The New Retail Thread

fattony said:
They always had empty seats because it wasn't very popular - and that was the foundation of their longevity? :???:

I suspect the real reason is that they signed a long lease a long time ago when rents were lower. They cannot justify renewing the lease selling their same stale product.

If we are lucky, they will sell the brewhouse equipment to the next tenant and we'll get a new brewery. Probably not a brewpub this time.. More likely, this location will never be a brewery again.
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"survived as long as they did" was what I was responding to.

The only reason they had any substantive clientele in there - and (we assume) were able to make payments - was the mode of clientele I am referring to.

If they merely had their low quality food/beer offering, and not the style of dining room that they had, they would have been gone long ago IMO. For instance, if only 2-topper cafe tables were available, they would have offered no utility to anyone.

Rational economists really seem to need to have multidimensional utility spelled out for them.
 
Definitely was a spot for groups - I was a part of more than one. It's a nice space, so hopefully something good comes from it.
 
Didn't they stop brewing beers there years ago?

The one in Shoppers World in Framingham still brews beer. I was dragged there a year or so ago and the beer was actually decent. Nothing remotely close to places like Trillium, Night Shift, Tree House or other similar quality breweries but definitely better than places like Boston Beer Works and that place on Lansdowne that opened a few years ago.
 
Former Crema Café location in Harvard Sq. will become a Bluestone Lane Coffee

New York-Based Coffee Chain Plans Three-Store Expansion to Boston Area
...a New York-based chain of Australia-inspired cafes will be opening a location in the former Crema space, as previously reported at the time of Crema’s closure in late 2018. Now it turns out that the forthcoming Harvard Square location won’t be the only one to appear in the Boston area...
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From Eater Boston:
https://boston.eater.com/2019/5/14/18623087/bluestone-lane-coffee-harvard-expansion

The other two locations will be kiosk-style at South Station and at 125 High Street.

I've never tried their coffee; anyone know if it's any good?
 
Trader Joe's buildout in the Seaport appears to be imminent. Exterior of building is fenced off (near Shake Shack/Trillium).
 
Loyal Companion is taking a lease at 95 First St in Cambridge, which is the new one-story building. They are a new pet supply chain that unified a bunch of smaller retailers to counterbalance Petco.
 
Boston.com reports that restaurant/cafe/rooftop bar is opening in the retail at Cambridge Crossing. This marks the second restaurant in the Cambridge Crossing / North Point area (Tenoch was slated to open near the Regatta apartments, the other one, Lingo's, is part of the Education First office building)
 
meddlepal said:
https://www.universalhub.com/2019/city-always-sleeps-downtown-business-group-opposes

I really hate this city and the insufferable people in it sometimes...
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Someone should call out the fact that blocking late night business is prejudiced against those with sleep disorders that give them circadian rhythms not considered "normal". I'm one of those people, I'm naturally awake at night.

Preventing businesses from having late night hours for us is like a community banning businesses from using wheelchair friendly ramps or putting Braille on signs.

Also the ADA covers sleep disorders. These naysayers can shove it.
 
JohnAKeith said:
I don't think any business is "deceased due to rising rents".

Very few people still buy horseshoes, for example, which is why there are so few blacksmiths these days.
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I'm not following this analogy. Horseshoe sales might be down due to there not being a lot of Horses in Cambridge. I'm pretty sure though that there are still men in Cambridge and that they still wear clothing. I'd have some very mixed feelings about it if they didn't.
 
NYT said:
GUY FIERI, have you eaten at your new restaurant in Times Square? Have you pulled up one of the 500 seats at Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar and ordered a meal? Did you eat the food? Did it live up to your expectations?

Did panic grip your soul as you stared into the whirling hypno wheel of the menu, where adjectives and nouns spin in a crazy vortex? When you saw the burger described as “Guy’s Pat LaFrieda custom blend, all-natural Creekstone Farm Black Angus beef patty, LTOP (lettuce, tomato, onion + pickle), SMC (super-melty-cheese) and a slathering of Donkey Sauce on garlic-buttered brioche,” did your mind touch the void for a minute?

Did you notice that the menu was an unreliable predictor of what actually came to the table? Were the “bourbon butter crunch chips” missing from your Almond Joy cocktail, too? Was your deep-fried “boulder” of ice cream the size of a standard scoop?
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From one of the greatest takedowns in restaurant review history... NYT.
Full piece - https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/...uys-american-kitchen-bar-in-times-square.html
 
Downburst said:
So I guess anyone taking the Commuter Rail into North Station from now on is really booking a one-way ticket into Flavortown?
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This is a better Flavortown reference than what I had in mind. Bravo.
 
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