Retail

While the business community throughout Massachusetts have begun to feel pessimistic about the state’s economic outlook for the first time in three years, company leaders in Central Mass. remain cautiously optimistic, according to the monthly index from the Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

The 134,000-square-foot, multi-level Wegmans supermarket at the Natick Mall will close later this summer.

The Devens Eco-Efficiency Center is a nonprofit providing programs to help companies make more efficient choices, such as by creating The Great Exchange, a marketplace for the reuse of materials destined for the trash.

Scarlet Spa and Wellness Center was approved for a $32,000 loan from the North Central Massachusetts Development Corp.

Restaurateurs and other small business owners are wary of a looming "threat" of a 2024 ballot question that could raise the state's minimum wage beyond the $15 hourly rate that took effect in January.

California-based Realty Income Corp. has begun acquiring Cumberland Farms locations as part of a $1.5-billion sale-leaseback deal with United Kingdom-based EG Group.

Renew You MedSpa has received a $75,000 loan from the North Central Massachusetts Development Corp.

Cannabis regulators voted Monday to overhaul their approach toward rolling out social consumption locations, sometimes referred to as marijuana cafes, that voters embraced in the 2016 ballot question legalizing recreational marijuana use.

Local brokers are optimistic they can fill that space as the industry experiences a post-COVID resurgence and innovative new concepts for retail space are hitting the marketplace.

Aeronaut Brewing and Julio’s Liquors announced that they’re collaborating on a new beer to be sold exclusively at the Westborough liquor store and on draught at Firefly’s BBQ in Marlborough.