Wegmans shuts down one of its largest stores

The outlet in Natick, Massachusetts, will close until the end of June 2023.

Retail chain Wegmans has decided to close one of its flagship stores. The outlet in Natick, Massachusetts, will close until the end of June 2023. The 134,000-square-foot store opened in 2018.

“Unfortunately, with this non-traditional location we are unable to attract enough customers for our business model to work,” Brien MacKendrick, the human resources director for Wegmans New England division, said in a statement.

The two-level store is an anchor tenant at Natick Mall, replacing JCPenney, which closed in 2015. As of the second quarter of 2023, the company has 110 stores under management, most of which are located in malls. The company offered all 365 employees affected by the closure of jobs at nearby stores.

Based in Rochester, N.Y., the retailer continues expanding on the East Coast, opening several stores yearly. A new 82,000-square-foot store in Manhattan is expected to launch by the end of 2023. It will be Wegmans’ second outlet in New York after Brooklyn opened in 2019. In 2022, the retailer opened its first stores in Delaware and Washington, D.C.