LYNN — The Shaw’s supermarket on State Street in the city’s center will close in mid-February, according to Lynn/EDIC Executive Director James M. Cowdell.
“The mayor and I got the phone call on Friday (Jan. 11) that Shaw’s is closing its doors on Feb. 16,” Cowdell said on Monday morning.
Cowdell said representatives for Albertsons, Shaw’s parent company, did not provide specific reasons for the closing.
“Shaw’s said they were choosing not to renew their lease. They relayed to us no one is losing their job,” Cowdell said.
Shaw’s spokeswoman Teresa Edington in a statement said the decision to close the Lynn store “was made only after careful evaluation and was guided by what is best for the company’s ongoing success and future growth.”
Employees may find jobs in other nearby Shaw’s stores.
“We have several other stores in the immediate area and we will work with our employees to transfer them to other locations as appropriate,” she said.
Ward 5 City Councilor Dianna Chakoutis said she was told about the closing by a Shaw’s employee over the weekend and is concerned about seniors who live within walking distance of Shaw’s and rely on the store for groceries and its pharmacy.
“What is going to happen to them?” she asked on Monday.
Cowdell said he met two weeks ago with a representative of Brixmor Property Group, the New York firm that owns the property where Shaw’s is located, to discuss ongoing development around the property.
No fewer than three construction projects are underway within a block of State Street, including the Lynn YMCA expansion, a residential high-rise development on Oxford Street, and conversion of the J.B. Blood building into a new school operated by the Knowledge Is Power Program charter school.
Cowdell said he and Mayor Thomas M. McGee hope to meet with Brixmor representatives as early as next week.
“We’ll talk about the future of that site,” he said.
