Wegmans is closing one of its largest grocery stores. Its unusual location hurt business
Supermarket chain Wegmans is closing one of its largest and most unusual stores because it isn’t attracting enough customers
CORRECTED ANNOUNCEMENT DATE – FILE – A Wegmans sign is posted on the exterior of a Wegmans supermarket location, Tuesday, December 20, 2022, in Westwood, Massachusetts. The Wegmans supermarket chain is closing one of its largest and most unusual stores because it failed to attract enough customers, the company said. The Natick, Massachusetts store will close on an unspecified date this summer, the Rochester, New York-based company said in a statement Thursday, June 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, file)
The Associated Press
NATICK, MA- Supermarket chain Wegmans is closing one of its largest and most unusual stores because it isn’t attracting enough customers, the company said.
The Natick, Massachusetts store will close at an undetermined date this summer, the Rochester, New York-based company said in a statement Thursday.
“Making these decisions is never easy. However, we are doing this for the long-term benefit of our employees, our customers and our communities,” said Brien MacKendrick, the regional human resources director, in the statement. “Unfortunately, we can’t win enough customers with this non-traditional location for our business model to work.”
The 134,000-square-foot (12,450-square-meter) store opened in 2018 in a space inside Natick Mall that was once a JCPenney department store. It was the supermarket chain’s first two-storey store in a large shopping mall.
Until its closure in 2019, the store also had a full-service Mexican restaurant.
The store employs 365 people and all are offered a position at one of the company’s other five Boston-area locations. There are no plans to close other stores in the state, the statement said. Wegmans has more than 100 stores along the east coast.
