After months of anticipation, the first Wegmans supermarket finally opened in Brooklyn a few weeks ago. This was amazing news and lots of excited people came out for the opening day. I first learned about Wegmans when I attended college at Syracuse University which is in upstate New York where Wegmans is hugely popular. Never mind the bars or going to the mall, my college friends and I went to Wegmans to hang out! We loved eating their prepared foods and stocking up on snacks for our dorm rooms. It's was also a hint of independence as it was the first time that I was probably in a grocery store buying for myself rather than tagging along with my parents.
I have very clear memories of going grocery shopping with my Mom and sister in Marlboro, Massachusetts where I grew up. This was the early 80's and we went to the local Big D. I can still picture what was in each aisle...starting in the meat section which ended at the deli counter where sometimes we got a free piece of cheese to snack on. We rounded the corner at the individual candy bins and I would look longingly at the sweet treats rather than the produce section which was ironically right behind it. I remember the fresh bread smell of the bakery aisle, the coldness of the frozen section, and all the sugary cereals in bright colored boxes right at my eye level. We would get to the checkout and my mother would always put the price tag up to make it easier for the cashier (these were the days before scanners!) and she would always try to guess the total by doing some quick addition in her head.
As a kid, it was such a familiar routine to go to the grocery store. And I think that familiarity is what I craved by going to the new Wegmans since it brought back fond memories of my college days. Now as an adult, I dread grocery shopping at my local non-Wegmans supermarket. Even though I have the store's layout memorized, it just doesn't have the charm of Wegmans or the old school memories of the Big D.