"We were looking for a perfect space, and we chose Metrowest because there was no Asian supermarket here." Theresa Liao, one of T Market's owners, said that to Natick Report on June 6, 2026, when the market opened early in the former Wegmans space on the second floor of Natick Mall. Within half an hour, more than a dozen customers were lined up for fresh fish and lobster. One shopper told the outlet she would no longer have to drive to Quincy or Boston.
Liao's reason sums up most of what has happened along Route 9 this year. National chains left several of Natick's large spaces empty. Most of the tenants taking them already run stores elsewhere in Massachusetts, often a few towns west, and came to Natick for something the town didn't have yet. The national names that have returned came back in a new form or are still waiting for a vote.
Nearly three years for the second floor
Wegmans announced in 2023 that it would close its Natick Mall store, saying the nontraditional location did not draw enough customers for its business model. Natick Report followed the closing, which came on July 22 of that year. Wegmans had opened at the mall in 2018, so its run lasted about five years. The space then sat empty for nearly three more before T Market opened.
T Market fills that footprint differently. Natick Report's account of the late-August grand opening describes tens of thousands of square feet of groceries and beauty products, plus a small food hall serving noodles and sushi. Students from Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi Academy performed a lion dance at the opening. About 150 people watched roughly two dozen guests cut a long red ribbon with golden scissors, and lettuce was thrown at the store's second-floor entrance. At the June opening, the market's hours were 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily. Those hours start earlier and run later than the mall's own Monday-through-Thursday hours.
Where the new tenants came from
T Market follows the same pattern as the other spaces changing hands this year. Here they are side by side:
| Space | Who left | Who's coming | Where the operator already runs | Status, mid-October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natick Mall, second floor | Wegmans, July 2023 | T Market | First Asian supermarket in MetroWest, per Natick Report | Open since June 6 |
| Natick Mall, first floor near Nordstrom | Gatsby's Chop House, approved but never opened | Alma Gaucha | Boston and Worcester | Liquor license granted Sept. 16 |
| 244 Worcester St. | JoAnn Fabrics | East Coast Thrift | Spencer and Clinton | No opening date yet |
| 9/27 plaza, next to Stop & Shop | Hand & Stone | Concierge Physical Therapy | Hopkinton, Northborough, Shrewsbury, Southborough, Sutton | Announced Oct. 16 |
| Natick Mall, first floor | None reported | Body Art Studio 13 | Previously Hopedale, then Saxonville | Open |
Each of these operators is expanding from a small base. East Coast Thrift opened its first store in Spencer in spring 2024 and its Clinton shop in August 2026, so What Now Boston reports that Natick will be its third location. Permits filed for the old JoAnn space call for three fitting rooms, a larger production area, a new break room and exterior work, with an estimated building cost of $39,500. The store sells used clothing, shoes, housewares, electronics, books and jewelry, and keeps boutique sections for designer pieces.
Concierge Physical Therapy is run by the wife-and-husband team of Dr. Sean Lordan and Brooke Lordan, who is co-owner and chief strategy officer. The 9/27 plaza store will be its sixth location, and Natick Report says the company aims to open 10 locations in 10 years. Services range from physical therapy to shockwave therapy and orthotics. A spa space turning into a clinic also changes how the plaza gets used. A physical therapy patient usually comes back for repeat appointments instead of a single visit.
Alma Gaucha's story is about getting a restaurant to actually open. The steakhouse is expected to take the first-floor space near Nordstrom, nearly 7,000 square feet with an outdoor patio. That is the same space Gatsby's Chop House was approved for before it never opened. On Sept. 16, 2026, the Select Board voted 5–0 to grant PB Natick Steakhouse LLC, doing business as Alma Gaucha, an all-alcohol restaurant license. The MetroWest Daily News said shoppers would have the new option "soon," but no opening date has been announced.
The national names are back on different terms
Bed Bath & Beyond closed all of its stores after filing for Chapter 11 in 2023. It has now returned to Route 9 west as a co-branded store inside The Container Store at 1265 Worcester St., in the plaza with Ben & Jerry's. The company's June 18, 2026 announcement put Natick among 22 Phase One locations. The brand is back, but inside a store that was already there, and it didn't need a building of its own.
Chick-fil-A wants to build from scratch. It has proposed a 5,056-square-foot restaurant with a drive-through at 1235 Worcester St., in the Macy's parking lot near Route 9 and Natick Mall Road. Drive-through restaurants need a special permit under Natick's zoning bylaw, and the site sits in the town's highway overlay and aquifer protection districts. Natick Report reported 88 indoor and 16 outdoor seats in the proposal. The Planning Board hearing opened Aug. 19 and was continued to Sept. 9, then Sept. 23, then Wednesday, Oct. 21. The town's agenda links to the project's OpenGov record, where the result of that session and any later steps will be posted. No construction or opening schedule had been made public before that hearing.
The spaces still waiting
Some of the corridor hasn't filled yet. Party City closed at 321 Worcester St. at the end of 2024. In July 2026, Natick Report reported that PEC Realty sold the building to Empire Management for $7.25 million. The property has 20,300 square feet of retail space, 13-foot ceilings and plenty of on-site parking, and no new tenant has been named.
Timing is the open question for the old JoAnn space as well. What Now Boston, citing Natick Report, says East Coast Thrift is expected to announce its opening timeline by the end of 2026. For the holiday season, that leaves T Market, Body Art Studio 13 and the co-branded Container Store as the new tenants you can actually visit.
Before the holidays at the mall
The mall's own calendar has a few dates worth knowing, starting with a schedule change some regulars may have missed.
- Weekday hours: Since Aug. 31, Natick Mall has been open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Friday through Sunday hours did not change.
- Malloween: Saturday, Oct. 31, 10 a.m. to noon at Center Court, with trick-or-treating and a $5 suggested donation to Second Chance Animal Services.
- Santa's Elevator Express: Daily at Infinity Pool Court from Sunday, Nov. 1 through Thursday, Dec. 24, 2026.
Since the mall now closes at 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, T Market's opening hours of 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily ran well past that, so check the market's current schedule before planning a late weeknight trip.
New tenants on Route 9 change how a neighborhood's errands work, and that is part of the story when you talk about a Natick home. If you're thinking about how changes along the corridor might factor into your own plans, Judy Korzenowski would be glad to walk through it with you. Request your complimentary consultation & market valuation.
