Wegmans, an upscale grocery store, will open a location in fall 2008 in the 245-acre Woodmore Towne Centre development soon to begin construction in Glenarden.
“It’s a great day in Prince George’s because Wegmans is here,” County Executive Jack Johnson said at a noontime news conference held Thursday at the County Administration Building in Upper Marlboro. Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich and Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, joined Jackson for the announcement.
Landing Wegmans is considered a coup for the county, which has struggled to convince upscale retailers to locate within its borders. Glenarden’s 140,000-square-foot Wegmans will be the second Maryland store for the Rochester, N.Y.-based chain and its fourth in the Washington region, joining locations in Dulles and Fairfax. The store is also the first anchor retailer to announce its move to the Woodmore Towne Centre development, which combines hotel, office, residential and retail space just northeast of the intersection of Maryland 202 and the Capital Beltway near FedEx Field and Largo Town Center.
The lead developer of Woodmore said Wegmans signing a lease is just the first step toward landing more major upscale retailers in the county.
“It is a county that’s brutally underserved by high-end retail,” said Walt Petrie of Petrie Ross Ventures. “It’s ridiculous and it’s going to change.”
Petrie said Wegmans is a good base to start from and predicted more “exciting news” but told conference attendees that they’d have to be patient.
Sylvia Lucas was waiting Thursday afternoon outside the Shoppers Food Warehouse in Largo Town Center, about two miles from where Woodmore and Wegmans will be built.
The Forestville woman said she had never heard of the chain and said neither she nor her husband would likely abandon their usual trips to Safeway or Giant to shop for gourmet items at Wegmans.
“It will be good for the eyes,” Lucas said. “But, in terms of paying for it, not me.”
Facts about Glenarden City
» 2000: Population 6,318, according to U.S. census
» 2006: No full-service grocery stores; Woodmore project will account for 29.5 percent of city’s total acreage
