Rochester, N.Y. - Right behind the 50-year-old building sits the new face of the East Avenue Wegmans store.
But before one of the oldest stores closed its doors Saturday, shoppers picked up whatever they could find off the shelves.
“Looking for deals, a dollar for rolls,” shopper Lisa Buttons points out.
Not everything could be found.
Shopper Debby Falkoff couldn’t find any cottage cheese.
Falkoff has been coming to the East Ave. Wegmans for 30 years. She says it's odd to see her store so barren.
“Everybody is so nice and you feel like you're at home, it's a true neighborhood store and everyone here has always been so kind and so helpful,” Falkoff said.
That’s a closeness felt by many.
“I'm going to miss the small store because it felt like a city store,” Buttons said. “I'm going to miss that.”
“A lot of tears, a lot of laughter, folks coming back to just take pictures, folks who have met here,” Perishable Manager Frank Miceli said.
Miceli grew up in Rochester and knows how special the store is.
It’s so special, he and other employees plan to take a piece of the old building with them.
“I'll probably take a brick and have it bronzed and hold on to it,” Miceli said.
Miceli says shoppers don't have to worry about losing that sense of home.
He says that will carry on at the new store.
“It's a piece of history but we're looking forward to entering the next chapter,” Miceli said.
The old building will be torn down sometime in late March, early April.
The new store opens May 19th.
Leftover food items will be donated to Foodlink.
