Worcester Business Journal

34 2020 Economic Forecast • Worcester Business Journal • www.wbjournal.com B R I C K & M O R TA R T he retail store industry will continue its contraction and reshaping into next year. More closures certain to come The list of retail store closures in Central Massachusetts and beyond in 2019 is much like in 2018 or 2017 – only the names of the stores change. This year, the tally was more than 30 locations just among major closures including Payless ShoeSource and Dressbarn. It isn't just traditional shop- ping centers struggling with empty spaces, either. Downtown areas are, too, including in Worcester, Fitchburg, Framingham, Marlborough and Webster. Each of those cities are part of a new state incentive program meant to help fill empty storefronts. More clo- sures are almost assuredly on the hori- zon, especially if the economic run loses momentum. Global financial firm Credit Suisse is predicting 2020 to be as bad or even worse for retail closures than in 2019, according to Bloomberg – and that's after 2019 had the highest number of such closures on record heading into the fall. Record doesn't discourage new growth Despite all of that, there's still more retail stores on the horizon – and their success will depend on being able to find enough shops to carve out a niche in an industry always increasingly dom- inated by Amazon and other giants. In Shrewsbury, the former Edgemere Drive-In site – vacant for roughly two decades – is proposed for a develop- ment called Edgemere Crossing at Flint Pond, with 145,000 square feet of retail space and 250 apartments. In Maynard, another Maynard Crossing is under construction with 306,000 square feet of retail, a 180-unit apartment complex, and a 143-unit senior independent liv- ing community. A bit further off on the horizon in the early stages of site work is a mixed-use development meant to complement Polar Park, a new ballpark on Madison Street in Worcester. The project is set to open in 2021 and include retail and restaurant space, along with two hotels and 224 apart- ments. Remaking retail What's one way developers are hop- ing to beat the retail contraction? By remaking what a shopping center looks like. Four shopping centers – Edgemere Crossing in Shrewsbury and Meadow Walk in Sudbury, which both recently opened, and Maynard Crossing and Edgemere Crossing, which are soon to open – incorporate housing. Another, the Apex Center of New England in Marlborough, has two hotels, an office building and an entertainment complex with bowling, bumper cars and other attractions. That's a continuation of the first response developers had to chang- ing retail, which was finding new uses for individual spaces such as fitness centers or medical offices, like Reliant Medical Group's move into former Macy's and Price Chopper locations. More of the same More retail stores are headed for closure in 2020, although niche businesses and those with in-person appeal will continue to thrive BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor Top brick & mortar stories in 2019 >> Greendale Mall to be demolished, turned into apartments & medical of- fices One day after a Boston developer bought the rundown Greendale Mall in Worcester, the new owner plans to replace the 32-year-old shopping center with a mix of retail, apartments, and office space. "It's rare to get your hands on 23 acres in such a perfect location," Todd Finard, CEO of Finard Properties, told WBJ. "Worcester is a very exciting place to be, it has lots of energy, and we want to be part of its phenomenal growth." Finard bought the 309,000-square- foot mall for $7.1 million. Under a proposal expected to emerge over the next year, Finard said the mall would be demolished to make way for apartment buildings, medical offices, and retail. But don't expect a covered mall. The era of enclosed shopping centers has passed, Finard said. The public has embraced places like Northborough Crossing and MarketStreet in Lynnfield with apartments, a health clinic, medi- cal offices, and retail. The zoning around the Greendale Mall at the junction of Interstates 290 and 190 near downtown allows for buildings up to 100 feet, or six or seven stories. Finard said the precise number of apartments, the amount of square feet for medical office and the mix of retail- ers has not been determined. But he said, like MarketStreet, he wants the new center to serve the nearby neigh- borhoods. "If we do this right, my hope is what we build will be an amenity for the Greendale neighborhood," he said. >> Walmart opening Worcester, West- minster distribution centers Walmart has leased 181,000 square feet in Westminster for a new distribu- tion center. The site, at 95 Aubuchon Drive, will be Walmart's warehouse and distribution center for the Boston-area market. The Walmart facility, which was expected to begin operations in December, will take up just under half of the 397,000-square-foot building, which also includes the headquarters of Aubuchon Hardware. Walmart's Sam's Club has opened a distribution facility at its former retail store on Tobias Boland Way in Worcester after closing the store in January 2018. The facility will house the top 1,500 to 2,000 items purchased on the website. The location will employ about 40 to start, with hiring ramping up to about 120 eventually. When it was still a wholesale store, about 150 people were employed. Construction work includes install- ing steel supports to house the products and installing inventory management technology. The Worcester location will be the eighth such online fulfillment center operated by the company. In September, Maynard Crossing began construction of anchor tenant Market Basket. The Apex Center in Marlborough The Greendale Mall had more store vacancies than openings when it was purchased in December. The former Sam's Club in Worcester is now a Walmart distribution center. P H O T O S / G R A N T W E L K E R P H O T O / A P E X E N T E R T A I N M E N T P H O T O / G R A N T W E L K E R W W

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