"Growing up, you couldn't go to Wegmans without running into someone you know," said Phillips. "It was like a social hub in addition to being a grocery store."
Wegmans is on the smaller side of grocery chains and mostly exists outside of major cities. This feature might be what makes the chain feel like a part of home instead of a regular store to pick up groceries.
"Wegmans was always simply just a part of our lives," said McDonald. "Mom saying 'I'm running up to Wegmans!' was an almost-daily occurrence. Dad asking if I wanted to ride with him to Wegmans to get ice cream at 9:00 pm on a Saturday night wasn't anything unusual and became a very special time for us."
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Lawrence actually met her her boyfriend of seven years at a Wegmans when she was working at the store as a teenager. Her boyfriend delivered Pepsi to her store location and they became friends and eventually started dating.
"It is all thanks to Wegmans," she said. "If I weren't an employee there who knows if I would have ever met the love of my life!"
For many Wegmans lovers, the store is more than a place to buy groceries. There is something intangible about the chain that endears it in the hearts of its shoppers.
As McDonald put it, "Wegmans just simply knows how to be the BEST. And you can feel it the moment you step through the front door."