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Upper Providence Township store near Philadelphia and Patti laBelle. Courtesy Montgomery County Planning Commission. |
There is buzz about Wegmans opening their newest store in Cranberry Township in Butler County north of Pittsburgh, over by the UPMC Mario Lemieux facility (retired French Canadian Pittsburgh Penguins centre). Going the other way half as far within Alleghany County is the borough of West Mifflin, where Century III, once one of the biggest malls in the country, had been, which I heard of through a car dealership nearby. Steel and Steelers (that's as far as I go with teams!) country is dominated by Giant Eagle, Martins and Shop 'n Save, and I might like to go that way for an event in the summer. Wegmans are infamously stingey when it comes to opening new stores and only do no more than three a year, forgoing Upstate NY in recent years. They closed their store in a former JCPenney in Natick Mall outside Boston because it just didn't work, but instead, Wegmans will replace a mall. The land has been largely undeveloped since the mall closed several years ago after tenant after tenant left since the late '90s, including JCPenney, locally based Kaufmanns before the Macys merger, and a short-lived Wards. While it's normal for most areas to have a few Wegmans each, newer markets usually have less than a handful compared to legacy ones. Mixed reactions on Facebook would go from knowing the chain from out of state to it being new to them. The chains footprint in Pennsylvania would be concentrated on opposite sides of the state and Centre County. Altoona, Johnstown, York and Hanover would be overlooked. Back to West Mifflin, the new Wegmans would have to compete right across the road from Giant Eagle and Walmart. Located on PA 51 & 885. Washington Mall in South Strabane Township in Washington County would work too, since there's almost nothing left there either, while people in other parts of the northeast hold out for their own store, which one may take for granted until you have to move away (they rarely close any today). It may take until a third century before more areas ever get a Wegmans because of how picky they are, avoiding overkill and carefully planning. They're even looking at close to home, but that's for another day.
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