Three growing fast casual restaurant chains are set to open at Shoppers World on the border of Framingham and Natick later this year.
Atlantic Poké, Playa Bowls, and Sweetgreens have signed leases for restaurants they plan to open later this year at the shopping center, according to a May 2 press release from Urban Edge Properties, the New York-based owner of Shopper’s World.
“These new tenants bring a fresh, healthy approach to dining to the dedicated customers of Shoppers World,” Joshua Birns, vice president of leasing at Urban Edge, said in the press release. “This is our first opportunity to add to the merchandise mix since taking ownership of the center and is just the beginning of what we anticipate to come.”
Shoppers World was purchased by Urban Edge for $187 million in November 2023.
Founded in 2018 with its first location in Shrewsbury, this Atlantic Poké location will join an existing location in Marlborough as the franchise’s third. Founded by Worcester-born Michael Tomaiolo, the restaurant focuses on poké, a Hawaiian bowl dish which contains ingredients like raw tuna and rice.
Playa Bowls was founded in 2014 in New Jersey. Now with more than 50 stores, the franchise focusing on fruit-infused food items like acai bowls and smoothies has existing locations in Hudson and Milton, with a Worcester location expected to open soon.
Headquartered in California, Sweetgreen has expanded to more than 200 locations since it first opened in 2006. The brand focuses on salad and warm bowl items. With 23 existing locations in the state, this will be Sweetgreen’s first store in Central Massachusetts, according to the company’s website.
Atlantic Poke and Playa Bowls will share newly built space near the Best Buy location at Shoppers World, while Sweetgreen will be near an existing Chipotle location, according to the release. The leases have a move-in date of Nov. 1, according to CoStar.
The three new leases come as Urban Edge has begun discussions with the City of Framingham to explore potential rezoning which would allow for residential units to be built at the site, one of the oldest shopping plazas in the country.
Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.
