Landmark liquor store packs it in; Marty's in Allston going out of business
By adamg - Fri, 03/13/2009 - 12:58pm.
Owner blames 'exorbitant' rent increase by landlord, Wicked Local Allston/Brighton reports.
Mr. Butch, gone.
Grecian Yearning, gone.
Marty's, gone.
What's next?
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used to be called Macy's Liquors
and a competitor a block away was called Gimbels.
Ah, yes, the good ol' days
West Roxbury still has a Macy's (well, technically, it's Eliot's Macy's, but the "Eliot's" is pretty small compared to the giant neon "Macy's").
Macy's/Gimbel's?
I remember when Marty's was Macy's - I caught my bus to Girls' Latin School from the stop in front of there for six years. But I don't recall Gimbel's - where was it?
Gimbel's Liquors
was on the south side of Comm. Ave., a block or two west of Macy's Liquors. Looks like they still exist but are now in Brookline.
Disappointed
That this headline didn't read "Landmark packy packs it in".
Thought about it
But I must be slipping.
Thought about "Allston landmark packies it in," but, yeah, I'm slipping.
Damn, I didn't even think about trying to work something like "Unbeerable news ..."
Landmark packie packs it in,
Landmark packie packs it in, local bloggers wine
I thought the recession was supposed to be good for liquor sales
I guess not.
The recession was supposed to make landlords less insane
I guess not. I wonder what sort of store could possibly go in that location that would pay more in rent than Marty's.
I'd have guessed that the
I'd have guessed that the first option would have been to switch locations. Some communities would probably have prohibitive zoning restrictions against moving, but this is Allston.
Hopefully Blanchards; and
Hopefully Blanchards; and another business will/can pick up the slack.
Marty's was a much better package store, but just a little too far to walk for the trendy kids and frat boys.
Blanchards was nothing but bad service, bad policies, and over priced alcohol and wines. You felt like a crook just trying to legally purchase a drink there, and got bad looks if you weren't wearing women s jeans.
One example is they charge a $5 deposit for a beer ball with a $0.05 legal deposit on the damn thing.
Poor Blanchardses
My first thought when hearing of a Blanchards is "Is that the one where they stomp on puppies?"
Not all Blanchards are created equal
Not that this helps people in Allston much, but the Blanchardses in JP and West Roxbury are not owned by the same people.
Sadly it is
It is and that's what makes me most upset by Marty's closing. It will easily boost Blanchard's draw and that rat bastard doesn't deserve a single dollar more until he makes up for what he did to that dog...and that would only be the start.
I guess I'm going to make Martignetti's on Soldier's Field Road my new regular packy. I'm not going to Newton just for Marty's and the options are just as good if not better at Martignetti's.
What about Brookline Liquor Mart?
Is that still open?
BLM
Brookline Liquor Mart is still there, but it's a good way out of the way for me and I haven't been particularly impressed with their stock. It's true that the puppy incident makes me want to avoid Blanchard's as much as possible, so we'll probably try to plan ahead on our beer & wine purchases and hit Martignetti's (or the Newton Marty's) when we've got a Zipcar. And there's now a little package store in the Star at Packard's Corner for last-minute needs.
Packard's packie?
Oh, sure, and next you're going to tell me the Hadassah Thrift Store isn't across the street any more :-).
Even worse
The place I miss the most is the V Majestic. Nothing could beat their Sea of Vietnam.
Hadassah
Yep, the Hadassah Shop is gone. I've lived in Allston long enough to remember when it was called the Bargain Spot (although even so, always in our family called "the Hadassah Shop") and it was around the corner on Brighton Avenue, in a much smaller space. I believe it was where the Turkish market is now, although now that I think about it I can no longer recall what was exactly where in that little block.
Bargain Spot
Bringing this conversation full circle, I remember when what is now Downtown Wine & Spirits in Davis Square was called Bargain Spot Liquors.
Aw man
Buying your first legal alcohol at Marty's is a BU rite of passage!
I seem to remember a big fire when I was in college, late '80s?