Owings Mills was the place to be Sunday morning, as the popular grocery store Wegmans opened its 91st location. The new store, located in the Foundry Row shopping center, is the Rochester-based chain’s eighth in Maryland and second in Baltimore County; a Hunt Valley location opened in 2005.
For both the uninitiated and Wegmans veterans, the new store will be a treat: it’s not quite like other grocery stores. At 109,000 square feet, with high ceilings, a large prepared food section and a casual in-house restaurant serving salads, sandwiches, burgers, coffee, smoothies and breakfast foods, it has a look and feel all its own.
Two days before the grand opening, the store was bustling in every department, as employees stocked shelves, tidied aisles and, in the restaurants, practiced for the opening by serving staff lunches.
This Wegmans location will employ about 475 people, nearly all of whom came from the area. About 50 employees chose to move to this location from other stores.
The restaurant is likely to prove a draw for shoppers and the neighborhood. There are seats for about 300 guests grabbing prepared food or ordering from the restaurant, which is set up in a fast-casual, takeaway format. Dubbed The Burger Bar, its menu includes all kinds of goodies that are cooked to order (but quick). Burger fans won’t want to miss the Maple Onion Bacon Burger, a thick burger that gets a nice kick from chipotle aioli.
Attached to The Burger Bar, The Buzz coffee shop serves excellent coffee, including Nitro Cold Brew on tap. Coffee geeks love the preparation, which is poured from a nitrogen-infused keg, settling in the glass like a pint of Guinness. The end result is creamy and smooth, without any hint of acid.
A huge section of Wegmans is dedicated to prepared foods ready for takeaway and specialty items; the cheese section alone is worth a drive. But the store is also good for “regular” grocery shopping and for buying items in bulk. The store offers all the standards you’d expect from a supermarket, from produce (some of which is local) to meat, seafood, bakery items and dry goods. In all, the store carries about 65,000 products, including about 3,000 organic items.
This location of Wegmans also carries some locally-produced items, which are easy to spot underneath their Maryland flag banners. Also easy to spot are the shop’s 8,000+ Kosher items, which are marked with blue “Kosher” labels.
If the popularity of the Hunt Valley location is any indication, the new Owings Mills Wegmans will likely be a hit from the second it opens its doors. It’s an exciting addition to the Owings Mills community. Wegmans isn’t just your run of the mill grocery store. It’s something special.
Wegman’s is located in Foundry Row, at 10100 Reisterstown Road, Owings Mills
Stopped in on Opening day. I wish that you would have provided a map because this location is not set-up like the one in Hunt Valley. Also I kept searching for one item that is a staple in my diet….Whole Wheat Coco Pop Cakes. One of the workers told me that this item was not available in your store…I was very disappointed..