By Sean Flannelly — Correspondent
After more than 40 years in town, Welch’s will move its headquarters and lab from Baker Avenue to Waltham next year.
Welch’s was founded in New Jersey but chose Concord as its home in the early 1980s due to its namesake grape, first cultivated in 1849 by Ephraim Wales Bull. The company continues to sell foods made with Concord and Niagara grapes, such as grape juice, grape jam, and fruit snack gummies.
The departure announcement took the town by surprise, said Select Board Chair Mary Hartman. “I think it’s really unfortunate that they’re leaving,” she said.
Welch’s Concord headquarters was first located on Main Street. It relocated briefly to Virginia Road before landing at 300 Baker Avenue.
“It’s a historic company with deep roots in Concord,” said Mike Lawson, a former Select Board chair. “Any movement out of town by a historic company like Welch’s is certainly not good news.”
Concord Economic Vitality Manager Mimi Graney contends the move won’t have an outsized financial effect because Welch’s only represents about one percent of the workforce in town. Still, she recognizes the potential for “an emotional impact.”
“The Concord grape will always be the Concord grape,” Graney said. “Welch’s has grown to be bigger than Concord.”
What happens next
It’s not immediately clear what will happen with the property.
The building is owned by Taurus Investment Holdings, the Boston-based real estate developer of NOVO Riverside Commons.
At 292 and 294 Baker Avenue, Taurus Investment Holdings is already building 201 new apartments, 51 of which are designated affordable under the state’s 40B regulation.
Taurus purchased the entire 65-acre parcel in April 2020 for $74.5 million, announcing in a news release that it planned to retrofit the buildings to be energy-efficient and carbon-neutral.
The 300 Baker Avenue building also houses the Steinberg Wellness Center and Lexia Learning Systems.
Representatives of Taurus did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the Welch’s announcement.
Sweet memories
Henry Dane, another ex-Select Board chair, remembers the original Welch’s building on Main and its trellis of Concord grapes on the facade. For the town’s 350th anniversary in 1985, he said the firm bottled commemorative grape juice for the community, which he still has.
“I’m surprised that they’re leaving and just going to some other place in Massachusetts that has no relevance to their mission,” Dane said. “I would assume they would go closer to their growers.”
Similar to Ocean Spray cranberry juice, Welch’s is owned by a cooperative — the National Grape Cooperative Association — composed of more than 650 grape growers from Washington, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New York.
A Welch’s spokesperson said relocating will allow the company to modernize its lab setup and attract a wider pool of candidates by setting up shop to Boston, though the new space will be smaller.
The company, in anticipation of its 2025 lease expiration, said it checked out more than 30 offices in greater Boston before settling on Waltham’s Reservoir Place campus.
Welch’s will begin renovations on the new space this summer and plans to move out of Concord officially next spring.
