4 insanely extra things inside Charlotte's first Wegmans
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Northeast grocery chain Wegmans expects fans to line up when its massive Ballantyne store opens Oct. 14 at 9am.
Why it matters: This isn't just any supermarket. It's what Wegmans calls an "animated" shopping experience, with workers cracking cheese wheels and rolling sushi for an audience.
The big picture: Grocers increasingly need reasons to lure customers away from Instacart and Amazon so they shop in person and stay long enough to pick up more items than what's on their list.
The 110,000-square-foot shop features:
- Self-serve coffee
- Subs, pizzas and a wing bar
- Chef-inspired bowls, each with 20-40 grams of protein
- A seafood pod with fish cut daily
- Ready-to-cook meals
But those are just the basics.
Here are four of the most unique offerings you'll find inside the Ballantyne Wegmans:
1. An outdoor kids' play area with beer for the parents.
Forget the brewery. The newest place to bring the kids and drink a beer is Wegmans.
- This is the first Wegmans to test the amenity.
- It will have artificial turf for the children to play and a covered patio for adults to hang out, plus a mobile bar cart with single-serve beer and wine.
2. Chefs performatively rolling sushi and cracking Parmesan wheels.
Shoppers can stop and watch chefs roll their sushi to order. Around the corner, employees crack 80- to 90-pound wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano.
- Wegmans' cheese shop will feature more than 400 varieties, most wrapped in-house. Customers will also find pre-made charcuterie boards.
- "Anywhere else, you're not going to find that level of dedication to cheese," says JP Prinzivalli, the store's service area manager.
3. A French-inspired market and Ballantyne-exclusive grill.
A French-inspired cafe within Wegmans will resemble more of an open market than a traditional grocery store. Workers will prepare sandwiches and salads made to order. There will be 180 seats indoors and 106 outdoors.
- Plus, the Ballantyne store will be just the second Wegmans to introduce the "Market Grill."
- "We continue to innovate and try different things to see what will work," Prinzivalli says.
- Customers will order from a menu using QR codes and have food delivered to their table.
4. "Cookie Land" with 40 to 50 self-serve cookie options.
Enough said.
Let's take a look around.
