Western New Yorkers in Charlotte feel at home with new Wegmans

Charlotte, N.C. (WBEN) - In a city that several Western New York transplants now call home, Wednesday was a day many were eagerly waiting for.

The residents of Charlotte, N.C. opened the first area Wegmans on Wednesday in style. So much so, people were camping out and tailgating in order to be the first ones through the door.

"People camped out overnight, they got there at 5 o'clock yesterday [afternoon] to be first in line for this store," said Joe Bruno, reporter with WSOC-TV in Charlotte. "And it's not like the store was offering gift cards or like free groceries for a year. They did this for the love of the game. They were just so excited that Wegmans was opening up here in Charlotte.

"We got there at 4:30, and someone came up to me and said, 'Ah, you just missed breakfast.' And I'm like, 'Breakfast?!' They had a table set up, I smelled maple syrup. I didn't have any, so I guess they were making pancakes this morning. But there were other people that brought lawn chairs, they were tailgating in the parking lot."

And for many of the people tailgating and awaiting the store's opening, they were sporting their Bills and other Upstate New York team colors.

"I mean, the first people in line had a sign that literally said, 'Go Bills!', and they brought a Bills flag to the opening. So there is a ton of Bills love down here, especially among the early goers of the Wegmans," Bruno noted during his appearance with Joe Beamer on WBEN.

"I talked to the sixth or seventh person in line, who also was from Upstate New York, and he said, 'If you have to ask why I'm here, then you don't really know Wegmans.' And I'm like, 'I know Wegmans. I understand.' I still feel like it's a reasonable question. And there were kids that called out of school. There was a woman who self-proclaimed herself 'Miss Wegmans', and she had a tiara and like a a stash, and she was out here. There were drones flying over the parking lot taking video of this. It was a real spectacle, let me tell you."

And with the crowd arriving in droves, the doors actually opened an hour early for customers at 8 a.m.

"Once inside, it wasn't even pandemonium. You just had to take a step back and just look around for a second and say, 'OK, explore,'" said Laurie Thornburg, originally from Rochester. "And we took our time, and you just had to pack your patience. Once everybody was in the store, some areas like the sub area and the pizza area and all the prepared food area, that was very crowded, and you just have to be patient and wait your turn. Everybody did that in that store today, and it just was such a positive experience."

When John Kotrides arrived at the new Wegmans, he says the entire store was filled with people in Buffalo gear.

"You couldn't walk 10 feet without somebody saying 'Go Bills!' The place was absolutely mobbed, filled to the brim, but everybody was so happy to be there. It was so cool," said Kotrides in an interview with WBEN.

For those from Western New York visiting the new Wegmans in Charlotte, seeing people tailgating and camping out before it opening is not entirely surprising.

"My parents are from the Rochester area, so when we were kids and we would visit my grandparents, that was the local grocery store. So there's an element of, 'This is old hat,'" said Laura Hollister, who was also a former employee at Wegmans. "But I also think today, people are looking for joy in all of the areas that they can. And Wegmans is a really good company that people trust and is bringing excitement to the area and a lot of jobs and all that stuff. And people are just looking for opportunities to celebrate, and it builds community."

"There are some people that are originally from here, and their comments have been, 'Well, it's just a grocery store. What's the big deal?' They will just have to experience it on their own because, for me, it's not just a grocery store. It's a whole experience," added Thornburg. "Every single department person that we talked to, they were very personable, and they knew exactly about the product they were representing, and they were willing to answer questions. I'm not saying the stores here are not like that, because they are. I just know from being a part of Wegmans my entire life, I had no doubt that it was gonna feel that this is the norm for them."

Many Western New Yorkers share the same sentiment that the Wegmans experience is more than just about going to the grocery store.

"There were people from Buffalo that brought their local friends there to show it to them. And one woman I talked to said, 'I drove 45 minutes to come to a grocery store, and I didn't get it until we got here,'" Kotrides said. "From the flowers to the cheese selection to the olive selection to the subs that they sell, being able to share it with the people that maybe have never experienced it, it's something completely different, even for them to experience."

"It feels kind of like a sports team, like the Buffalo Bills. You all go for this common goal of supporting this grocery store. It is crazy, but I like it. I think it is a good thing for the community," added Hollister. "And sometimes I worry about big events being a crowd crush risk or people getting run over by the cart. My grandma's gonna come with us this afternoon, and she's 92-years-old in a wheelchair, and I have zero worries about her safety because the community is caring and kind and strong. And everybody at Wegmans, they just want to enjoy Wegmans together."

Perhaps the biggest perk of a new Wegmans for the Western New Yorkers living in the Charlotte area is the ability to feel that much closer to home.

"When we visit Rochester, when we visit Buffalo, we stop at Wegmans first - like it's a member of the family - in order to grab those things that mean home to us. It's everything to have that down here now," Kotrides said. "You walk in - I don't know how else to say it - it smells like Wegmans. The apples are sourced from Upstate New York. Everything just feels like home. Everyone in there was smiling. You could tell person-after-person felt it."

"I've been here for 10 years, and yes, I have gone back home to Rochester, because I still have family and friends there. But now I won't have to hop on a plane to go to Wegmans or drive to Raleigh, two or three hours away, to get the things that I miss so much from home - first and foremost being the Zweigel hot dogs and the Bison french onion dip and the apple crumb pie. All the things that they were here, but were just not like home," Thornburg added.