Wegmans to Close Stores (Briefly) for Solar Eclipse Viewing

Wegmans doesn’t want its employees (or its customers for that matter) to miss what will be the last total solar eclipse visible from North America for 20 years. The supermarket retailer will close 48 stores in upstate New York and Pennsylvania that are located in the “path of totality” from 3 to 3:30 p.m. ET on April 8. All services, including pharmacy, grocery and Meals2Go pickup and delivery, will be unavailable during this time.

“The opportunity to experience a total solar eclipse comes once in a lifetime, and we don’t want our employees to miss out,” said Patrick Bourcy, a Regional Manager at Wegmans in a statement. “We appreciate all that our employees do to help our customers prepare for and enjoy events like this, and in return, we welcome the opportunity to make this a celebratory and memorable occasion for them.”

Other retailers marking the celestial event include:

• Walmart has created a solar eclipse viewing bundle that includes a pack of five pairs of viewing glasses for under $20 as well as a blanket, chair, phone lens filter and Milky Way bars;
• Warby Parker is offering free glasses for watching the eclipse at all its stores (while supplies last) beginning April 1; and
• MyEyeDr. has partnered with Prevent Blindness to provide thousands of free eclipse viewing glasses at 400 locations in 20 states along the path of totality from March 25 to April 8, while supplies last.