The New Retail Thread

Very few 'Old Boston' institutions left.
Durgin Park, Union Oyster House, Jacob Wirth's, Parker House Hotel ....???
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Not a restaurant or hotel, but ... The Boston Athenaeum.
 
Marshalls has opened a new location on Brookline Avenue across from the hotel under construction. Driving by it looks about the same size as the one on Boylston was before the expansion over City Sports.
 
I believe I saw a picture of our very own Matthew at a meeting where an Allston/Brighton joint was looking to extend hours until 2AM.
 
TJMaxx at CambridgeSide (former Borders, level 2) will be opening on Thursday (tomorrow). Operating hours will be beyond the standard mall operating hours:

Sun: 11am - 8pm
Mon - Sat: 9:30am - 9:30pm

The struggle between ghetto or high-end mall continues for CambridgeSide.
 
I thought Borders was on level 3? Formerly the 3rd floor of Lechmere Sales?
 
Five Guys is looking great in DTX! Soon!! Can't wait!!

Taken by a friend today:
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Apparently Whole Foods just bought six Foodmaster locations as had been rumored a while back:

http://www.wickedlocal.com/brooklin...rookline-location-of-Foodmaster#axzz2APEUBkE2

Brookline —

Whole Foods Market, which does not currently have a Brookline location, announced today the acquisition of six locations of Johnnie’s Foodmaster, including one near the Boston University campus.

The Brookline Foodmaster at 1026-1028 Beacon St. will now become a Whole Foods Market, the Texas-based chain with numerous locations near the Brookline area. Whole Foods expects to open by the end of fiscal year 2013.

Foodmaster will close operations at all six locations, which also include stores in South Weymouth, Arlington, Charlestown, Melrose and the Beacon Street store in Somerville, before Nov. 30. That’s the date the leases for the six stores are officially transferred to Whole Foods.

John DeJesus, second-generation owner of Johnnie’s Foodmaster, said it was time to move on.

“The time was right to make this change for our company,” said DeJesus, through a written press release. “I am confident that we have found the best partner that offers the most positive outcome not only for our employees but for the communities as well.”

Foodmaster has 10 locations across Massachusetts, and that number will fall to four after this acquisition.

Whole Foods Market has agreed to offer interviews to all employees at the six stores that will be shuttered.

“We are so pleased that Mr. DeJesus has given us this opportunity at a time when we are looking to expand our presence in greater Boston,” said Laura Derba, president of Whole Foods Market’s North Atlantic region, through a press release.

DeJesus shared a final message to his employees.

“I want to extend my sincerest appreciation to the wonderful employees in the six locations who have provided excellent service to our loyal shoppers for so many years,” said DeJesus. “I also want to express my gratitude for the customers who have embraced Johnnie’s Foodmaster in these communities as their family grocer for more than 50 years.”
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This is really disappointing. The Charlestown Johnnie's will not be affordable as a Whole Foods. That they're closing it for six months is terrible for the community.
 
A lot of folks were asking about this on Beacon St Somerville. I guess we have the answer now.

What will they do?
 
There are 4(?) Whole Foods in Cambridge, one not too far from the Foodmaster on Prospect St... How about a Trader Joe's instead? Ugh... Unless they lower their prices I have no intrest in ANOTHER one going in just up the street.
 
The newly-restored former Louis Boston building is getting a small addition on its Newbury St. side.
ne_museum_of_natural_history_bldg_addition.jpg
 
This is pretty exciting news:

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/innoeco/2012/10/starbucks_picks_boston_for_pil.html

Starbucks picks Boston for pilot test of wireless charging, in partnership with Duracell Powermat
Posted by Scott Kirsner October 29, 2012 08:00 AM

If you've deemed yourself a non-essential worker and are riding out Hurricane Sandy at your neighborhood Starbucks, you may get a chance to be the first to try something new today: juicing up your phone with a wireless charging system made by Duracell Powermat.
The caffeine purveyor has chosen 17 locations around the Boston area for a "limited time in-store trial for wireless charging," in the words of Starbucks chief digital officer Adam Brotman. "We're building the Powermat technology into some of the tabletops, just to get a sense for how our customers will react, compared to having to plug their mobile devices into the wall."

And if you don't already own an accessory for your iPhone or Samsung Galaxy that allows it to soak up electricity via inductive charging — the same technology that may already be keeping your electric toothbrush powered up — Starbucks may have a few freebie and loaner connectors. "A few weeks into the test, we'll do some in-store giveaways, and we will have some behind the counter available to loan out," says Brotman.

The first three stores where the technology is being installed are all in the Financial District: One Financial Center, 125 Summer Street, and 101 Federal Street.

Starbucks rolled out free WiFi in all its stores two years ago, in mid-2010. While the chain hasn't yet made the decision to roll out wireless charging everywhere, Brotman says that "customers are coming into our stores every day with mobile devices, and putting them down on the table. If they could be charging their device at the same time, then we've connected with that customer and met their need, maybe even before they realized they had a need for wireless charging."

I asked Brotman whether wireless charging, along with free WiFi, might encourage customers to hang around even longer in Starbucks stores. His response: "We want people to feel welcome and stay as long as they want to."

As for selecting Boston for the test, Brotman says, "Boston is a hotbed for early adoption and tech-savvy customers." Starbucks plans to test the technology through the holiday period, and then "early in the year, we'll talk to our customers and our store partners" — that's Starbucks lingo for employees — "and regroup with Powermat to figure out the next steps."

These are the 17 stores where Starbucks plans to install the Powermat technology. (Not all are up and running today.) There will be about eight charging pads in each store.

Store #/Location

#869 Federal Street
#7377 One Financial
#10599 Summer Street
#7702 Commonwealth Avenue
#870 Newbury
#883 Steaming Kettle
#16439 Cleveland Circle
#7535 School Street
#875 Devonshire
#7224 Beth Israel
#7234 Mass Avenue
#7804 Children's Hospital
#801 Charles Street
#7102 Harvard Yard
#7502 Davis Square
#7338 Central Square
#7805 One International

(Photos provided by Duracell.)

starbucks3.jpg
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I'll be damned if I can ever figure out how to shrink a photo on photobucket now that they've "updated" their website.

Anyway, here's a photo of ~663 Tremont Street, South End, location of a new "David's Tea" shop.

Boston-20121103-00059.jpg
 
I had been wondering what was going to go in there. Seemed like the whole building had been fixed up and then sat empty for a while.
 
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