Wegmans signs land deal near Charlotte for second store even before first opens
Before its first, long-sought south Charlotte grocery store even opens, Wegmans has staked out a location for its second one.
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The Rochester, N.Y., grocer signed an agreement with Atrium Health to purchase property in Cornelius in the Lake Norman area, Wegmans spokeswoman Marcie Rivera confirmed Monday.
The property is next to Atrium Health Lake Norman off Statesville and Westmoreland roads, near Interstate 77. “We are currently evaluating the site as a potential location for a future grocery store, along with other possible uses,” Rivera said. “At this stage, no final decisions have been made.”
Atrium owns over 62 acres next to its Cornelius complex, which it had purchased in 2019 for $19.6 million, Mecklenburg County property records show. Atrium officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
The cost of the new deal and the timeline to open a second Wegmans grocery store was not immediately available.
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The family-owned grocery chain will debut its 110,000-square-foot store in Ballantyne at 9 a.m. Oct. 14 after breaking ground last September. A Wegmans survey launched in May in Charlotte showed the city’s many northern transplants, many from New York, want to have tastes of upstate and western New York.
A second location near Lake Norman is not a surprise.
Wegmans has had plans to expand with three to five stores in Charlotte’s lucrative $10.8 billion competitive grocer market with nearly 740 stores since announcing two years ago it was coming to south Charlotte after years of speculation. At that time, Wegmans officials said the company was considering a dozen locations including SouthPark, Huntersville and Cornelius.
Wegmans first North Carolina store opened on Sept. 19, 2019, at 1200 Wake Towne Drive in Raleigh. The family-owned supermarket has since opened three other stores in that area in Chapel Hill, West Cary and Wake Forest, with another planned in Holly Springs.
The 110-year-old grocery chain has over 110 stores in eight East Coast states from Massachusetts to Virginia.
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This is a developing story
This story was originally published September 21, 2026 at 11:46 AM.
