A Look Inside Norwalk's New Wegmans Grocery Store Opening This Week: PHOTOS

NORWALK, CT — After years of anticipation since it was announced back in 2022, Connecticut's first Wegmans grocery store is finally set to open its doors to the public in Norwalk this week.

Located at 675 Connecticut Avenue, the family owned and operated store chain held a media preview of the brand new Norwalk store Monday ahead of its grand opening scheduled for Wednesday morning.

According to Store Manager Emily Gee, the Norwalk store is not only the chain's first Connecticut location, but also its 114th store overall. Once open, Connecticut will become the ninth state in which Wegmans has opened a store.

For Gee, who has been with the company for nearly 20 years, working for Wegmans has been her first and only job.

She began her career as a part-time cashier in one of the chain's upstate New York stores and most recently served as a store manager in Harrison, N.Y., before leading the new Norwalk store.

"I fully admit I didn't think that was going to be the case when I first joined," Gee said, "but I really did fall in love with the company and the values and all the opportunities to learn and grow."

Gee said the process leading up to this week's opening has gone smoothly and the store has hired over 500 employees since August.

"We've been working on this for the last year and a half," Gee said, "so being this close to opening and just seeing all of the pieces come together is really rewarding and just exciting."

According to Gee, Wegmans has been trying to open a store in Connecticut for the past 25 years, and both the size of the space and the surrounding community factored into their decision to open in Norwalk.

"We look for a lot of different things. Our stores are big...so we need a lot of space," Gee said. "We look at population density, accessibility to our customers. We want to be able to get in and out and make sure that they have a smooth time. We do have three entrances here, so hopefully that will help alleviate some of the pressure on Connecticut Avenue. You can get in off of Connecticut Avenue, Keeler Avenue and Richards Avenue, making it easy for customers to come do their shopping."

Around the Store

The massive Norwalk location offers something for everyone, with an emphasis on creating a fun journey and experience for customers as they shop.

"We want people to look forward to their shopping experience," Gee said. "I know some people can be like 'oh, I've got to go grocery shopping,' but we want you to be like 'yes, I get to go to Wegmans today!' That's what we're looking for. We want you to have a good time and have a great experience when you're here."

The store features a number of exciting stations, including a bakery, deli, floral, meat, cheese, seafood, sushi and even a "charcuterie" section.

The store also offers a wide selection of Gold Pan meals, ready-to-cook meal options that can be cooked in minutes with unique options ranging from salmon teriyaki to garlic parmesan chicken.

"Depending on what you like, there's something for everybody," Gee said. "During this busy time, they've been a staple. Just pop them in the oven. No mess, no stress, and they're high protein. I love them."

The Norwalk store also sells meal "bowls" that can be purchased cold and pre-packaged or ordered fresh at the store.

"With our signature bowl program, we wanted to have it like more of a complete meal," Logan Charp, one of the store's sous chefs, said. "Each bowl is going to have around 20 to 40 grams of protein...and a full serving of vegetables as well."

Some of the store's wide selection of cheeses are stored in a manner designed to recreate the environment of the company's temperature controlled "cheese cave" in Rochester, N.Y., using steam to keep the display case moist and ripen the cheeses to ensure they remain at peak perfection.

While the 92,000-square-foot space is notably large, the store's large team of employees are eager to answer any questions customers may have.

Employee Ann Carideo said the company takes care of its employees, and that in turn creates a great environment for customers.

"I guess because [employees] are treated so well, they're usually pretty happy," Carideo said, "so it's generally a really good experience where they try to go the extra mile to help out the customer."

According to Gee, the company is eager to serve the Norwalk community, which has been incredibly supportive of Wegmans opening its first Connecticut store in town.

"I think making a difference in every community that we serve is one of our core values as a company," Gee said, "and the Norwalk community has been nothing but supportive and welcoming. Everywhere we go, every event we've been to, we just get the overall excitement, so I think based on the amount of space we have to build a store along with the great community, it was a home run."

Wegmans will open in the busy Connecticut Avenue area of the city, where a number of new businesses are set to open this summer.

In June, Target announced plans to open its first Norwalk location on Aug. 17 right near Wegmans at 680 Connecticut Avenue.

Popular golf retailer PGA TOUR Superstore also recently announced the company's first Connecticut location is set to open Aug. 16 at 51 Richards Avenue.

"I would say the more people that we can draw to this area the better," Gee said. "We're just looking to help customers make easy meal solutions and have a great experience while they're here in the store and enjoy all the hard work that's gone into putting this place together over the last year and a half."