Attention Plymouth shoppers: Costco or some other sought-after retail emporium may be coming to town.
And a highly visible blight on the landscape might be cleaned up in the process.
The owner of TL Edwards Inc., the hulking gravel processing plant off Cherry Street and Commerce Way, wants to sell the 54-acre parcel, preferably to a retailer, a lawyer for the company told Select Board members this week.
“Discussions have been held with a number of operations, including Costco,” said attorney William Sims. “I can’t give a commitment but that is the projected idea — to completely change that operation from what it is now…”
TL (Terry) Edwards, who is 80 but still works 40 hours a week, Sims said, wants to consolidate the plant, at 300 Cherry St., with another he owns in Avon, and “at the same time capture the retail business that would be much more attractive in Plymouth.”
Edwards bought the property 30 years ago, Sims said. Some 100 trucks still cycle through the facility daily.
Town planner Lee Hartmann said retail on the site would be a “far better use than what is there now.” It would also be preferable to what might end up there if a zoning change to allow retail on the site is not approved, Hartmann said — another 40b affordable housing project.
The location, off Route 44, is at one of the gateways to the town.
Edwards hasn’t said he would sell to a 40b developer, but that’s always a possibility if he had no other options, Hartmann said.
Chapter 40B projects allows developers to override local zoning bylaws in order to increase the number of affordable homes in municipalities where less than 10 percent of the housing is defined as affordable. Plymouth’s housing stock is only 4.88 percent affordable, according to a state inventory as of June 2023.)
At Tuesday’s Select Board meeting, Sims presented a citizen’s petition that, if approved by Town Meeting, would rezone the parcel from light industrial to mixed commerce, which would allow retail businesses to locate there.
The Select Board voted unanimously to recommend Town Meeting approve the zoning change. The Planning Board has also voted in favor of the proposal. The zoning change will be voted on at the annual Town Meeting in April.
“This sounds like a no-brainer,” said Select Board member Charlie Bletzer. “Any kind of residential might be a problem. I don’t want to see any more apartment complexes. I want to see commercial tax revenue coming out of there.”
“Get this zoned.” Bletzer said. “I’m all for it. This is what I’ve been waiting for.”
Select Board member David Golden asked Sims if Costco is really eyeing the site.
“Are you involved in that discussion?” he said.
“I can’t really comment on potential suitors,” the lawyer said. “At this point we don’t have commitments from anyone.”
Golden responded, half-joking: “My wife would be extraordinarily pleased if you could make this a Trader Joe’s.”
Select board vice chair Kevin Canty said Thursday that a retail or commercial use of the site “would present a much more attractive first impression to folks entering Plymouth from Route 44 than the sand and gravel processing facility that has been there for years.”
He said many residents would like to see a Costco, Trader Joe’s, or Whole Foods in Plymouth.
Costco, which has an almost cult-like following across the United States, does not comment on possible locations until they are within three months of opening. It sells everything from groceries to electronics to clothing to caskets and bars of gold.
“Few companies have greater influence over what we eat (or wear, or fuel our cars with, or use for personal hygiene),” an August New York Times story said.
Costco is the third largest retailer in the world behind Amazon and Walmart. It “dominates multiple categories of the food supply — beef, poultry, organic produce, even fine wine from Bordeaux, which it sells more of than any retailer in the world,” the Times story said.
And then there is this staggering statistic: Nearly one-third of American consumers have shopped at a Costco. The Massachusetts locations closest to Plymouth are in Avon, Dedham, and Sharon, so it would appear there is little market overlap were a store to open here.
A Costco in Plymouth would compete with the BJ’s Wholesale Club located in The Grove shopping plaza off Long Pond Road. BJ’s, based in Marlborough, is
Smaller than Costco, with more than 260 locations in 23 Eastern states.
Costco, based in Washington state, had 890 locations worldwide as of September 2024, including 616 in the U.S.
The typical Costco store is about 150,000 square feet. The Plymouth Walmart Supercenter, by comparison, covers more than 200,000 square feet.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.