Wegmans on Amherst Street Celebrates A Decade
It's not like Wegmans needs to host a ten-year anniversary party to have a packed house. If you shop there on any given weekend, chances are you will run into friends, family, co-workers... you name it... Wegmans is a hot attraction for food-lovers all over Western New York. The grocery store even gets its fare share of Canadian visitors. Yesterday we stopped by to pick up various sundries and the place was packed. Even though Buffalo streets might not see a lot of traffic, Wegmans is a different story altogether. There were shopping cart jams at every aisle intersection. There were hands reaching over hands (politely I might add) to search out the shelves. The meat and cheese deli was a big hit... almost like a social happy hour where people congregate to talk.
Even though the number of shopping carts can sometimes be overwhelming, there never seems to be a sense of urgency, and for the most part drivers are courteous. If that weren't enough, Wegmans has mastered the art of keeping all of its checkout lanes open (hmmm, maybe the Peace Bridge could learn something from this), which means that there's not a long wait at the end of the shopping trip. And if you ever forget your Wegmans food card, don't worry... there are always a bunch of people who literally throw themselves at you to make sure your armed with one. From great subs to miniature kegs of Heineken, I'm happy to say happy anniversary to this iconic shopping haven. Now if we could just get one over at the former Latina's Market on Elmwood.
Wegmans 601 Amherst St Buffalo, NY 14207 (716) 877-0500. Open 24 hours.
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Laird3rd
We need a small grocery store where Latinas once was. Allentowners have no close place to do their shopping. Latinas was poorly run from the start and was a nasty place to have to go into. A smaller sized grocery store would do well. They should tear down the old building and move the new one right up to the sidewalk. Parking could be in the back. This would transform that whole block into a better more vibrant destination. It would be neat to perhaps see the store split up into sectional store fronts. One section would be a meat and fish market, another would be produce, another would be a bread/bakery market. Doing something new like this would make allentown a better district for all.
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al-alo
i do love wegmans. but i wish that the store had been fronted to the street. all that would have been required to front tehe building would have been to rotate the building 90 degrees. presto! access to the street and access to the parking lot via the long entry hall.
oh well. maybe when the building has been depreiciated out and has become tired and worn, and a replacement is built, theyll make the market more of a part of the street fabric.
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DumpsterKid
Well put, similar to the Wal-mart in the city discussion, why cant they build right up to the street, it would make the whole neighborhood better. You see the old photo of the first wegmans right there on the sidewalk, how hard is it to put parking in the back?
This is a great Wegmans, you get an interesting mix of people, North Buffalonians, Elmwood people, and then West side residents. Put a Wegmans in the Cobblestone district, something tells me it will do well.
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sbrof
yeah these types of properties don't need to be islands in parking. I know for a fact that this wegmans wants and needs to expand but they are probably just going to follow their corporate model and take more land intead of using it smarter.
Imagine how convenient it would be for people who live off of Amherst to take a bus down and go shopping if there was an entrance right on the street? No one wants to walk across that whole parking lot in the winter but walking out the front door onto a bus would probably be very likable for many people maybe even mean a couple percent (can't get your hopes up, this is America) might choose to shop more often for less things if transit were convenient.
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VonBeeble
Why Tear down Latina's? That makes absolutely no sense to me. They have parking in the back already. The inside of the store could definitely use a facelift, but the entire building shouldn't be torn down because you don't appreciate what is already there.
Allentowners do have a place to shop in their area. Tops on Niagara is very close. Just head down Maryland and you are there.
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Laird3rd
That huge parking lot/strip mall destroys that section of Elmwood. We could do allot better. I don't think that building has any historical significance what so ever. Anyone know what was once there?
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Hoss
I like Wegman's. It's ass ugly from the outside, but once you get in those doors... it's like a fantasy food world. I wish they had more organic produce, but other than that, it's the best. Definitely one of the finest grocery stores, next to Whole Foods, that I have shopped in my entire life.
The recent reorganization of the store doesn't make sense to me at all. But perhaps I was just set in my ways.
If they were smart, they would finance a pedestrian/bike bridge over the 198 to Buff State. It could join directly to the bike trail. This could link with the existing cycling lanes on Richmond, and bango, a lot more bike friendly connectivity.
It's only 3 miles from Allen Street to Amherst Street. Half that to Topps or the CoOp. How close does one need grocery shopping to be? I'd think a movie theatre could do well at the Latina's space.
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RisingDamp666
"I like Wegman's. It's ass ugly from the outside,..." Does this suggest that there's hope for the Convention Center after all? Turn it into a Wegman"s!
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Denizen
The Amherst St. Wegmans has been an asset to Buffalo since it opened. The store, being big-box/car-oriented in nature has a very wide customer draw--it's smack dab in the middle of the city's most prosperous neighborhoods. Because of this there is little reason for them to open another store, especially not a little ways down Elmwood where Latina's used to be, they have all the city demographic they need in their current location.
The old Latina's really needs a major renovation. It should be a much smaller grocery market with more neighborhoodly draw. Allentown really needs a decent grocery store in order to be a truly self-sustaining neighborhood.
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theskyisblue
man, i love me amherst st. wegs! it is ugly on the outside, and could be a little more pedestrian/bike friendly by having a storefront closer to the actual street... but all in all, it's my favorite grocery store in the world! [props to the coop too]
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