Natick Report

More than you really want to know about Natick, Mass.

Wegmans to close its Natick Mall store later this summer

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It’s been a fun five years, but Wegmans announced on Thursday, June 1, that it will close its Natick Mall location later this summer, with an exact date TBD.

wegmans natick mall

A memo on the Wegmans corporate website said that the store’s 365 employees (142 full-time and 223 part-time) were notified of the decision throughout the day and were assured that their positions with the company are secure, albeit at other area Wegmans’ locations.

Wegmans has five additional stores in the Greater-Boston area, and approximately 2,700 employees. Corporate says Wegmans does not have plans to close any other stores.

Sure thing though let me also add that everyone that I know in Wellesley and Natick is not happy about this and agrees the store is always crowded. We speculate that they probably have high OpEx and are being squeezed out by the incoming Moms in Sherwood Plaza and the rumored Amazon Fresh in the Shopper’s World Plaza.

Wegmans customer Lindsay Diamond Cary wrote to us that “I find it hard to believe that they were unable to attract enough shoppers to the space -it is ALWAYS packed when I am there, weekends or weekdays. How can we start a petition to keep the store??!” She added that “everyone that I know in Wellesley and Natick is not happy about this and agrees the store is always crowded. We speculate that they probably have high OpEx and are being squeezed out by the incoming Moms in Sherwood Plaza and the rumored Amazon Fresh in the Shopper’s World Plaza.”

Natick Report readers have been reacting to the surprising news on social media:

  • “Wegman’s has been my go-to’ grocery store since they opened. It always seemed busy so this news is truly shocking!”
  • “Prices are high but love shopping there. Garage parking in winter, easy access, great customer service, fresh foods, good bakery. Fixed costs are high there, I guess they need more customer traffic. Bet Stop and Shop and Roche Brothers are happy. Maybe the Stop and Shop will improve their customer service but won’t hold my breath.”
  • “What the F?!”

Natick has no shortage of grocery stores with Roche Bros., ALDI and Stop & Shop, and is about to get another at Sherwood Plaza, with a possible Amazon Fresh store going into a location vacated by Barnes & Noble.

Small area package stores might breathe a sign of relief, as a big box competitor goes away.

wegmans natick mall

THANK YOU to all who forwarded the Wegmans letter to us. We appreciate your efforts to help us report the news. Please send news tips, photos, ideas to natickreport@gmail.com

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Natick Business Buzz: Maggie & Milo’s hot dog & ice cream stand is back; ModeX Therapeutics awarded tax incentives; Thanks to new advertiser Prepped and Polished

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The latest Natick, Mass., business news:

Maggie & Milo’s hot dog & ice cream stand is back

We’re glad to see Maggie & Milo’s (57 Eliot St., Natick) is back in action at across from the South Natick Dam serving hot dogs and ice cream. Their hours are 11:30am-9pm Tuesday-Sunday.

Info on working there.

ModeX Therapeutics awarded tax incentives

The state’s Healey-Driscoll administration and Massachusetts Life Sciences Center have announced $24.4 million in tax incentive awards to 43 life sciences companies that are designed to generate new jobs.

Among those included: Natick’s ModeX Therapeutics, recipient of a $525,000 award for a commitment of 35 jobs. ModeX Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing “multispecific biologics” for cancer and infectious disease.

Thanks to new advertiser Prepped and Polished

We appreciate the support of Prepped and Polished, our newest Natick Report advertiser. We rely on advertisers and reader contributions to deliver you the news on Natick.

Prepped and Polished is an educational services company founded by state-certified educators in 1999. Its objective is to provide the highest quality, customized learning experience available anywhere, in person or online.

Prepped and Polished Boston Tutoring and Test Prep

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Natick business buzz: Town well represented on new Leaders of Color list; Mr. Nice Dog has come to stay on Rte. 9

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The latest Natick, Mass., business news:

Town well represented on new Leaders of Color list

Those who live or work in Natick are well represented on the new 50 Most Influential Business Leaders of Color and 20 Emerging Leaders of Color lists for the Charles River Metrowest region. The lists were compiled via public nominations and through a partnership between the Charles River Regional Chamber and Colette Phillips and Get Konnected!

The lists are designed to “shine a light on the leaders and future leaders of color who are making a positive contribution to the economic and social fabric of our west suburban businesses and nonprofits.” The Chamber also says the lists can spark deeper conversations about work left to be done in supporting diversity.

The “Most Influential” list includes these Natick residents and/or employees:

  • Alexis Avila (Founder/CEO, Prepped & Polished Tutoring & Test Preparation)
  • Beverly Edgehill, Ed.D. (Senior Vice President, Organizational Development at The TJX Companies, Inc.)
  • Jay Kim (Executive Director, Foundation for MetroWest)
  • Kristen L. Pope (Founder and CEO, Pope Productions, and newly elected Natick Select Board member)
  • Louvere Walker-Hannon (Senior Application Engineering Team Lead, MathWorks)

Congrats to all of those named to these lists.

influential list

Mr. Nice Dog has come to stay on Rte. 9

Mr. Nice Dog has bounded into Natick at 42 Worcester St. (rt. 9 eastbound side), in the former All About My Dog location. (The owner of that much-loved canine training center closed up shop in summer 2022 and relocated to Colorado.)

Mr. Nice Dog, Natick

 

Co-owners Antonio Torres and Anna Betancur offer grooming, dog training, and day care in a climate-controlled facility full of bright colors and fun doggie toys. The place also smells fresh and clean, thanks to a daily cleaning regimen that includes lots of elbow grease and a pressure washer. Dogs are not crated at Mr. Nice Dog. There’s plenty of room for them to run around, and there are separate play areas for small and big dogs.

Mr. Nice Dog, Natick

Torres has been raising and training dogs for 30 years, and it’s long been his dream to open up a full-service dog salon. An award-winning show dog trainer, he has competed at numerous dog shows throughout the country, most notably at the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. There, Torres won the “Best of Breed” and “Group Placement” awards multiple times. He’s retired from show-dog biz now, preferring to concentrate on the success of Mr. Nice Dog.

Torres says so far they have 90 clients, “And everybody loves the way this place looks and smells.”

Please send news tips, photos, ideas to natickreport@gmail.com

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Natick ‘Sticker Shock’ campaign reminds adults not to supply booze to minors

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Don’t get too excited if you notice bright orange stickers on your favorite adult beverage at local grocery and liquor stores: The products aren’t necessarily on sale. Rather, those stickers are there to remind adults not to buy alcohol for those under the age of 21 during this annual party season highlighted by proms and graduations.

Natick High School students belonging to the Natick Above the Influence group joined forces with the town’s Natick 180 coalition to put some 1,300 stickers on packages of alcoholic beverages at stores throughout town. This is the seventh time the program has been held in town.

All of the off-premise alcohol retail stores in Natick are participating, including: Dion’s, Fannon’s, Natick Wine and Spirits, Nine East Emporium, Tilly & Salvy’s Bacon Street Farm, Total Wine, Town Line Liquors, and Wegmans.

“We think it is a great program that brings awareness to underage drinking,” says Scott Arndt of Fannon’s, which earlier this year relocated to 319 North Main St., and plans for a grand opening next month. “It reinforces that one  should not purchase for anyone underage, especially this time of year with proms and graduation parties looming.”

Sticker Shock campaigns are held across the country and have been supported by groups like MADD since early this century, says Katie Sugerman, program director for Natick 180, the community’s principal addiction education, prevention and recovery outfit. “While no single communications campaign alone is likely to change behavior, messaging that reinforces existing laws and community norms that discourage underage drinking is an important part of a comprehensive community approach to reducing underage alcohol use,” she says.

According to data from the 2021 MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey, past 30-day use of alcohol use reported by Natick High School students has declined by nearly 21% since 2014.

The sticker campaign was complemented by promotion of the annual After Prom Party, funded through the Natick High School PTSO and held this past Friday, May 12. The party, located at the high school, is designed to keep the fun going in a safe way on prom night.

The town’s school, safety, health, and other leaders also signed a letter discouraging adults in the community from serving alcohol to minors at parties this season.

sticker shock

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Natick business buzz: Cannabis delivery service getting closer; Rumble Boxing partnering to collect clothes; Attend MetroWest Boston Visitors Bureau meeting; Jesamondo adds stylist

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The latest Natick business news:

Cannabis delivery service getting closer

 

Natick’s Planning Board heard Dris’s pitch for a cannabis delivery service operating out of a discreet building at 16 Tech Circle already occupied by Kaycha, a marijuana testing lab (see Natick Pegasus recording, about an hour in). The business, which entered into a host community agreement with the town last November via the Select Board, uses unmarked cars and mixes up its routes to avoid tracking by those who might have bad intentions.

Dris has been operating elsewhere as Your Green Package, making some 60K-plus deliveries to date, largely in Boston. In operating out of Natick, Dris seeks to deliver cannabis on behalf of retailers, wholesale marijuana at its facility and delivery to customers, and deliver between cannabis businesses. Dris has been operating out of Bellingham and seeks to consolidate its licenses in Natick, according to CEO and Co-founder Chris Fevry. Delivery courier and operator licenses are currently available exclusively to Social Equity Applicants

The business doesn’t plan to make many changes to the space it will operate in, so requested a list of waivers from the board. But the board, not wanting to set a precedent for giving too many of those, did request that Dris address a number of the usual requirements to earn special permits, including security, school distance, and other information.

The board held off voting, but it looks likely that Planning will give the business its OK on May 10.

Natick stands to benefit financially from adding another cannabis business. In this case, the town would get 4% of gross revenue in taxes. How much that will add up to, however, remains to be seen. Fevry was quoted by the CommonWealth journal recently citing the challenges of making money in this business, where delivery firms have lobbied to reduce the required number of drivers required per vehicle from two to one.

Dris’s arrival in Natick would expand an already varied cannabis business in Natick, including medicinal supplier Bountiful Farms, lab Kaycha, retailer Redi at Cloverleaf Mall, and maybe soon, ReLeaf, on Rte. 9 in the old Papa Gino’s. Another delivery outfit, Trevor Express, signed a host community agreement with Natick last year, and we’ve reached out to the business for an update.

Kaycha labs

 

Rumble Boxing partnering to collect clothes

 

Rumble Boxing this Saturday, May 6 from 12-2pm, is teaming with nonprofit Project Just Because to collect gently used or unworn child or adult clothing at the Natick Mall food court. Please package clothing, which will go to local families in need, in a closed trash or shopping bag.

Attend MetroWest Boston Visitors Bureau meeting

 

You’re invited to attend the MetroWest Boston Visitors Bureau annual meeting, set for June 20, 8:30-10am at the Warren Conference Center and Inn in Framingham. Continental breakfast and networking from 7:30-8:30am.

You will get to hear from Senate President Karen E. Spilka and Framingham State University President Nancy Nieimi.

$20 for members, $30 for non-members. Registration is open.

MetroWest Visitors Bureau

Jesamondo adds stylist

 

Jesamondo Salon & Spa has added Whitney Taylor, stylist and hair extension expert, to its team of salon professionals. Whitney specializes in extensions by Bellami, Harper Ellis, and Bombshell—let her weave something extraordinary with hair extensions that’ll leave you looking and feeling more youthful and vibrant with voluminous locks. Book an appointment.

Jesamondo, Natick

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