In Wilmington, Delaware fans are rallying around a Facebook page lobbying Wegmans grocery store to come to their city. So far, the Facebook page has about 200 members, with more who have heard of the iconic Northeast grocery store joining every day.

The closest Wegmans to Delaware is a new store coming to Concordville, Pennsylvania. This is close enough that customers in the northern part of Delaware could potentially make the trip. Many customers, such as Linda Horton Bacon, who wrote on the Facebook page, have driven long distances in order to get to the nearest Wegmans. “Six years ago we had no hope of having a Wegmans close by, now we do,” she wrote.

It might seem a little unbelievable that a grocery store, of all things, has the power to generate almost celebrity-level hype. Over the past few years, though, several grocery chains around the country — including Wholefoods and Trader Joe’s — have been seeking to differentiate themselves with high-quality foods, services, and store locations. Wegmans, which started in Rochester NY, has been expanding to other states and now has 84 stores in operation.

Wegmans is working to open more stores among the eastern coastal states. According to Wegmans spokesperson Jo Natale, one reason Wegmans is staying on the east coast — rather than trying to extend out toward Chicago — is because their distribution network is firmly rooted in the east, making any such expansions both complicated and likely costly.

Over the next two years, Wegmans plans to open 10 new stores, according to Natale. Although some locations have not yet been finalized, some of the cities on the list include Alexandria VA, Concordville PA and Westwood MA.

Though Facebook is one way Wegmans keeps in touch with its customers, the company also has a presence on Twitter, and even Youtube. Wegmans encourages customers to use its in-store WiFi. In many cases, Wegmans often gets a boost thanks to appreciative customers tweeting and commenting about their favorite finds. This is a good plan for the future, considering that by 2015, about $30 billion in U.S. store sales will be influenced by social media network referrals.

The continued growth of Wegmans (and even its sometimes cult-like following) is a huge success story for our great city at a time when many people focus on the loss from big companies that once defined our city.