Wegmans to Expand Allentown, Pa., Store
Wegmans Food Markets Inc. will shortly undertake an 18-month improvement project of its 108,000-square-foot Allentown, Pa., store on 3900 Tilghman Street, which originally opened in September 1998. “The Allentown store has been a gathering place for this neighborhood for over 13 years,” noted store manager Mike Kier. “It’s time to freshen up the look and expand our products and services. Our customers deserve the latest and greatest that Wegmans has to offer.”
Once complete, the expansion will require the addition of 50 full- and part-time jobs at the Tilghman Street store, which currently employs more than 700. All told, Wegmans’ three Lehigh Valley stores employ more than 1,800 people. The company has 14 stores in Pennsylvania and will open a new King of Prussia location in May.
Beginning this month, the construction process will render parts of the parking lot inaccessible to shoppers. “We are taking steps to lessen the inconvenience to our customers by asking our employees to park off-site,” said Kier. “We hope everyone will understand that the transition will be more than worth it when the store offers more choices and improved services.”
The first phase of construction will include a 15,000-square foot addition and upgrades to the building that will bring more checkout registers, new restrooms (including a family restroom), wider aisles and more parking spaces. The meat, seafood, cheese, produce, Nature’s Marketplace, dairy, floral and frozen foods departments will also be expanded
Phase II, scheduled for next year, will result in additional indoor and outdoor café seating, a larger beer offering, and upgrades to the bakery, sushi, and prepared food areas. In addition, a full-service pub, similar to what the grocery chain has in its most recent Pennsylvania stores, selling food prepared to order and wine and beer selections, will be added to the store.
Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans operates 79 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Massachusetts.