IT’S ‘WEGMAN-IA!’
Fans flock to Astor Pl. store
Jordan White, a professional chef by trade, woke up at 2:30 Wednesday morning in order to be the first customer to enter the brand new Wegmans food market by Astor Place at 8:45 a.m. — 15 minutes before its scheduled opening.
Walking into the space, along with other Wegman-iacs who lined up around the block to get in, White was greeted by the store’s staff who — showing excitement for the long-awaited opening — had just finished a loud cheer: “W-E-G-M-A-N-S, what does that spell? Wegmans! One more time! Wegmans!”
“When I heard they were opening the one on Astor Place, I was like, ‘I gotta check it out,’ ” White, 31, who aptly wore a University of Rochester sweatshirt — not only the school he attended but also his hometown and that of the Wegmans brand — told The Post while still in line outside the door, where he had waited since 4 a.m.
‘Overwhelmed’
Plenty of others wanted to check it out as well. One shopper quipped, “I’m getting overwhelmed!”
The grocery giant announced the Oct. 18 debut in July.
That bit of information came almost exactly two years after Wegmans made headlines for announcing it would open its second New York City location — and its first-ever Manhattan market — in the former Kmart space.
However, store-related gossip on Reddit preceded official news of that summer 2021 update.
On a New York City subreddit, and on the heels of reports that a “first-class regional grocer” would move into the shuttered Kmart, a well-informed snoop spilled the beans that Wegmans would be the new tenant, although nothing at that time had been confirmed by the company.
“I’d be so happy if this is true,” said one commenter on that 2021 post, with another chiming in saying, “My love for Wegmans is eternal.”
White, who said he had previously worked at a Wegmans in the sushi section, can agree.
“I moved here in 2016 and I didn’t really feel comfortable shopping at other [stores] because it just didn’t feel right,” he said.
“I knew they were opening one in Brooklyn, but that was in 2019. Up until that point, I was kind of struggling to find one location where I could get the majority of my groceries.”
Now, fans of the upstate brand have another location within city limits — not to mention one within much easier reach, at least with regards to subway access.
This new two-level, 87,500square-foot store, at 770 Broadway, is located steps from the R, W trains at Eighth Street and 6 trains at Astor Place — and just under 10 blocks south of the Union Square station.