Wegmans is coming to Charlotte
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Rendering: Courtesy of Wegmans
Wegmans Food Markets will debut its first Charlotte location in Ballantyne in 2026.
Why it matters: Charlotte grocery shoppers have been waiting for years for the New York-based chain to expand here. Wegmans is one of the nation's most popular grocers.
What to expect: Charlotte's first Wegmans will be approximately 110,000 square feet — roughly the size of two standard Harris Teeters.
- It'll have all the trappings of a typical Wegmans store, including expansive produce, meat, seafood and cheese sections, as well as a market café with indoor and outdoor seating.
- Like other stores, it'll also have an overhead circulating mechanical train and a rooster that crows on the hour.
- Wegmans will open in the third quarter of 2026 on North Community House Road on the east side of Ballantyne, a half mile from The Bowl at Ballantyne, the eat-work-play main street that's part of Northwood Investors' Ballantyne Reimagined project.
- The new store will also have a 600-plus-space parking lot, Hallie Johnston, N.C. district manager, told Axios.
Flashback: In 2019, about 3,000 people lined up on a Sunday morning before Wegmans opened the doors of its first North Carolina location in Raleigh.
- In the years since, the brand has opened stores in Chapel Hill, Morrisville and Wake Forest.
The intrigue: The Charlotte store is possible because Wegmans opened a huge new distribution center outside Richmond in 2023, Johnston said. The capabilities of that facility enable the brand to supply stores farther south.
- Wegmans is also planning to open a store in Holly Springs in 2027, she added.
What they're saying: "We opened our first store in North Carolina back in 2019 … and we heard the demand loud and clear that North Carolinians wanted a store in Charlotte." Johnston said.
- Wegmans received "hundreds of requests from locals asking for a store in their area," and the company has spent years looking for the right location, Dan Aken, VP of real estate and store planning, said in a statement.
Editor's note: We've updated this story with additional details about the store.