By Alejandro Lazo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 7, 2008

For years, the residents of Prince William County and the politicians who represented them hoped for a classy revitalization of the county's Route 1 corridor.

White-tablecloth restaurants, department stores and upscale grocery stores would offer an alternative to the run-down strip malls and fast food joints that line the stretch of highway to the east.

Few plans elicited as much passion from residents as the one to bring a Wegmans grocery store to Woodbridge. Dozens of county residents showed up to the February 2006 Board of Supervisors' vote on the project wearing large red "Wegmans Now" buttons pinned to their shirts as they spoke in favor of the development.

"It was very popular," said Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large). "I remember it was the first time activists came to our meeting to actually support a development, and they did so in large numbers."

Then the mortgage meltdown hit, with foreclosures affecting whole neighborhoods throughout the county. Credit markets seized up, making loans for commercial construction difficult. Developer Kettler suspended its mega-project Harbor Station farther south along Route 1.

But tomorrow morning, the 140,000-square-foot Wegmans plans to open. It will employ more than 600 workers, with 40 percent of them holding full-time jobs, according to the company. The store's opening is a key reason that District-based Roadside Development has been able to secure funding for further construction, despite turmoil in the credit markets. The money will be used to start the second phase of Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center, a $500 million-plus plan that calls for apartment towers, office buildings and retail.

In an interview last week, Richard Lake, a partner with Roadside, said he plans to begin construction in July on some 65,000 square feet of retail, directly across the Wegmans.

"It's tough," Lake said. "It is a challenge, it is not easy. The climate is not the way it used to be."

Frank Lasch, 64, and his wife Lorraine, 61, of Manassas, were original supporters of the Wegmans and attended the county vote in 2006. Lasch still has the red button he wore to show his support.

The couple plans to attend the store's opening at 7 a.m. tomorrow, attending church Saturday night to clear their Sunday morning schedule.

"I think that anytime you can bring a good organization or company to your area it is a positive," Frank Lasch said. "It helps the community to grow and certainly in the right direction."

The Woodbridge Wegmans, located off Dale Boulevard near Interstate 95, is the third and largest store to open in Northern Virginia. Beginning last week, hundreds of Wegmans staff began descending on the store. Some will stay for days and some for weeks, overseeing training and final touches for the opening.

The opening is not without risk. The grocer is moving forward at a time when others have retrenched. Two Giants in Woodbridge have closed in the past year due to slow sales.

The community's support was a key reason the store was opening during an economic downturn, said Mark Ferrera, a senior vice president for Wegmans, which is based in Rochester, N.Y. "A lot of it is based on how important it is to the town."

Some 100 tons of produce will arrive in the coming week. The store will open with a sushi bar, a combined coffee shop and bakery, and a salad and sandwich station. Combined indoor and outdoor seating will be available for more than 500 people.

The company is putting on some special touches for opening day. The seafood bar will feature Wianno oysters, the Massachusetts variety that won the Old Ebbitt Grill annual Oyster Riot last fall. For a local touch, Chincoteague Salt Oysters from Chincoteague Island in Virginia will also be shucked and prepared to order.

In the cheese section, 15 wheels of 80-pound Parmigiano imported from the Po River region in Italy will be cracked by hand. Some 3,150 varieties of wine are already in the store's 8,000-square-foot wine area, from a 2006 Chrysalis Viognier from Middleburg for $27.99 to a 1982 Chateau Latour from the Pauillac Bordeaux region of France that runs a cool $2,599.

How such fare will be received in Woodbridge remains to be seen. But shopping centers in the county anchored by grocery stores have held up in the county despite the fall in residential real estate values, according to Alexandria research firm Delta Associates. The vacancy rate for such retail shops dropped to 3.8 percent by the end of 2007, compared with 4.3 at the end of 2006, according to the group.

"I think that businesses are holding back right now and making careful decisions with regard to the new projects that they undertake," said Laurie C. Wieder, president of the Prince William Regional Chamber of Commerce. "We are very pleased with the Wegmans because one of the reasons they decided to move here is because we have the demographics."