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Wegmans to build new regional distribution center in Virginia

Full-service facility to support supermarket chain’s southern expansion

Russell Redman

December 12, 2019

3 Min Read
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Wegmans has been adding stores in current markets and enlarging its retail footprint.Wegmans

Wegmans Food Markets plans to construct a new full-service, regional distribution center (DC) in Ashland, Va.

The $175 million project will expand the company’s East Coast distribution network to help fuel its growing retail base, which this fall passed the 100-store mark, Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans said yesterday.

In Virginia’s Hanover County, the site for the new DC is located along Sliding Hill and Ashcake Roads, off Interstate 95, in Ashland. The 1.1 million-square-foot facility is slated to begin operations in 2022 and become fully operational by the end of the year.

The Ashland DC will be Wegmans’ third regional facility, joining its Rochester and Pottsville, Pa., DCs. The company said the new site will support growth for the next decade and beyond, as it aims to open three or four new stores annually.

“This site has the right combination of everything we were looking for in terms of proximity to our stores and workforce and is located in a commonwealth that we have partnered with for many years,” Wegmans President and CEO Colleen Wegman said in a statement. “Once it’s up and running, this facility will allow us to deliver products to our southernmost stores with increased speed and freshness and will help support our growth well into the future.”

Related:Veteran Wegmans exec Jack DePeters to retire

With its expansion, Wegmans has been adding stores in current markets and enlarging its retail footprint. In late October, the supermarket chain entered the New York City market with the opening of a 74,000-square-foot store in Brooklyn. A month earlier, a 104,000-square-foot Wegmans opened its doors in Raleigh, N.C., marking the grocer’s entry into North Carolina, its southernmost store and its 100th location overall.

Upcoming new stores from Wegmans will expand its Mid-Atlantic trade area farther south and grow its presence in metropolitan New York. The retailer said it plans another five stores for the Raleigh-Durham area, including a location at Davis Drive in West Cary slated to open next year. Other North Carolina locations that have been announced include Wake Forest, Cary, Chapel Hill and Holly Springs.

A second metro New York location is expected to open in spring 2020 in Harrison, N.Y., in Westchester County. Other new stores announced by Wegmans include locations in Greenville, Del.; Rockville, Md.; Middletown, N.J; Washington, D.C. (in the former Fannie Mae campus); and Alexandria, Arcola, Reston and Tysons Corner, Va. The Tysons Corner store is due to open in 2020. The chain’s 101 stores are located in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Massachusetts.

Related:‘Wegmania’ hits NYC as Brooklyn store opens Sunday

Virginia edged out North Carolina for the new Wegmans regional DC, which will create 700 jobs. In competing for the project, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam recently traveled to Wegmans’ Rochester headquarters to meet with the company real estate and development officials.

“It’s a significant win when a business decides to create 700 full-time, well-paid jobs, and we are proud that a company of Wegmans’ stature has chosen to establish its major new operation in Hanover County,” Northam stated. “Virginia is a world-class transportation and logistics hub, and the location of this campus will greatly enhance Wegmans’ fast-growing East Coast distribution network. I was grateful for the opportunity to meet with Wegmans officials to discuss ways we can strengthen our partnership, and I look forward to the company’s continued success in the commonwealth.”

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About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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