Tour: Wegmans - Warrington, Pennsylvania

 To wrap up our "Bizarro" week with The Market Report, we're switching places! He's covering all A&P's, and I'm covering all... er... whatever I like! So I figured I'd start the week off strong with Wegmans in Warrington, Pennsylvania. This location was built in the early 2000's (Not entirely sure) in The Shop At Valley Square, an outdoor mall built for the Warrington and neighboring Doylestown and Newtown communities. 

This is by far the largest supermarket I've ever visited. It tops out at around 140,000 square feet! My Clinton A&P was only 28,000! This particular location put a Genuardi's-turned-Giant out of business in the same town, which we will cover later this week.

One thing before we start... I am not a fan of Wegmans. It's overpriced, it's too big, and most importantly, it puts other stores out of business as if the recession hit AGAIN.

 We're not inside the store yet....

 One thing that I always liked about Wegmans was their carts... they are always pristine and easy to run... no squeaking or mismatched handles (Stop & Shop can take a hint from this.)

 One thing that I definitely missed out on here was the $1.99 cauliflower... it's $4.99 elsewhere! (Not kidding...)

 Wegmans has two sections to their store... a grocery department, roughly taking up 2/3 of the space, and a fresh foods department, taking up the remaining 1/3. This Wegmans has recently adopted a Beer & Wine department, which would've cost them around $250,000 for the license alone in Pennsylvania. Safe to say, this Wegmans is here to stay.

 Breads, breads, breads. Wegmans has a great bakery, for sure. While I don't like paying $5.50 for a Challah bread, I appreciate the quality and time put into these... you can even see them making the bread in this photo! 

 I picked up a pillow-like Italian loaf. Unfortunately Wegmans doesn't carry true Italian bread, called Ciabatta... it's must crustier. Stop & Shop gets a point for that one.

Nice lighting above the bakery! Wegmans certainly puts no budget on their stores.

I'm 100% certain all of Wegmans stores have the same decor, even if they were built 20 years ago. I don't think they're ever going to release a new store concept. The extravagant lighting system above me made it hard to get good shots of the decor.

Interesting bagels. Too bad they were almost out on a Saturday! 

I had never been to this location before this visit. I'm used to going to the Bethlehem location, which is both newer, and larger than this store. While this store was much busier than the other one (ironically, considering Bethlehem is in the heart of the Lehigh Valley), this store had barely any stock out in the fresh departments. 

Wegmans "Ultimate Cakes" are ultimately overpriced. A "smash cake" is $20! I don't usually vent about prices on this page, but it's honestly ridiculous. I'll tell you about my $40 fish dilemma later.

Chag Sameach! (Hey, I was writing this around Hanukkah last year!)  Every Wegmans store has a large Kosher section, which is a plus. 

Okay, so here's my fish dilemma. I came here for one thing-- flounder. "Fresh" flounder was $17 A POUND. I asked the clerk why it was so much. He replied "Because it's fresh, and sustain-ably harvested" I took his word for it. As soon as he handed me the 2 1/2 pounds ($40!) of flounder, I immediately noticed it was rock hard and practically frozen. Too bad I immediately gave it back to the clerk. It was an insult, honestly. Plus, I can get thawed flounder at any other supermarket for $8 a pound. Thanks Wegmans, but you need to re-evaluate your "price guarantee".

There are two wings to this store-- the fresh/cafe wing, and the grocery wing, which takes up roughly two thirds of the store.

Nice Coffee Cafe around the front here!

Entering the grocery section, I immediately register this layout as very ShopRite-esque. The Colallio Family's ShopRite in Phillipsburg, NJ has this same exact layout practically, with the pharmacy in the center of the store, instead of against a wall. 

This store tops out at THIRTY checkouts! It may seem staggering, but don't worry, the first 10 aren't open, and the last five are speedy NCR self-checkouts. The store honestly dies out on the right side of the store, where there are no entrances.

I still think this looks like ShopRite!

Odd ceiling here... it seems to be covered with some sort of insulation, but it looks like its terribly rusty and, well, moldy.

Wegmans also has a large section of non-food and seasonal items, which I like. Reasonably priced, as well. 

Wegmans has the weirdest checkouts ever. The checkout lane is in two sections, which makes it an especially lengthy checkout. It seems to slow both cashiers from bagging, and customers getting their bags. 

Wegmans is also somewhat famous for their large "Family Pack" section, where they market their bulk goods that are also sold at BJ's and Costco. 

If you're wondering why a person is sitting in the shelving here, it's because that's how ridiculously large their stock is here! 

I find this part of Wegmans to be more like Walmart than anything else. There's just so much product out on the shelves!

Just in case you didn't realize how fancy Wegmans was yet, they also have an O-gauge train circling the dairy department. 

Nice candles! Almost bought one as a gift for a friend. However, most of Wegmans products are store brand, so it kind of takes out the "I got this for you" factor, replacing it with "I picked this up at the supermarket last week". 

Here's a short clip of the train running! I wonder how they're maintained here. The track must build up dust or debris every once in awhile, and the train's motor must eventually go 

Yogurt! Plenty of it. This whole case, and the other side to the right of it, is all yogurt.

Not a fan of Wegmans. Not one bit. Good for a stock-up of Italian pastas every once in awhile, but otherwise I'll stick to Acme and Stop & Shop/Giant. Thanks.

Wegmans of Warrington

1405 N. Main St. (PA-611)

Warrington, Pennsylvania

Wegmans >