Here’s a look inside the new Wegmans taken about an hour after the store’s grand opening.
6 Comments
Anonymous
on April 27, 2014 at 2:34 pm
Here are two things that I noticed:
1. The Wegmans employee lot in the Chestnut Hill MALL. That’s right; it’s across the street. I wonder how they pulled that off.
2. For easy parking, park on Florence St. opposite Tanglewood Rd. There are still a few legal spaces there from the Atrium days and then you don’t have to deal with the chaos of the CHS garage. It’s a pretty short walk to Wegmans and the rest of the Square from there. Get these spaces while they’re still legal!
Michael
on April 27, 2014 at 6:45 pm
My wife and I walked there today. We’re new to town and I get the sense that nobody has ever cared much about about this, but there’s basically a two-mile swath of southern Newton without north-south pedestrian access (sidewalks), i.e. from Parker Rd. in the west to Hammond St. (Brookline) in the east – the key problem being Dudley Road.
I’d love to know the history of why Dudley Road continues to be free of sidewalks or even a sliver of accommodation for bicycles, especially since it provides access to the high school and there have been a bunch of accidents there. Is somebody getting paid off?
Anyway we had to cut through Kennard Park and Lost Pond reservation, which is a real mess to walk through because the paths are covered with mossy tree roots and we’re lucky we didn’t break our behinds. So my wife says that we should just buy a gas-guzzling SUV and drive to the supermarket, like the rest of our fellow Newtonite progressives.
SouthNewton
on April 27, 2014 at 8:28 pm
Hi Michael!
Dudley Road makes me upset too. The City’s cover-up for it is that it’s a “scenic road”. Read the following links if you’re curious:
Dudley Road is, for what it’s worth, a very old road. It does deserve the definition of scenic. To insist that the road must maintain its current form, however, is ludicrous. The fact that one of the only through-streets in the area has no safe pedestrian/bike access (and is quite scary in a car–and in school buses!) should make the City of Newton embarrassed!
Since we’re on the topic, I’ll mention Vine Street too. What begins as one of the widest streets in Newton (the section between Brookline Street and Hollywood Drive) shrinks to a mere path even narrower than Dudley! To be fair, for many years the power company (not sure why a power company would own it in the first place) owned the woods adjacent to Vine Street. The City, upon finally acquiring the land, didn’t do the reasonable thing and start plans to widen Vine! No! It’s park land, so it can’t be cut down and paved over, no matter the need!
Why these two South Newton roads can’t be fixed is not only the fault of the City though. The residents of the neighborhoods south of the middle schools are some of the more wealthy in the City, and they couldn’t care less about pedestrians. (Seriously, some of the houses on Dudley I’m sure are multi-millionaires second or third homes) Perhaps we could convince them if we told them that the widened roads could accommodate landscaping trucks better.
Kim
on April 30, 2014 at 5:07 am
Here is my review after one visit:
Prices: Same as highest prices at Shaws/Stop & Shop/Whole Foods/Trader Joes. You’d think for their first week they would try to wow with some sale items.
Selection: Seafood is awesome, Good on Meats, Veggies like Whole Foods. Groceries are the same as anywhere.
Parking: Horrendous. Maybe the worst of all time. This alone will keep me from going.
Why the Buzz? It’s the prepared food section which is outstanding. Great Sushi but expensive. People who don’t like to cook love this place. If you do like to cook no reason to go here instead of other grocery stores.
Service: There is only so many time I can be asked if I need help before it feels oppressive. It’s a grocery store, I’ll figure it out.
Newton Gal
on May 4, 2014 at 7:04 pm
In response to South Newton’s comment that the City of Newton should be embarassed about the Dudley Road I would like to say that it is virtually impossible to embarass the City of Newton’s engineering or ISD departments! They are unabashedly brazen!
West Newtonite
on May 11, 2014 at 10:59 am
Can anyone comment as to the current crowds at Wegman’s, two weeks later? Love the store, but don’t feel like making the trek across town until the crowds have become reasonable.
I went on opening day, and let’s just say elbow room was in short supply.
Here are two things that I noticed:
1. The Wegmans employee lot in the Chestnut Hill MALL. That’s right; it’s across the street. I wonder how they pulled that off.
2. For easy parking, park on Florence St. opposite Tanglewood Rd. There are still a few legal spaces there from the Atrium days and then you don’t have to deal with the chaos of the CHS garage. It’s a pretty short walk to Wegmans and the rest of the Square from there. Get these spaces while they’re still legal!
My wife and I walked there today. We’re new to town and I get the sense that nobody has ever cared much about about this, but there’s basically a two-mile swath of southern Newton without north-south pedestrian access (sidewalks), i.e. from Parker Rd. in the west to Hammond St. (Brookline) in the east – the key problem being Dudley Road.
I’d love to know the history of why Dudley Road continues to be free of sidewalks or even a sliver of accommodation for bicycles, especially since it provides access to the high school and there have been a bunch of accidents there. Is somebody getting paid off?
Anyway we had to cut through Kennard Park and Lost Pond reservation, which is a real mess to walk through because the paths are covered with mossy tree roots and we’re lucky we didn’t break our behinds. So my wife says that we should just buy a gas-guzzling SUV and drive to the supermarket, like the rest of our fellow Newtonite progressives.
Hi Michael!
Dudley Road makes me upset too. The City’s cover-up for it is that it’s a “scenic road”. Read the following links if you’re curious:
http://www.newtonma.gov/civicax/filebank/documents/31954
http://www.newtonma.gov/civicax/filebank/documents/32314
Dudley Road is, for what it’s worth, a very old road. It does deserve the definition of scenic. To insist that the road must maintain its current form, however, is ludicrous. The fact that one of the only through-streets in the area has no safe pedestrian/bike access (and is quite scary in a car–and in school buses!) should make the City of Newton embarrassed!
Since we’re on the topic, I’ll mention Vine Street too. What begins as one of the widest streets in Newton (the section between Brookline Street and Hollywood Drive) shrinks to a mere path even narrower than Dudley! To be fair, for many years the power company (not sure why a power company would own it in the first place) owned the woods adjacent to Vine Street. The City, upon finally acquiring the land, didn’t do the reasonable thing and start plans to widen Vine! No! It’s park land, so it can’t be cut down and paved over, no matter the need!
Why these two South Newton roads can’t be fixed is not only the fault of the City though. The residents of the neighborhoods south of the middle schools are some of the more wealthy in the City, and they couldn’t care less about pedestrians. (Seriously, some of the houses on Dudley I’m sure are multi-millionaires second or third homes) Perhaps we could convince them if we told them that the widened roads could accommodate landscaping trucks better.
Here is my review after one visit:
Prices: Same as highest prices at Shaws/Stop & Shop/Whole Foods/Trader Joes. You’d think for their first week they would try to wow with some sale items.
Selection: Seafood is awesome, Good on Meats, Veggies like Whole Foods. Groceries are the same as anywhere.
Parking: Horrendous. Maybe the worst of all time. This alone will keep me from going.
Why the Buzz? It’s the prepared food section which is outstanding. Great Sushi but expensive. People who don’t like to cook love this place. If you do like to cook no reason to go here instead of other grocery stores.
Service: There is only so many time I can be asked if I need help before it feels oppressive. It’s a grocery store, I’ll figure it out.
In response to South Newton’s comment that the City of Newton should be embarassed about the Dudley Road I would like to say that it is virtually impossible to embarass the City of Newton’s engineering or ISD departments! They are unabashedly brazen!
Can anyone comment as to the current crowds at Wegman’s, two weeks later? Love the store, but don’t feel like making the trek across town until the crowds have become reasonable.
I went on opening day, and let’s just say elbow room was in short supply.