Chapel Hill approves location for Wegmans supermarket

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Thursday, October 26, 2017
Chapel Hill approves Wegman's project
Chapel Hill approved a location for Wegman's supermarket on Wednesday night.

CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina (WTVD) -- One of the largest and most popular grocery chains in the country just got the approval Wednesday night to start constructing a new store in Chapel Hill.

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Wegmans will go up on nearly 15 acres of US 15-501 and replace the Performance Auto Mall. It will be a 130,000 square-foot store and is expected to create the equivalent of 350 full-time jobs.

"We are pleased with our continuing success to bring more retail to our town and Orange County," said Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger. "This is the result of close collaboration among governments and valuable public input. We welcome Wegmans to our community and look forward to the benefits to come."

A look inside a Wegmans supermarket, this one in New York state.

After almost two years of planning and addressing traffic concerns, the city council unanimously approved most of the blueprints.

There still is an issue regarding what size and type of trees to plant and parking for customers and the store employees, however representatives from the New York-based Wegmans have promised to work out those concerns.

No word yet on when construction will start.

Headquartered near Rochester, N.Y., the family-owned company has 91 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, and Massachusetts