Mall location doesn’t work out for Wegmans
Wegman’s nearly decade-long search for a site in Natick, Mass., about 20 miles east of Boston, ended in 2018 when it landed a 134,000-sq.-ft. spot in Natick Mall.
Five years later, its rare mall residency itself has ended due to a lack of traffic.
“Making these decisions is never easy. However, we do it for the long-term benefit of our people, our customers, and our communities,” said Brien MacKendrick, human resources director of Wegmans’ New England division. “With this non-traditional location we are unable to attract enough customers for our business model to work.”
The Natick Wegmans was the Rochester-based mega-market chain’s first multi-level store and one of its largest. It operates 110 stores along the East Coast, 49 of them in New York State.
“We love our Natick community and customers, and we’re eager to pursue new store locations in the area for the future,” MacKendrick said. “In the meantime, we hope to continue to serve our Natick customers through our e-commerce offerings and our other area stores.”
The Natick store’s 365 employees all are being offered positions at other Wegman’s locations. The chain operates five other stores in the Greater Boston area and stated that it has no plans to close any of them.
In April, Wegmans placed No. 4 on Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list, the 26th time the company has earned a place on it. Companies’ entry forms for the designation are validated by Fortune with employee surveys.
“We continue to believe we can only be a great place to shop if we are a great place to work,” said Wegmans president and CEO Colleen Wegman.
The family-owned and run company headed by chairman Danny Wegman celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016.