I loved the old Bread and Chocolate. I started going there almost as it opened and remain friends with the Fellers. Eunice, who was the baker extraordinaire behind it all, introduced me to the flavor mix of dark chocolate and ginger.
The Newtonville location is long gone (and remains unoccupied) and the Newton Highlands location was sold a while back. But I read today on the Newton Parents Facebook page that the store is currently closed with plans to re-open later this week with “New Management, New Menu, New Name.” The picture in this post is linked directly from that post, I did not take it.
Any insight from Highlands residents?
I saw that when I walked by it yesterday. Guess we’ll find out tomorrow. At least it looks like a quick turn-around, not something that will stay empty for ages.
Sounds similar to the Deluxe Diner situation in Newton Centre…very quick turn around with new owner. I really liked Bread and Chocolate but glad there will be something there since it such a nice space AND and outdoor patio. A full service restaurant would be nice.
SO much empty retail space in Newton Centre right now. The exercise studio on Union is a great space. At least two other vacant spaces on Union Street.
Murray’s is closing end of month and I really don’t see the juice bar lasting because they don’t open until 8am and close at 5pm missing most of the morning and evening commuters. Meanwhile the macaroon store opens at 7am but I never see anyone in there at that hour.
I was very sorry to see Sapporo in Newton Centre closed too. It was our families go to restaurant. Not sure what is happening in NC, but there seem to be quite a few unoccupied shops near the T and new shops – Bloomsbury flowers, Dutchess, …, that seem to come and go quickly.
@Lucia, I have a theory on the high turnover of businesses in Newton Centre. Rents are expensive and I think you have to have a very strong business plan to make it. For example was the flower shop depending heavily on foot traffic or was it tied into one the a national delivery systems? The fitness studio seemed a bit too niche. I only saw people (mostly female) there in the early morning. Seemed closed or unused other parts of the day. That seemed unsustainable for such a large space.
There are two businesses there now that I don’t see surviving. Can you sell enough macaroons to cover the rent on Union Street? They pay staff to be there at 7am, but I never see patrons in there at that hour. On the other hand can the Juice bar survive if it doesn’t open until 8am and closes at 5pm? Time will tell.
Then you have Murray’s which had half empty shelves for over two years. The impression that gave was they were having a cash flow problem, but it is a chicken/egg situations. Why go there, if it had no selection?
Boston City Councilor, Matt O’Malley is attempting to address the “empty storefront” syndrome with a proposal to charge landlords for vacant storefronts. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/04/03/proposal-could-charge-landlords-for-vacant-storefronts-and-luxury-units/v5vlroMMINRyBs4NHmsqFM/story.html
In places like Cambridge, a lot of retail space is renting for below market because building owners see it as an amenity for the office workers upstairs. Newton Centre doesn’t have the upstairs renters (neither residential nor commercial) to make this a viable model. Which means that retailers need to pay market rate AND have the foot traffic/ business model to make such a location sustainable.
What drives foot traffic? For one, people living or working in an area. In the old shopping mall model, the foot traffic came because of anchor stores with smaller storefronts benefitting from that, but that doesn’t work as it once did.
If we want to help Newton Centre thrive we should focus on how we can create transit oriented development that would bring in more people to live and/ or work there. The parking lots can provide more benefit to the community than just a place to store cars.
@Chuck,
I don’t buy the argument about Newton Ctr. Surely the loans on the Properties are all paid up by now? Which leads me to believe its the owners charging exorbitant rent. I know the toy store was pushed out by the amount of rent being charged.
@Simon: So once your house is paid off should your employer cut your pay? And if you sell it will you charge less than what a buyer is willing to pay because you don’t owe the bank anything?
Hi Chuck – Newton Centre across from the T stop does have upstairs and downstairs rentals (Sappora was a downstairs restaurant) but still empty stores are common. I think Claire is right, these places need foot traffic, plus lower rents.
@simon yes, they are charging high rents. But that’s the point, they’re market-rate, not cut rate.
@Lucia yes, some have upstairs and there are some offices, but not the same scale as you see in Cambridge when you have 8, 10 or 15 floors of office space.
@simon there are a number of factors that go into renting a unit. An owner that doesn’t have a large mortgage may not be motivated to rent out a place as fast, so is willing to sit on a vacant storefront until they get a tenant willing to take a 10-year lease. Or maybe they have a deal with another retailer on their property that restricts some types of competition. Or maybe they plan on taking out a mortgage but need the space rented with a certain percentage of longer-term leases at a given per square foot rate to get the financing from the bank.
Marty’s, from what I understand, is a unique situation given that the owner wants to retire but is tied to a lease. What if a retail marijuana facility wanted to rent it? What about an educational use? Are those allowed by right under the zoning or do those require a special permit? How much time and money is involved in getting the special permit?
It’s not as simple as “there’s an empty space, someone with money can fill it.”
@Greg,
Its the Residents in City who pay the majority of taxes for the up keep of this city. Empty shop fronts equals less tax base, and less reasons to visit the Village center. Not good for anybody. Isn’t it also part of your day job?
I like the idea of charging the store owners who keep an empty shop front. And on that matter why should we reward them with up zoning, if they are not playing their part?
I’m not going to respond to your comment, it is rather quite silly.
I’d noticed the accumulating vacancies on Union Street, and the subdividing that frequently follows until commercial spaces are so tiny as to seem all but useless. Hadn’t heard that Murray’s was closing, though that’s not too much of a surprise for a mom-and-pop that’s been here longer, I think, than I have. Hadn’t heard about Sapporo closing either, though perhaps that will be the location of the Indian restaurant that was rumored a few months ago to be opening. My husband and I are just back from visiting our son and his family, who live on the Berkeley-Oakland line in an area called Rockridge. Block after block of nice little shops and cafés in low-rise buildings with single-family residential neighborhoods around the corner. Sound familiar? Variety is the magnet there, as it used to be here. You can actually buy groceries! How commercial rents compare I don’t know, though it would be interesting to find out.
Empty retail is also caused by the Amazon effect.
I’ve been driving up and down Moody Street a lot lately (very sick 14 year old dog – going back and forth to Kindness Animal Hospital) and have noticed a lot of vacant storefronts. Presumably, there’s plenty of foot traffic on Moody Street (and even more with the new apartment buildings going up) – so what’s up with that? High rents, poor market match-ups, or possibly a development model that doesn’t necessarily work.
Retail is hurting somewhat because of Amazon and other mail-order businesses, but landlords don’t seem to care. They keep ratcheting up rents, so if a building sits vacant, it stays vacant, as they never want to see the rent go down. It’s the same in Newtonville where the old Bread & Chocolate location has been empty for a long time, with a ridiculous asking price. Once retail landlords realize that the gravy train is over, they might meet the market, but for now the idea of “market rent” seems broken, as the suppliers are asking more than the demand can warrant.
Of course for a retail tenant, renting in Newton is risky, as the City seems to think that its village parking lots are all surplus sites to be sold to luxury firetrap (VASLSS) apartment developers, and customers should only arrive by bike, foot, or the occasional train. That rather drastically limits the type of business that can be transacted there.
@Amy, I’m sorry about your aging dog. That’s always hard.
@Mary Mary Quite Contrary: Thank you. It is so very hard.
Update: I called them and the outgoing message says they’re still closed and “waiting on city hall to reopen.”
Just went to the new Bread & Chocolate. Got $20+ in pastries. They were not the same! Cookies, scones, muffins and eclairs are now just the generic “industrial” stuff.. too bad.