Wegmans to Enter Westchester County, N.Y.

Wegmans Food Markets Inc. has signed a purchase agreement with Normandy Real Estate Partners for a 20-acre parcel of land in Harrison, N.Y., on which the Rochester, N.Y.-based grocer will build its first store in the Empire State’s populous Westchester County.

"We look forward to the day when we can welcome customers into our Harrison store and help them make delicious, easy meals,” said Wegmans SVP of Real Estate Ralph Uttaro. “Harrison is an ideal place for us to deliver on our promise of incredible customer service, the best ingredients, restaurant-quality prepared foods and consistent low prices."

The grocer plans to build a stand-alone 125,000-square-foot store and an 8,000-square-foot complementary retail outparcel on the site, which currently houses a vacant office complex that will be torn down before construction begins.

Wegmans and Morristown, N.J.-based Normandy are jointly seeking municipal approvals for the project. According to the grocer, design plans for the store haven’t been finalized yet, and a construction timeline and projected opening date for the store won’t be worked out until all of the necessary approvals have been obtained.

Wegmans’ 46 New York state stores are in Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, the Finger Lakes and the Southern Tier region, and the company is also planning a store within the historic Brooklyn Navy Yard – its first within New York City – that’s slated to open by 2018. The rest of the chain’s 92 stores are in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Massachusetts.