Last Monday, Wegmans announced that its upcoming store in Newton, MA (a densely-populated suburb that borders Boston), planned for 70,000 SF, will be its smallest in a decade. By comparison, the nearby Northborough, MA location is 138,000 SF, and the store recently announced for Montgomeryville, PA will be 120,000 SF.
A Wegmans spokesperson said the 70,000 SF footprint represents a new design and concept for the company. The store will anchor Chestnut Hill Square, a complex with 160,000 SF of shops, offices and luxury residences.
The Northborough store, which opened in October, had more than 25,000 local shoppers sign up for a Wegmans discount card before the supermarket even opened. According to the publisher of The Griffin Report of Food Marketing, Wegmans plans to open six or seven stores in a short period of time across New England.
At 70,000 SF, this “small” Wegmans will still be larger than most Stop & Shop markets, which are typically about 60,000 SF. Stop & Shop New England (a division of Ahold USA; same parent company as Giant) has more than 200 locations throughout MA, NH, CT and RI.