Adventures in shopping

There are some things that are overwhelming, such as seeing the ocean for the first time, or gazing on the Grand Canyon, or hearing a symphony in person. Or visiting a Wegmans.

Most of the planet has never visited a Wegmans, which at this point are concentrated in a small strip running from Massachusetts to Virginia. A regular supermarket is to a Wegmans much as a gas can is to a supertanker: same basic idea, but vastly different scale. Just the lunch area at a Wegmans is often larger than an entire supermarket anywhere else. Or, possibly, Delaware.

But size is not the only consideration; there is also breadth, or scope, or something. Into the “something” category, we offer Exhibit A,

Given the two choices offered, I’ll go with Hair Color.

in which the brightly lighted, brightly colored shelves offer some interesting choices, according to the signage.

Wegmans excels at specialty foods, having a very generous gluten-free food section, for example, and “ethnic” food that seems to encompass all the continents except Antarctica. Given the gradually rising average age of the U.S. population, it is not surprising that Wegmans caters to this audience, too, but few stores offer aging customers food that is also aging:

Salt and pepper squid: will Grecian Formula help?

Come to think of it, I’m not sure Antarctica is overlooked. There may be some krill back there in the fish department…

About Lawrence Charters

I started life as a child.