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JP fans of Exodus Bagels could have to trek down to Roslindale for a year
By adamg on Mon, 09/14/2020 - 12:49pm
Exodus Bagels reports its outpost at Washington and Green streets in Jamaica Plain might remain shut for a year, so it's started selling the sandwiches and coffee and other drinks it used to sell there out of its kitchen off Belgrade Avenue in Roslindale, at least Thursdays through Sundays.
Long time Exodus fans may recall that its original Kickstarter was to build a breakfast restaurant in Roslindale as part of its kitchen space, but then it moved into the old Canto 6 space in JP after discovering just what sort of permitting work converting the Roslindale space would take.
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Comments
Wish them well
I wish them well. Great products. That said, I also foresee a traffic jam on that little stub street they are on. Neighbors may complain as well.
More from Exodus
"If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” - ch 18, v 23
Roslindale the Promised land? JP, what did you do?
And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”
West Roxbury version
"Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no multi-family housing.
God then added, under His breath, it's not that I'm racist, I just worry about the traffic and the parking and the character of the neighborhood. You won't meet a less racist person than Me, really."
For some reason I have weird questions
1. Are they paying rent on 2 locations?
3. What is wrong at the Jamaica Plain location?
2. If there is nothing wrong there, wouldn't make sense to try to do retail at both locations?
I do wish them well, but for some reason it looks odd to me.
Yes, they are paying rent on both locations
They were baking stuff in their largish space in Roslindale and selling it in their smallish space in JP.
Their original plan, as noted in the post, was to have just one location, in Roslindale, but it turned out that turning a commissary (it as previously a catering place) into a kitchen and a restaurant would have involved way more permitting rigamarole than they expected.
As to the whys, I suspect it's something something Covid-19. The JP location is kind of small, on a busy intersection, has no parking (the lot next to them isn't theirs) and you're not supposed to allow lines to form outside, so maybe they figured they would hemorrhage money staying open there.
Guess I’ll Keep Up My Gluten Free Test
Couldn’t they just sell bagels in JP, wholesale? No sandwiches, no schmears, no schmoozing. In and out, one employee needed, like Pigs Fly Bread in JP center (mask/distancing protocols in place). They’d do fine! Lots of us can walk or bike or heaven forbid, walk 1/4 mile from our car, to the JP location. I agree with Waquiot. It’s just weird. They have such a following in JP.
You have more costs than just rent
which may not be that high, given how long that place sat empty. But to have two retail locations, you'd have to pay more employees, more utilities, pay for additional cleaning (not easy these days), deal with additional transportation from the bakery to the storefront - and given the thin margins on most restaurants, I'm not surprised that with the missing business from Covid-19 that it's easier to just focus on one location and eat some additional costs for a bit and hope for things to improve.
I was so glad
that they're selling bagels out of McCraw St. That was the original plan when they opened and they're right down the street from me.