The New Retail Thread

BosDevelop said:
That was back in January. Since then, the Paparazzi across Route 9 also closed and the British Beer Company (terrible food but decent tap list, at least for the immediate area) announced that it is closing too. Lots of closings in the Route 9 area of Framingham over the last few months. Sad how few decent restaurants there are in that area given the tens of thousands of people who drive by every day whether to commute or shop.
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Tony C's is scheduled to go in to the paparazzi space, great food and a reasonable tap list too, will be a good addition to the area.
 
atlantaden said:
https://www.bostonmagazine.com/restaurants/2018/04/05/castle-island-ink-block-beer-garden/

Not sure if this has been posted but Castle Island Brewery is opening a seasonal beer garden under the 93 overpass at Ink Block.
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I haven't seen this yet.

I'm thrilled. Between this, Night Shift opening up shop at Lovejoy, the return of Trillium on the Greenway, Wachusett at City Hall Plaza, and Sam Adams' new taproom at 60 State (2019), there are a lot of new places to have a local brew outside this summer and beyond. You also have Democracy Brewing opening this month at Temple Place, and Brato opening (hopefully soon) in Brighton - though I'm not sure if either will open with outdoor seating.

I love this type of venue and frequent NSB's Everett location probably too often (Bone Up brewing and Short Path distillery are worth the short walk as well). This is a great series of developments for the city.
 
Lrfox said:
I haven't seen this yet.

I'm thrilled. Between this, Night Shift opening up shop at Lovejoy, the return of Trillium on the Greenway, Wachusett at City Hall Plaza, and Sam Adams' new taproom at 60 State (2019), there are a lot of new places to have a local brew outside this summer and beyond. You also have Democracy Brewing opening this month at Temple Place, and Brato opening (hopefully soon) in Brighton - though I'm not sure if either will open with outdoor seating.

I love this type of venue and frequent NSB's Everett location probably too often (Bone Up brewing and Short Path distillery are worth the short walk as well). This is a great series of developments for the city.
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Indeed, and don't forget the new beer hall Trillium is opening in Fort Point, which will include a patio.

Meanwhile, where in Brighton is Brato opening?
 
bigpicture7 said:
Indeed, and don't forget the new beer hall Trillium is opening in Fort Point, which will include a patio.

Meanwhile, where in Brighton is Brato opening?
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I don't know how I forgot about that one...

Brato is going to 190 N. Beacon - near WGBH and New Balance
 
JANAM said:
Tony C's is scheduled to go in to the paparazzi space, great food and a reasonable tap list too, will be a good addition to the area.
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Good to know, thanks. The area could also use a sports bar with edible food. That one in the Hampton Inn on Speen St. in Natick (Skybox?) is horrible.
 
RIP Salvatore's Seaport:

https://twitter.com/OnlyInBOS/status/988507871561252867

DbfiqkAU0AAEBAw.jpg:large
 
Hopefully a non steakhouse backfills. Most likely they were getting marked to market rents as they were the original tenant there and probably had a decent deal as that side of the Seaport was pretty dead when they first went in.
 
falcon42 said:
Hopefully a non steakhouse backfills. Most likely they were getting marked to market rents as they were the original tenant there and probably had a decent deal as that side of the Seaport was pretty dead when they first went in.
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Tough to survive paying those rents while serving pasta. Chances of a non-steakhouse/chain going into that space = slim to none.
 
I guess there is not much room for a moderately priced sit down place in the Seaport.
 
https://youtu.be/WCicA2iiQNo

Starbucks is trying to open at the new north end retail development and it's controversial to say the least.

Anyway I wish there were more small time local businesses opening up. Everything new seems like it's some sort of chain
 
BosDevelop said:
Tough to survive paying those rents while serving pasta. Chances of a non-steakhouse/chain going into that space = slim to none.
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Heard the rent for the Sal's space had gone up to $40k/month +/-. Crazy!
 
tysmith95 said:
https://youtu.be/WCicA2iiQNo

Starbucks is trying to open at the new north end retail development and it's controversial to say the least.

Anyway I wish there were more small time local businesses opening up. Everything new seems like it's some sort of chain
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Two problems: 1) MA's liquor license restrictions, 2) high cost of land.

Re: #1, it's a pretty common operating model for restaurants to roughly break even on food and make all their profit on booze. However in Boston, due to the liquor license constraints, it costs about $400,000 to buy a full liquor license from another party. That's a non-starter for most ventures that are not backed up by a huge pool of capital.

#2 is a much wider problem of course, but it makes life especially hard for mom and pop restaurants when their cash cow - booze - isn't available (or extremely expensive to get licensed).

So what you see here for the most part is already-successful chains coming in from other cities (or other parts of Boston). Mom and pop restaurants are priced out until they can become successful elsewhere and then come to Boston.
 
FenwayResident said:
Two problems: 1) MA's liquor license restrictions, 2) high cost of land.

Re: #1, it's a pretty common operating model for restaurants to roughly break even on food and make all their profit on booze. However in Boston, due to the liquor license constraints, it costs about $400,000 to buy a full liquor license from another party. That's a non-starter for most ventures that are not backed up by a huge pool of capital.

#2 is a much wider problem of course, but it makes life especially hard for mom and pop restaurants when their cash cow - booze - isn't available (or extremely expensive to get licensed).

So what you see here for the most part is already-successful chains coming in from other cities (or other parts of Boston). Mom and pop restaurants are priced out until they can become successful elsewhere and then come to Boston.
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That begs the question whether a smaller "mom and pop" restaurant could survive in the Seaport serving beer/wine only. What are the logistics/cost to obtain a beer/wine only license?
 
BosDevelop said:
That begs the question whether a smaller "mom and pop" restaurant could survive in the Seaport serving beer/wine only. What are the logistics/cost to obtain a beer/wine only license?
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Breweries seem to be opening up taprooms, though they tend to be pretty established before they break into downtown Boston/Seaport.
 
Hopsters for example, has a full liquor license though. They are essentially a full service restaurant.

You have to wonder if a lease is already signed for the space now.
 
tysmith95 said:
Breweries seem to be opening up taprooms, though they tend to be pretty established before they break into downtown Boston/Seaport.
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I don't know, some of these like Democracy in DTX, or Brato (though this is in Brighton) are relative newcomers in that they have zero footprint (though Brato has collaborated with Idle Hands in Malden a bit). I'd wager that they did a lot of work finding investors/backers beforehand and the taproom/brewhouse scene is still exploding (and the market is still vastly undeserved locally in my opinion) so I imagine that it's a hot commodity right now (especially vs. Italian food which has been done a billion times over).
 
BosDevelop said:
That begs the question whether a smaller "mom and pop" restaurant could survive in the Seaport serving beer/wine only. What are the logistics/cost to obtain a beer/wine only license?
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A beer & wine license is going for about $60-70K right now as opposed the $400-$450K for full liquor.
 
JANAM said:
A beer & wine license is going for about $60-70K right now as opposed the $400-$450K for full liquor.
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Thanks for the info. So, a fraction of the price as a full liquor license but still an absurd amount for any non-chain or non-celebrity chef backed restaurant. Can the licensing fee for beer and wine be paid over time by the applicant or does it need to be fully paid before the license is issued?
 
BosDevelop said:
Thanks for the info. So, a fraction of the price as a full liquor license but still an absurd amount for any non-chain or non-celebrity chef backed restaurant. Can the licensing fee for beer and wine be paid over time by the applicant or does it need to be fully paid before the license is issued?
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Licenses are bought and sold by individuals just like any other asset. It's not a "licensing fee" per se as much as a sale price.

Banks will lend establishments the money to buy a license, and the license can in turn be used as collateral on the loan.

I'm always a little baffled by the delta between beer/wine licenses and full liquor licenses. Is the right to sell hard liquor really worth 6+ times the right to sell just beer and wine? I get that cocktails have higher margins than beer and wine, but they're also sold in much lower volume. Are there other limitations to beer/wine licenses that I don't understand?
 
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