Wegmans Could Open In Medford During This Lifetime

Pittsford Wegmans by Matt DeTurck on Flickr/Creative Commons

On Sunday night, InsideMedford.com added some excitement to a day otherwise filled with football and Thanksgiving leftovers: Wegmans would open a new store at the city’s Meadow Glen Mall.

The local news website was live-blogging Mayor Michael J. Glynn’s final State of the City address. Glynn recapped the development successes of his 27-year tenure, and casually shared that the regional grocery store chain with a fanatical following had signed on as a new tenant of the under-renovation shopping center. “The Meadow Glen Mall has been permitted for the renovation of 60,000 square feet. Marshalls and Kohl’s will continue their leases, and they are welcoming new tenants, including Wegmans. Discussions have begun with the city for higher and better use of Shaw’s,” he said in the speech.

Jo Natale, a spokesperson for the Rochester, N.Y.-based company, confirmed “negotiations are underway for a site in Medford, but it would be premature to comment further or share details,” and she did not offer a timeframe, nor corroborate the location.

Wegmans has built its reputation in the Northeast for its larger-than-your-average grocery stores, packed with specialty, organic, and prepared products alongside the necessities. Stores vary in size and departments, but all offer a wide range of produce, house-baked breads and bakery products, freshly-caught seafood, and artisan cheeses, plus often a salad bar, a sushi station, beer and wine, an in-house sandwich shop, café, pizza bar, and more. The family-owned company also earns respect for customer service and employee relations.

Wegmans opened its first Massachusetts store in Northborough in 2011, and followed it up with Westwood, Burlington, and Chestnut Hill locations. The Natick Mall is getting an outpost in 2017, according to the company’s website, but a long-awaited Boston proper store remains elusive. Natale said she has no updates to share about that location, though the Boston Globe says it’s slated for 2019 or 2020.

The president of Meadow Glen Mall’s developer, New England Development, told the Globe the new store in Medford is in “preliminary planning phases and [we] hope to have a more definitive plan early next year.”