Wegmans Food Markets is expecting a huge turnout for the Oct. 14 opening of its Charlotte, North Carolina, store, the Rochester-based chain’s southernmost location.
So much so that it will allow overnight tailgating in the store parking lot on Oct. 13, bringing in not only staff to oversee the festivities but portable restrooms and handwashing stations for participants, the company confirmed Sept. 28.
The plans are based on “excitement from locals,” a spokesperson said.
As the opening nears, the enthusiasm is apparent in a Facebook group called Bring Wegmans to Charlotte, which has nearly 9,000 members.
Recently, someone asked other members what they planned to wear on the big day to welcome “the King of Grocers.”
A South Carolina woman wrote that
she misses Wegmans garlic Tuscan bread so much since moving from Ithaca that she has driven to Wegmans’ Raleigh store to buy it.
Another commenter shared a photo of an old vanity license plate reading WEGMANS.
Wegmans is so "blown away" by the group's excitement over the Oct. 14 opening that it is running a contest in which the winners will get to tour the store on Oct. 8.
About Wegmans' new Charlotte, NC, store
Located in Charlotte’s Ballantyne neighborhood at 11550 North Community House Road, this is Wegmans’ fifth store in the Tar Heel State and is less than a half mile from mixed-use development The Bowl at Ballantyne, which includes a luxury apartment tower, retail shops, restaurants and entertainment options.
Spread over 110,000 square feet, the Ballantyne Wegmans will have all the traditional departments — produce, seafood, meat, bakery, deli and cheese — as well as prepared foods, Meals2Go and a large beer and wine section.
Wegmans collaborated with real estate firm Northwood Office to secure the Charlotte location. When plans were announced in 2024, Clifton Coble, Northwood’s senior vice president of development said: “As we’ve continued to enhance the offerings all across Ballantyne, we’ve seen the need for a more experiential grocer in the community. Wegmans, of course, was top of mind. We recognize how beloved it is throughout the East Coast and North Carolina and are ecstatic for it to join our tenant mix.”
Wegmans’ other North Carolina stores are in Chapel Hill, Raleigh, West Cary and Wake Forest.
The Ballantyne store will employ 450 full- and part-time employees.
The company, which has 114 stores in nine eastern states and the District of Columbia, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016. It has been named one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For by Fortune for 29 consecutive years, ranking No. 5 in 2026.
Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers the grocery business and consumer-focused grocery news, as well as retail development, openings and closings. Send story tips to mgreenwo@rocheste.gannett.com. Follow her on X @MarciaGreenwood.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Wegmans allows overnight tailgating for North Carolina store opening
