City Plaza Owners Wooing New Supermarkets as Shaws Packs Up

Shaw's announcement that it's leaving Woonsocket was no surprise to Economic Development Director Matt Wojcik, but he's optimistic the city is fated for new supermarkets.

For starters, Shaws' leaving says more about the stressed company than the city. "It's hard to say you couldn't see it coming when Shaws has been struggling as a company for some time," Wojcik said.

Nonetheless, Wojcik said his office has contacted the RI Department of Labor and Training to ask for their rapid response team to aid displaced Shaws employees. Though Shaws has pledged to keep employees in their Woonsocket store on Diamond Hill Road  and the other five stores they're closing (according to a report on RINPR), Wojcik says the company may not be able to deliver on that promise. The company's stated reason for closing the stores - increasing profits through reduced costs - isn't good for employees. The top cost for most companies is labor. Regarding Shaw's promise to keep displaced employees, "I hope it works out that way," Wojcik said, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared if people wind up out of a job.

Wojcik wasn't the only person keeping an eye on the fate of Shaws, which, according to a report from the Boston Globe, has faced increasing competitive pressure from Stop & Shop and Walmart, as well as Market Basket, Trader Joes and Whole Foods. Shaws hasn't remodeled stores and hasn't remained competitive on prices.

Officers of Acadia Realty Trust, a White Plains, NY realty investment company that owns the Woonsocket Shaws building in the Diamond Hill Road Plaza, had also taken notice of the company's troubles. "They had been concerned about Shaw's for some time," Wojcick said, and are working to replace the tenant. 

Jon Grisham Sr. Vice President, Chief Financial Officer at Acadia, could not comment on the company's efforts to find a tenant to replace Shaw's.
 
Meanwhile, Wojcik said, there is the 153 Hamlet Avenue lot recently re-zoned to allow the owners to invite a large scale supermarket to set up shop. "It's a good property. It's a very busy street," Wojcik said.

The site is being developed by Saxon Partners for a retail shopping center.

At that spot, across the street from Hamlet Middle School and across the Blackstone River from Woonsocket Fire Department Headquarters, Wojcik said there are already a few tenants signed on to move in. Locking down all of them will take some time, Wojcik said, since the city population's average disposable income is on the low end, which means the owners need to make a case for being able to attract residents from surrounding communities in addition to its advantage in location.

A possible alternative, Wojcik said, is for the owners of the Hamlet Ave. plot to rent to Landmark Medical Center for an expanded campus. That option would depend on how much Prime Healthcare, which is in the process of purchasing the hospital, decides to invest in expansion. 

Wojcik said big grocery stores will return to Woonsocket, despite the misfortunate struggles of one company. "Clearly, we need supermarkets in the city," Wojcik said.