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Since it opened, we've started doing our weekly shopping at the Chapel Hill Wegmans, except for produce (which we get largely at Weaver Street Market). I had an odd experience the other day at Weaver St. The fellow at the check out said he was seeing me less often, and I said that we're shopping more at Wegmans. Another shopper said, "Wow, I wish I could afford to do that!"
But we did some price comparisons before we switched and for many items, Wegmans costs a lot less. Rice milk, soy milk, carrot juice, organic chicken, eggs. And their fish counter is fabulous.
I looked around the parking lot the other day and Wegmans did seem to have a preponderance of luxury cars (four out of seven in one row were Mercs and another a Lexus).
I would say yeah a little bit. Definitely not as middle-American as Food Lion.
I also don't like it, so I might not be the best judge. Went once a few months after it opened when things had had time to settle down and found it to be a very loud and unpleasant shopping experience.
That place is all about the image or perhaps its the "shopping experience."
I have shopped twice at the one on Davis since I got here. This is the first Wegman's that I've seen. I was impressed at first, until the baked items went bad early and the take home food was really not much better than something you'd get from Food Lion. I'll give them credit for their presentation, but after really giving it a good examination, I dont think I'd do my shopping there on the regular. Certain things seem to be on par with most of the other grocery stores. Junk food is about the same price, and 80/20ish hamburger was 3.29/lb, but I think Costco still has better quality beef and chicken. I wouldn't buy pork from a large retailer since quality has gone down a lot since they've let them do "self-inspection" and speed up the processing lines. Beef is headed in that direction too. There is a lot of Wegmans-branded stuff there that is very mediocre. I think Whole Paycheck is still better for niche items, even after the Amazonian invasion.
The Wegmans branded grocery items are of pretty good quality and a fair price compared to other grocery stores. If you spend most of your time on the left side of the store and away from the prepared food side, you'll be just fine.
The Wegmans branded grocery items are of pretty good quality and a fair price compared to other grocery stores.
I have been pretty happy with just about all of the Wegman branded items I have tried. The only brand name I prefer so far is Skippy's vs their peanut butter. I think their box of pasta and jar of sauce for under $1.50 is just fine.
I've been shopping at Wegman's since '02 (in NJ). Not being one to shop at multiple grocery stores, I find Wegmans to be overall satisfactory price wise, quality and selection. Now I shop at one in Alexandria (where family lives) or we drive up to Raleigh on occasion.
I think Fresh Market caters more to the "luxury" market.
I don't see Wegmans as a luxury store and I haven't noticed a plethora of fancy cars at either the Chapel Hill or Morrisville/Cary location. I do think the prices are very comparable and often cheaper than what you'd find at Harris Teeter, which I understand has really taken a financial hit at stores near the new Wegmans. I've found that the customer service as well as the variety of foods are much better than what I've gotten recently at Harris Teeter, which in my opinion really has gone downhill ever since Kroger took over ownership.
I have been to CH store once and was a bit overwhelmed with the amount of food, and the sqft. I do not need to walk a stadium size place to grocery shop. I'll stick with Durham Co-op, HT and Fresh Market. I find really rare and quality fine food in Fresh Market, Durham Co-op/Weaver Street for produce + food items, and Harris Teeter for everything in between. I did like Wegman's deli section though. It was pretty impressive. They had jamon iberico for about $100 per lb. They had really good stuff directly imported from Italy. The cheese section was pretty good as well. I didn't spent much time in beer/wine (is there one, I can't remember?). I remember someone told me here it wasn't comparable to Austin's Central Market. I agree. Central Market is a mix of Whole Food and Weaver Street type of store. Wegman felt like it is just a glorified Kroger/Harris Teeter.
EDIT. I didn't buy the deli product mentioned above... just looked at them. They looked delicious. So did cheese.
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