The Wegmans Food Market of Hanover, NJ is the 2nd Wegmans supermarket featured here on NJroute22.com. The Wegmans Food Market of Bridgewater, NJ we reviewed in-depth earlier this year. Please see that piece for what we like / dislike about Wegmans in general.
So the Wegmans in Hanover is new – What is different?
For the purpose of this post, we’ll specifically compare the Bridgewater and Hanover Wegmans.
Upon first entering the new Hanover Wegmans, we initially felt it was “bigger” than the Bridgewater location. However, employees told us it was actually smaller. So why did it feel bigger?
► Wegmans of Hanover caters to corporate lunch crowds
One of the two aspects of the Hanover location that is bigger – is the prepared food section. It even has it’s own “burger bar” and separate checkout. This apparently is because much of this location’s business is the lunch crowd from the area which is heavily populated by corporate office buildings. This is essentially a “food court.” There is at least double the amount of (cold and hot) prepared food at this location.
► Separate, dedicated liquor store
For whatever reason (likely local zoning regulations), the beer, wine, and spirits section of this Wegmans is a completely separate entity. They even have a different business name: “HANOVER WINE.” (Wegmans says this is “independently owned and operated). But this alcohol section is at least twice the size of the other locations. It’s kind of annoying to have to perform two transactions, however.
► Self-Checkout
Unlike Bridgewater, this Wegmans has several self-checkout lanes, which is (sort of nice) for those who don’t mind doing it themselves. While we have no issue with “DIY,” there should be some kind of discount passed on to the customers. Because you know this is a cost savings measure for any company that installs them. Unless, of course, it’s a “wash” because undoubtedly there are enough people who try to scam the system.
► Slightly different layout
Other than the aforementioned “food court” style prepared food, the supermarket section of the store does have a slightly different layout. If I recall correctly, it might have felt a bit more cramped. But not a game changer.
Overall – Wegmans is upper echelon in NJ
This supermarket is about a half-hour drive from almost anywhere along the Route 22 region from Clinton, Bridgewater, or Union. So we cannot explicitly recommend this as a destination, especially when there is one in Bridgewater.
However, if you find yourself traveling along the Route 80 or Northern sections of Route 287, it’s not a bad pitstop to make if it can help with your errands.
The folks in the Parsippany region of the state should be thankful that this supermarket option has arrived.
Again, we feel that the Wegmans company is great, especially for their organic meat selections, and other high-quality products.
Map: Wegmans Food Market – Hanover, NJ
