observant and I observe the speed limit so this did not pose a problem for me.