Why can't we get a Wegmans in Southern Maryland?

I posted this on my business Facebook page but I'm adding it here as well as a reference.

Every time someone asks please refer them to this post.  I'm trying to educate instead of watching rumors fly.  This is what they require:

Population Density:  "High number of residents surrounding the potential store.   Typical drivetime to store 20 minutes or less."

Charles County population estimate 2022: 170,000

Prince Georges population estimate 2022: 946,971

Workforce: "The store hires somewhere in the area of 500 people.

We operate a high-volume, low-price business; we require a lot of customers shopping in our stores to achieve the volume needed to be successful." 

Daytime Population: Wegmans has food bars and caters to lunchtime crowds.  Approx. 60% of Charles county workforce leaves the area for work pre covid.  Our current restaurants are not busy enough or staffed well enough.  Just because people work from home now does not mean it will stay that way forever.

Store Size:  "Typical Wegmans is 80,00 to 120,000 square feet and requires 15+ Acres."  They also only open 2-3 stores a year.  They are very picky.

These stores decide where they want to go.  Not us, not the county or the commissioners.  This is not build it and they will come.  You can ask them to come until you are blue in the face.  Give them all the marketing material.  They do their own calculations and research and make their own decisions.  

The same goes with Whole foods and Trader joes but they also require:

-household income in excess of $100,000

-200,000 people within a 20 minute drive

-Distribution centers closer to the new stores.

-They also would love a major university or large medical complex close by.

-Large number of college educated residents.

September 2020 Updates

Its gotten busy! The months just seem to run together now. I'm forgetting to start the new months updates! There has been a real influx of calls for people looking for spaces.  Its a good time.  However we have lost a few businesses to the whole virus thing.  Hopefully we will gain some new and different businesses in the future.  

Which brings me to an old topic.  Everyone keeps asking for new and better grocery stores like Wegmans.

The reason we can not get them is due to our lower population and the fact that somewhere around 60% of our workforce leaves the area.  Wegmans depends on that lunchtime crowd.  They have a large market cafe with quick service food.  If no one is there to eat lunch they feel the area would not be right for them.  If you look at our area restaurants you don't usually have any wait time to sit down.  That's not good.  Why would a restaurant come here when no one is eating lunch?  Its very hard to just depend on dinner crowds.

Rock and Toss Crab House coming soon to the Shops at Waldorf in the former Genghis Grill space.  It is a  Cajun style sea food restaurant.  No word on an opening date.  They have another location currently in Bowie, MD

Speaking of the Shops at Waldorf, Panera is going to move over to their own stand alone building next to the Silver Diner.  I believe they plan to have a drive thru as well.  No word on when that move will take place.

In the Brandywine shopping area near Chadds ford has some construction going on.  There will be a few more pad sites for individual stores and perhaps a small strip center.

Royal Farms is now open on Moores Road in Brandywine.

Third Eye Comics now open in the Pinefield shopping center

You Can't Have Your Cheesecake and Country Too

UPDATED 2019

I've posted this before but its so far back in the blog now its lost.  I often get asked for a few of the same restaurants over and over.  Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Changs are at the top of the list.  Then there are the high end grocery stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joes and Wegmans

Why don't they come?  What stops them from opening up here?  Well here are the requirements they look for:

Population - The biggest factor.  The entire population for Charles County is estimated around 159,700 Calvert 91,502, St. Mary's 112,667 (all as of 2017).  And for reference Prince Georges County has a population estimate of over 900,000.   Places like the above mentioned restaurants want a daytime population of somewhere in the area of 300,000 within a 3-5 mile radius of the location. Currently the estimated daytime population of the mall within 5 miles is estimated at around 92,000. They want the restaurant packed at lunch and dinner which is why they go to dense urban areas.  On a regular lunch day you can walk into almost any restaurant in Waldorf with no wait time and that's not good.

Wegmans Grocery says they want high daytime population because they depend on the lunchtime crowd to use their food bars.  The issue in our area is that 65+ percent of our workforce leaves the county for work.  Which means our daytime population is lower than what they want to see.

Demographics - workforce, high school and college graduates, number of households, average household incomes, retired or working, age, race, sex.  Our average household incomes are great but not enough houses. Also mentioned by some that we didn't have enough college graduates.  Did you know you needed a diploma to buy food?

Roads and transportation - Is the site on a major road? How many vehicles per day pass the site?  Does the site meet parking requirements? Does the company have a distribution site within a certain radius of the proposed location?

Government - Are they easy to work with? Do they want growth?  Are they business friendly? Any incentives to come to the area?  How long will the process take to get our site approved?

Attractions - What pulls people to the area? Historic sites, large venues, sporting arenas, tourism, casinos, amusement parks.

Land -  They want high profile corner sites with traffic lights and ease of access for their patrons.   They want sites along Crain Highway and we are running out of them.  Many that are out there have wetlands running thru them and you can't build near that.  Storm water and environmental regulations are constantly changing and take up more of the land so you either build a smaller space or have to buy a larger site which comes at a higher price.

So we either have to build houses and apartment and become a densely populated area which is not going to happen because nobody wants that, or stay a little country, a little city and be happy.