The first time I heard of Wegmans, someone — a friend, a college roommate — mentioned it in a group conversation, and the reaction went something like this: “Oh my gosh, I love that store! It’s the greatest grocery store ever. Seriously. Best. Store. Ever.” Suddenly I felt like we’d just spotted Brad Pitt: voices got shrill, heart rates sped up. Words like love and amazing and can’t live without it flew around the group. It was frenzied devotion — and all for a grocery store that I at the time had never even heard of!
It took me 10 years to visit the store, which I finally did for the first time this past weekend. Over the years I’d heard Wegmans compared to Trader Joe’s (both have extremely enthusiastic devotees) but beyond that I still knew virtually nothing about it. Could Wegmans make me into a fangirl? I was about to find out.
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