Wegmans to Close Chase-Pitkin Stores

New York, August 30, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Chase-Pitkin Home and Garden Centers, no longer able to successfully compete with the giant Lowe's and Home Depot chains, is going out of business, starting with the store on Chambers Road and another near Syracuse.

Those two stores will close by the end of March, Chase-Pitkin's parent company, the Rochester-based Wegmans Food Markets Inc., announced Tuesday.

Two remaining Syracuse stores and 10 others in the Rochester area also will close, but a timetable for those moves hasn't been established, said Jo Natale, media relations director for Wegmans.

While 122 jobs will be lost when the Big Flats store closes, local leaders are not worried about the impact the store's closing will have on the retail landscape of Big Flats or the area's economy.

"We are upset anytime a large store closes," said Big Flats Town Supervisor Mary Ann Balland, "but it's a prime location that should be filled quickly. I wouldn't be surprised if we (found a new tenant) this week."

Chase-Pitkin President William Strassburg said the decision to close the stores was made about a week ago, although discussions had been ongoing. The Big Flats store was doing very well, he said, but the competition for the chain was too great.

"In the past three years, we've had new competitors, and each took a share of the pie," Strassburg said. "We have a lot of great people, and because of them we've been able to sustain the business and fight off the competition.

"Three years ago, there was a total of two Home Depot stores in Syracuse. Now there are four Home Depots and three Lowe's, and more Lowe's are planned. Rochester has a total of seven Home Depots and four Lowe's, with another one planned," he said.

In the Twin Tiers, a Lowe's opened in Consumer Square in the late 1990s and a Home Depot opened in Erwin in 2002. A Lowe's is now planned for Athens Township.

Neither Home Depot nor Lowe's returned phone calls seeking comment.

Wegmans, which has 69 grocery stores in five states, does more than $3 billion in annual sales, said Chairman Robert B. Wegman.

Chase-Pitkin had sales of $200 million last year, according to Wegmans and industry publication Home Channel News. That was higher than the $180 million the magazine reported for the chain for 1996 but below the $225 million it cited for 2000.

Chase-Pitkin employs 1,660 part-time and 507 full-time workers at its 14 stores, including 34 full-time and 88 part-time employees at the 9-year-old Big Flats location.

Employees will be offered positions at Wegmans stores, Natale said. But if they decide to leave the company, they will be given severance packages, she said. She would not disclose details of those packages.

"We have thoroughly analyzed our position in the home improvement business and have come to one conclusion," Wegman said in a prepared statement. "The industry is dominated by a small number of very large national players with thousands of stores, and Chase-Pitkin is simply not big enough to compete successfully and grow the business.