Wegmans First NYC Store Opens In Brooklyn: What You Need To Know

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN — Move over Whole Foods. Brooklyn's newest upscale supermarket, the first Wegmans in New York City, will officially invite shoppers into its Brooklyn Navy Yard this weekend.

The 74,000-square-foot grocery store on Flushing Avenue will open for the first time bright and early on Sunday, Oct. 27 after years of buzz about the popular grocer's first foray into the city.

The grocery chain has spent those years filling out its 500 person staff, getting paperwork in order for a built-in restaurant and moving in more than 50,000 items of organic food as Brooklynites anxiously watch its building rise at 21 Flushing Ave.

Now, the time has come for New Yorkers to experience the boutique grocery store —which has nearly 100 locations up and down the East Coast — for themselves.

Here's everything you need to know about the new Wegmans:

Where is it?

The Brooklyn Wegmans will take up the bottom two floors of a building the Brooklyn Navy Yard is building at 21 Flushing Ave., nearest to the Yard's Cumberland Street entrance.

The grocery store is bringing in 700 parking spaces, including a surface lot and new garage, for those that will drive to the new supermarket. The grocery store is also accessible by bike, the Navy Yard's new ferry stop and buses, like the B57, B69 or B62, which either stop next to the store or a block away. Subway stops are a bit trickier, with nearest stops on the G and B, D, N or Q trains about a mile-walk away.

What is Wegmans?

Wegmans is a family-owned grocery company that was started back in 1916. It has grown to include 99 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Massachusetts.

The supermarket is known for its homey, higher-end feel — think a larger Trader Joes — that usually includes a hot prepared food section or restaurant and its own bakery, seafood, deli and international food sections.

The company describes its bigger-than-ususal stores as having the feel of a "European open-air market."

What will it have?

The 74,000-square foot Brooklyn store will sell 60,000 products including more than 4,000 organic product, 300 varieties of cheese, and a full bar operating on the mezzanine, according to the company.

The restaurant will include everything from fresh sushi, authentic Italian pizza, and burgers, to made-to-order salads and hot soup prepared by Executive Chef Stephen De Lucia and about 157 employees. The Market Café seating area has space for nearly 100 and includes a bar serving wine, beer, cocktails, and snacks.

When will it be open?

The store will first open at 7 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 27 and will then be open daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Patch will be getting a preview tour of the new supermarket before its grand opening, so stay tuned for more photos and information.