NY Retail Roundup: Wegmans in Natick Mall

Wegmans (Natick Mall, Natick, Massachusetts)

Wegmans in Natick Mall

Wegmans have a presence in the Boston area, despite the huge gap on the I-90 corridor until you get all the way west to my backyard (the deWitt/Fayetteville store is pretty much the main one in CNY) and down I-95 before reaching the Tri-State (we've discussed that other state capital already). In the suburb Natick, Wegmans have been at Natick Mall in the old JCPenney of all places. It's rare this day and age for Wegmans to close a store, but this one hasn't made much money surprisingly after just five years, and COVID may have exacerbated that like it has so much the past few years. Having them in a mall like this just didn't catch on, and they're not as used to Wegmans as we are. Other stores will stay put. It's just what to do with it now. Just another department store is a step backwards at this stage.

Price Chopper/Market 32 have a few stores by those shores, and the closest one is far enough that this could become another Market Bistro, which is their Latham store north of Albany, made to be "Wegman-esque", if you like, and the only one in the chain not to use either of the usual names. Hannaford could also take over since they wouldn't overlap like sister chain Stop & Shop, which is already around the corner. Shaws are a few miles away in Ashland, and owners Albertsons are in the middle of a merger with Kroger (sister chain Star Market have a location by the Pru in the city that I went to). Market Basket also have a location in Ashland, so Natick would be too close. A two-level Walmart like in Albany is out since a regular one is a couple miles away in Framingham, and that's too easy anyhow. So Y not Big Y? Wouldn't conflict with existing stores in what's a big area anyway. Gone by one in Hartford County in 1994. Even enough room for another Costco (almost went in Dedham on my first Boston trip in 2010). Whole Foods were at that mall once already themselves.

Wegmans are a hard act to follow. It's one thing to replace an older, smaller store with a competitor that is more adaptable to an urban community. It's another for a unique anchor store like this, but maybe they could promote it better, and most of these chains have a longer track record in the region, despite Wegmans' high standards. Back in Upstate NY, I can't imagine Wegmans opening in Destiny USA (they'll stick to department stores) or even the former Lord & Taylor in Eastview Mall in Victor outside their home base of Rochester (even though one isn't right in that part of Ontario County, so you'd have to go to Fairport, and the mall has their own fish to fry, which is a story for another day). Whole Foods have a store in Colonie Center near Albany which works, but is not overbearing. If Wegmans couldn't find anywhere to start from scratch in the Capital Region, empty anchors in Crossgates or other malls would be a last resort. Even a small town wouldn't condense everything that way. Maybe the concept was just too much as one wouldn't do both things in a single trip usually.