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Spring means new projects in Roslindale
By adamg on Tue, 03/29/2016 - 11:48am
Work began in earnest last week to turn an old dry-cleaning place on Washington Street at Durnell Avenue into the new home of Tony's Market, as Chris Dagdigian shows us.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the neighborhood, Terry Klein reports the old Weld-American gas station at Weld and Centre streets was reduced to rubble today to make way for a 16-unit condo building:
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Comments
Fingers crossed
I hope Tony's does ok in a new location. I'd guess he's enough of a destination business that it will be fine, but it's a surprising decision for a 70+ year old guy to go through the hassle of moving his business. It'd make more sense if there was a succession plan in place like, I assume, the hardware store with two generations working there.
Is Redd's going to expand into his old space? I think the people who did Geoffrey's tried to buy him out when they took over the Parkway Garden space but he decided to stay.
hopefully I'm not full of crap on this ..
95% sure Tony and his wife bought this building so they are no longer tenants of someone else. I'm guessing/hoping that the only reason they'd buy a spot is because there was some succession or transition plan in place (fingers crossed). The other big driver was to get a space that would let them expand their offerings like offering up more prepared foods etc.
Exactly - just ask Tony, he'll give you the scoop
He's not shy about chatting with his friends and customers ;)
In the original space he would be paying more rent, getting less space, and didn't trust the landlord to finish the new construction in a timely or non-disruptive manner.
By buying a place of his own he has more space, and real property to pass along to the family.
Tony has told me that the majority of his business comes from customers living outside Rosi (some from surprisingly far away)! So he's not too worried about the move up the street - with high customer loyalty (well deserved), like Vaughn said - he's a destination store. Also, given that he's now in the same commercial cluster that includes Rosi's only hardware store and one of the city's best pet stores, I think he's probably right to think that his business won't suffer.
Best case
would be that Tony can hand it off to someone when he's ready to retire and it runs another 50 years. However, the young person in that operation appears to be his nephew who works the deli section on the Saturdays (more or less as a favor as I read it) so I'm not seeing a family candidate.
There's more parking up at the new spot on the street than that terrible parking lot, so this is better for his drive-in customers too.
Reads expanding into Tonys old space
Charlie told me last year he has a standing agreement to take over the space Tonys is in after he vacates it. With the apartments going in upstairs he is losing some space for the stairs for the apartments and this will let him have more space in the bar area. The challenge is the basement stairs will have to be moved to integrate the space Tonys is in along with moving the plumbing for the bathrooms.
Is Exodus circling one of these spots?
I know they did their pop-up there last week and it was an off the hook success--Roslindale Square seems like a perfect spot for them.
The final mention of Weld American?
So glad that building has finally been taken down. It was an embarrassment to that area.
Now that it's gone, perhaps people will cease referring to it as Weld American.
We'll never make Weld
We'll never make Weld American great again, and that's a good thing.
I used to work in the yellow building next door
Definitely a blight for sure.
Progress
The news on Weld American is fantastic. That property has been a blight since before I moved to Roslindale. Tony's move will be fine for his business as it is a destination product. I will be sad to see him not be in the square but hopefully he will continue his presence at the Farmers Market on the weekends where I frequently buy sausage from him. His new space will suit him well and his old space can undergo an updating and hopefully be let to another business that will compliment the square.
Craft Beer Cellar
Adam, what ever happened with the development in that old generator building on the corner of Cummings Highway and Washington Street? I thought they were supposed to put a nice restaurant in the first floor and a Craft Beer Cellar downstairs.
That's still on track
Construction is slated to start in a couple of weeks.
What Henry said
The delay was because there was some work a utility company had to do last fall (I can't remember if it was gas or electric) and they didn't and then the winter came.
There was a RVMS facebook
There was a RVMS facebook post where someone asked the same question and the CBC guys said they were pushing for a summer opening. It's still happening.
I want to know about the new restaurant on South St! It feels like there's only people in there once a week, which is unfortunate, since I'm way psyched for a chill lounge / afterwork drink kind of place in walking distance that isn't a Nice Dinner kind of commitment.
Which restaurant are you
Which restaurant are you referring to?
Derna's?
Where the work slowly continues.
Probably the old Derna's
Now owned by the Delfino people (right across the street). The plan is for a casual cafe with a patio, where people might enjoy coffee and pastries in the morning, transitioning to a glass of wine and small plates in the afternoon and evening. I'm not sure where they are time line wise, but I too am very interested in patronizing such a place.
[edit]
Here's the uHub story: http://universalhub.com/2014/quiet-roslindale-square-breakfast-nook-wants
Wasn't sure if commenter
Wasn't sure if commenter meant the old Derna's or the pending Green T Coffee. Opposite sides of South St :)
I would trust Main Streets on this
Since their offices are right next door to the project, they are probably the most interested party in this, aside from the developers of course.
Select Cafe space
According to someone (the kitchen store maybe? I forget...) the former Select Cafe space on Belgrade is going to be a veterinarian's office.
What a waste
I mean, I'm a fan of vets and all, but that space is a perfect fit for daily/commuter oriented retail.
It isn't though
There's a pretty steady turnover of retail business in the square and steadily open spaces that kind of indicate that the market for retail isn't there.
For example, Kitchen Central is closing. It's a bummer but something I could have called the day they opened. Retail in Roslindale is very hard I think.
Roslindale retail is hard but Kitchen Central had other problems
First/last time I went in to replace a sodastream canister I got an earful about how much the owner hated the Sodastream company. Stopped by again once or twice since then but they never have what I need and I always get offered some other thing I don't want that has nothing to do with what I went in for.
Good luck to Tony!
I hope this is the right move for him. Now we just have to set about convincing him to stay open later so working folks can stop by on a weekday. I know, that's not very Roslindale.