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The road to Jamaica Plain starts in Brighton
By adamg on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 12:02am
Mark reports his wife took this photo in the Whole Foods in Brighton. He adds:
1) my wife and I own a home in JP; 2) my wife is in fact a Latin American; and 3) we used to shop at Hi-Lo to purchase goods from her homeland; yet, we are wholeheartedly (bad pun not intended) behind the opening of the Whole Foods Store on Centre Street.
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Comments
There's a Whole Foods in
There's a Whole Foods in Coolidge Corner?
Whole Foods in Brookline -- if you're a time traveler
There was once a Whole Foods on Harvard St. in Brookline -- not in Coolidge Corner, but up the street at JFK Crossing. That was so long ago that the store was still called Bread & Circus rather than Whole Foods.
Either your correspondent is very confused about where he actually shopped, or you mis-transcribed something he told you on the phone.
Maybe he got confused because
Maybe he got confused because the rent is so damn high there. Clearly that could only be caused by a Whole Foods!
No need to snark
There's a Whole Foods on Washington in Brighton between Comm Ave and Beacon about halfway between coolidge corner and cleveland circle. That's probably what was said/meant - many people might not realize that's not Brookline but Brighton.
Still pretty far from Coolidge Corner
especially if you're walking -- the huge Summit Ave hill (Corey Hill) is between that store and Coolidge Corner.
Really? Wow.
Where exactly was that at and what replaced it? I'm curious because I just can't envision where I'd try and fit a Bread & Circus in that area of Harvard St. and have it fit. Well, okay, if you replaced Divinity School, maybe...or the synagogue...but I have a feeling those have been there longer than the Bread & Circus.
It was a small one
The TJ Maxx was a Purity Supreme and the Bread and Circus was down a little further into CC. Right on Fuller St. where the Butcherie was. I lived right down the street.
Where Dok Bua is?
Was it on the corner where Dok Bua is now? Because if so, that's a sweet trade-off. Best cheap Thai in the area. Also, no wonder it closed, that's a pretty small footprint for a grocery store.
Not Dok Bua
No, it was across the street (see Ron's post below.) It was right next to Kehillath Israel, in the space that is now Pastries by Andrew or something. And yes, it was quite a small footprint for a grocery store, but health-food type stores were much smaller in those days and it was rather large for that subcategory. The Prospect Street store in Cambridge, when it opened, was even bigger in comparison - now look at how small that one seems!
I don't remember what was in the Dok Bua space before it opened, but I do remember that Dok Bua was originally a Thai grocery store, with a little food counter on one side, and gradually turned into a restaurant.
Prospect St. Whole Foods in Cambridge
A lot of people were surprised that Whole Foods kept that location open after they built a much larger one a mile away on River Street. But it does good business.
At one point the city of Cambridge had considered taking that store (or maybe just its parking lot) by eminent domain to build a new library. Ultimately they instead decided to expand the existing library on Broadway instead.
Not far from there is also
Not far from there is also the Central branch library, which looks and feels outdated although I don't know how long ago it opened in reality. Even with the presence of Harvard and Star Market nearby, it's a lifesaver to have a nearby grocery. Truth be told, Harvest doesn't really cut it for many products, and their prices are often more expensive than Whole Foods for basic products. Bread on the shelves is often moldy, keep-refridgerated products past-date, etc. So I'm happy to have the Whole Foods right there, since it's too far to really walk to the Star.
Cambridge library and Prospect St. Whole Foods
Now that I'm thinking about it more, Cambridge was considering taking the Whole Foods parking lot closest to Central Square, not the store itself. Whether the store would have survived that, I don't know. If Cambridge had built its new Main Library here, they would have closed the existing Central Square branch.
The Prospect Street location
The Prospect Street location opened up in 1979. Sure, it's profitable. But it also imposes some rather steep logistical challenges on the chain, including storage and resupply, and there's another location down on River Street.
I've often wondered if they haven't hung on to it at least partly for sentimental reasons. It was the oldest operating Bread and Circus when they bought that northeastern chain, and it may well be the oldest continuously operating location in the entire Whole Foods empire.
I'm not sure about that; the other candidates would be any Whole Food Company stores in downtown New Orleans that opened prior to 1979 that are still in operation. But as best I can tell, both the stores in the New Orleans area are of much more recent vintage.
If it wasn't at least marginally profitable - and if barriers to new development in Cambridge weren't so substantial - I doubt that would be enough to save it. But being the oldest store in the chain probably counts for something.
That parking lot is actually
That parking lot is actually owned by the company that owns the office building at Mass Ave and Prospect (the one with CCTV's office). At night and on weekends, they're nice enough to open it to the public, including Whole Foods customers.
The Central Square branch
The Central Square branch library has been closed for several months for renovations.
The very first Bread & Circus was in Brookline
according to Whole Foods' official history. It was there from 1975 (or maybe even earlier) to 1991. A little rooting around in the Boston Globe historic archives reveals an address of 396 Harvard Street, a building that now contains Creative Pastries.
Brookline residents and especially other business owners in JFK Crossing were distressed when the store closed and moved to Brighton.
Cool, thanks
Thanks (and thanks to Allstonian above too). Yeah, I could never really imagine that place being a grocery store. But I guess that explains why that row of businesses, more than anywhere else in JFK Crossing, has that large parking lot behind it.
It is also interesting that people were distressed about it closing. The replacement places (for as long as I've known) have NEVER really fared well there, have they? I wonder if a replacement boutique grocery that tried to complement Kupels, the fish market, etc. would do well there. I guess most people just go down to TJ's in the Corner though.
Wow!
Wow, I had no idea Bread & Circus started out in Brookline! (I grew up going to the one in Hadley, and assumed it had started out in Western Mass) I can barely even picture the store in such a small footprint... it's half the size of the Harvest Co-Op in JP, and that store feels like it can barely contain itself in such tight quarters.
Weird that they would pack up shop just to move a mile down the road, but maybe they couldn't expand the original site to the square footage they needed.
I screwed up
Put 2 and 2 together and got 5. My correspondent said "Brookline," but obviously meant the store on Washington Street, which, while it feels like Brookline, yes, is Brighton.
And when I heard "Brookline," I thought of the store in Coolidge Corner that is not a Whole Foods. And the rest is infamy.
To be fair
You can spit from that Whole Foods into Brookline. The border at Washington St is less than a block past the Corey Rd. intersection that Whole Foods sits on.
Yep, and I should know that
We lived two blocks from there, I used to get my car serviced at the gas station right there, which is literally on the town line :-)
One of us is stalking the other!
I used to live right around the corner, even rented a parking spot from that gas station! And now we're both in Rosi. What is your issue with me?
No problem Adam
What with the narrow aisles, obnoxious people, and the land yachts zooming around the parking lot, it's completely understandable that one could mistake the J. Bildner's in Coolidge Corner for a Bread and Circus.
Corporate Control of Education
One of the most insidious aspects of 'charitable' patronage such as this is the fact that school administrators have to the bidding of their supporters, this directly conflicts with the mission of preparing pupils to be active, independent, critical thinkers.
I know that the Hyde Square Task Force has discouraged some of its students who live in Hyde Square from participating in their own civic life. This is hardly news to anyone organizing the community to combat the dislocation of working families in Hyde Square--the question should be raised: in a time when young people are bombarded with countless advertisements and false needs, do we also wish for them to not learn the tools to empower themselves, simply because they get some organic juice and muffins from billionaire corporations?
WF is of course, is using the miserable state of education to promote it's little brand of self-interested munificence. Rather than actually solving the many problems of inadequate education, it is content to buy off dissent with occasional pittances.
Empowerment and advocacy
Your comment isn't quite coherent enough to allow for a full response.
But I'll mention that Hyde Square Task Force's recent campaign -- rather, its students' campaign -- to include comprehensive sex ed in Boston Public Schools is surely worth of the community's support. See the students' video, Globe story 1, Globe story 2, Globe editorial, Globe story 3, and Boston Phoenix editorial (click and scroll down).
Emmanuel, Before you post, do
Emmanuel,
Before you post, do you just leaf through a dictionary, find a series of big words, and hope that you sound intelligent when you slap them together?
It's not working.....
We've wasted too much time
We've wasted too much time discussing geography and the exact location of the Whole Foods in Brighton or Brookline. We should be discussing the hypocritical hippie hipsters turning into free market capitalists and forgoing their calls for diversity and economic justice, all for some free range pizza or fair trade whole wheat bubble gum.
time wasting
No, what we should be discussing is the hypocritical hippie hipsters living in $450,000 condos in Hyde Square and railing against the arrival of Whole Foods while ignoring the fact that the reason it's opening in JP is BECAUSE THEY ARE LIVING THERE IN THEIR $450,000 CONDOS. WF opening is not the cause of gentrification, it's a result of gentrification. Empty storefronts in Hyde Square haven't lowered rents or made JP more affordable, have they?
Amen!
Amen!
whinge
But....can I get some gluten free bubble gum? I don't want my celiac to act up...
ads
Hey Adam, I noticed a banner ad on UHub for "mature singles only"... I think they got the wrong blog...(speaking just for myself, of course, ahem).
The Hyde Square Task Force
is just one of the JP organizations that receives support from Whole Foods yet opposes the market coming to Hyde Square. I continue to be baffled and dumbfounded by the opposition to a Whole Foods grocery store. The opposition is acting like the old Hi Lo building is the absolute last commercial space in all of Jamaica Plain where a grocery store can be sited. In fact, the JPNDC (which also opposes Whole Foods, for reasons I can't fathom) has recently built TWO mixed-use developments with ground-floor retail space in Hyde And Jackson Squares, and the city just announced that a THIRD retail development is being built in Jackson Square. As far as I know, NONE of this space has yet been leased.
It's time for Whose Foods and the Hyde and Jackson neighborhoods to stop wasting all of this time and energy trying to undo the done deal between Knapp Foods and Whole Foods and organize the community to have a say in what retail businesses come to these new spaces. If we don't, we're going to end up with Subway, Domino's, McDonald's and all the other businesses that are smart enough to see the opportunity that we are squandering.
The louder these nonprofits
The louder these nonprofits are, the more they will profit from Whole Foods. They are just making a lot of noise because they want some of the money that WF puts back into the community!
Check your facts -- HSTF
Check your facts -- HSTF doesn't in fact oppose the market coming to JP...
Where have you seen any
Where have you seen any statements from Hyde Square Task Force or JPNDC in opposition to Whole Foods? If you have a copy of them please post. The board chair of JPNDC read a letter from the organization at a public meeting a few weeks in which they called for support for former Hi-Lo workers and a better process of engaging the community, but with no mention of opposition. Hyde Square Task Force has not taken any position against Whole Foods. There are strong opinions on both sides of this issue but you should get your facts straight before pointing out the so-called hypocrisy of these community organizations.
Don't like Whole Foods?
Don't shop there. Problem solved.
Next. (See- sometimes things really can be easy to solve!)
At this point, isn't the
At this point, isn't the continuation of the WF vs. Hi-Lo debate merely beating a dead horse? Terrible expression, but seems to fit. Hi-Lo sold out to the highest bidder which was WF. Hi-Lo no longer wants to sell food in JP. Hi-Lo wants WF to sell food in JP. Hi-Lo is in it for the money -- that's what business is about: money. Sounds like an elite few JP residents have a little bit too much time on their hands if their biggest perceived threat to their community is the addition of a grocery store which sells a diverse selection of healthy foods... oh the horrors!
Is that an organic, fair
Is that an organic, fair trade, gluten free, whole weat, locally grown dead horse?
Is it a vegetarian dead horse, too?
Free Range Dead Horse!
Most certainly a free range dead horse.
It was killed non-violently.
It was killed non-violently.
We broke this news... in Spanish
For the Spanish-speakers:
http://www.tuboston.com/article-5074-donara-whole-...
Hyde Square Task Force
HydeSquareResident should get their facts straight before accusing Hyde Square Task Force and JPNDC of hyprocrisy regarding Whole Foods. Neither organization has come out in opposition to the Whole Foods. If you have heard differently please post the article or statement so we can all see it. There are many young people who have been organizing against the Whole Foods but they are not affiliated with the Hyde Square Task Force. Several weeks ago the JPNDC board chair read a letter at a JP Neighborhood Council community meeting laying out the organization's position, which called for support for the unemployed Hi-Lo workers but contained no statement of opposition. Whatever your opinion about the arrival of Whole Foods, it doesn't help the debate to put out false or misleading statements about long-standing well-respected community organizations.
One can certainly understand
One can certainly understand the confusion over which alphabet soup organization is opposing (JPNC) versus not opposing (JPNDC) Whole Foods foray into JP.
Call me a yuppie/capitalist douche if you will, but I am excited by the prospect of Whole Foods moving into Hyde Square. Having a place to buy reliably fresh produce just up the street from my condo is going to be a nice convenience. And heaven forbid the presence of a stable anchor business for that block. I do look forward to the impact studies in the future indicating that Whole Foods moving to JP caused rents to increase dramatically in the Hyde Square neighborhood. Because if history has shown us anything it is that a grocery store can completely change the culture of a neighborhood. See Jackson Square for evidence. Oh, wait...
No, you have it all wrong.
No, you have it all wrong. First, we need to put another project in Hyde Square. Then, WF can move in.
Stop and Shop is NOT Whole Foods
"Because if history has shown us anything it is that a grocery store can completely change the culture of a neighborhood. See Jackson Square for evidence. Oh, wait..."
Shop and Shop does not have the same impact as a Whole Foods. It has a completely different image and caters to a different audience.
See the "Whole Foods Effect"
http://jamaicaplain.patch.com/articles/an-open-let...
Affect of Whole Foods in Washington DC
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic...
Just what "audience" is that?
C'mon, you can do it. Let's say it together: Lower middle class and poor folks.
See, that's the point that the Whole Foods opposition doesn't like you to hear: That there's a Stop & Shop right down the street and that a mess of not-so-rich and poor folks shop there. Why don't they want anyone to know this? Because it ruins the "strong" case they built up by looking at one example in Washington D.C. and ignoring all of the Whole Foods examples right in their backyard.
Wouldn't want to ruin that narrative. It's a perfectly good piece of fiction.
I lived in DC...
When Logan Circle was a place you went to get mugged, not to live. So what, exactly, is your point? That WF can be part of a desirable, diverse neighborhood? Or that you desire neighborhoods that are dangerous and blighted? As for image and audience, Hi-Lo had its own image and audience as well and you did not see those of us who did not shop there often speaking out against the place.
Why not ONE more comment?
I too lived in DC when the Whole Foods came to Logan Circle and I can tell you for a fact it wasn't the cause of gentrification in that neighborhood. Indeed, the only reason Whole Foods came to that neighborhood is that a large group of yuppies who lived there waged a press campaign BEGGING Whole Foods to open. This included a photo of them standing in front of the building that used to be there all holding up individual letters of a sign that said something like "we love you Whole Foods please come sell us Kashi" Its probably on the web somewhere still. Whole Foods comes where it knows there are yuppie mouths to feed, not to explore the unknown.
So the Task Force is on board, then?
Good. I look forward to their explicit statement of support.
Why?
From what I see of the Hyde Square Task Force's description, they have nothing to do with development proposals at all. It would be like asking the YMCA to take a position.
The YMCA hasn't taken a position?
Let's assemble a task force and picket the Jamaica Plain YMCA until they do.
(in three... two... one...)
Hey it's another thread just
Hey it's another thread just like the all of others on this blog.
2:1 ratio of Geography/MBTA experts to assorted whack jobs.