Parent Wegmans to Close All Chase-Pitkin Stores

Rochester, N.Y., Unable to keep up in face of battering competition from The Home Depot and Lowe's, all 14 Chase-Pitkin Home and Garden Centers, owned by Wegmans Food Markets and located throughout New York State, will be shuttered between March 2006 and sometime later in the year.

"Chase-Pitkin is simply not big enough to compete successfully and grow the business," said chairman Robert B. Wegman.

Some of the 395 full-time and 1,253 part-time employees in the Rochester area will be employed by Wegmans, the company said.

Wegmans purchased Chase-Pitkin in 1974.