Opening: The Firestone Studio and Cafe will take over the soon-to-be former Pinewood Furniture store on Main Street! The owner of The Firestone also owns The Claypen in West Hartford. The art studio will feature many medium of art including pottery and painting, as well as serving locally grown coffee. The studio should open later this year. Dollar General will open a second Manchester location. The new store will be located in the former Rite Aid on Broad Street. The store closed last year after Walgreens acquired the store along with 2000 other locations. The store should open later this summer. Shining Star Driving School has opened on Main Street. The driving school is located at 294 Main Street, adjacent to Liberty Tax Services. The school is open from 9 am to 7 pm. Work has begun on the new restaurant that will replace Caveys! The restaurant will feature an Italian theme. The restaurant, whose name has not been released, will be owned by Geno Auriemma; the owner of Geno's Grille, Geno's Fast Break, Geno's Day Break, Geno's Southside, and Wok-On by Geno. Subway has opened their new location on Spencer Street. The restaurant is located in the same building as Popeye's. The restaurant relocated from their location in the Ocean State Job Lot Plaza, which was forced the close last year by the building department for lack of sprinklers. Antonio's Pizza will relocate their pizza shop on Main Street. The shop, currently located in the same block as Accra Mall USA, will move into the former Fani's Kitchen location near Webster Bank. Danielle's Spencer Street Pizza will have their 'Super Grand Opening' on August 8th starting at 12. The pizza shop is located in the Shoprite Plaza near Go Health. The pizza shop was formerly home to Edi's Pizzeria. Elicit Brewing Company has started construction of their new microbrewery and restaurant in the former Adams Mill space! The brewery will feature fun games, a wine bar, beer garden, and microbrewery. Planet Fitness has reopened their Parkade location. The gym had closed last month for a complete renovation to accommodate the members transferring from the closing gym at Burr Corners. K Sushi & Deli will open in the former Amazing Touch Hair Salon! The restaurants address will be 471 Hartford Rd; right new door to The Gathering. The Buckland Hills Mall and surrounding area has been a hot bed for business activity! Check out the latest in the stand-alone article, Buckland Business Brief 7/12/19 and look for the new edition on 8/12/19! Manchester Car Center has opened their used car dealership next door to Steve's Bagels on Tolland Turnpike. The dealership sells quality used vehicles, operating at 1 Tolland Turnpike. Closing: Pinewood Furniture will close their Manchester warehouse and showroom later this summer. The owner has decided to retire, and has sold the store to The Claypen, who will open their new art studio is the first and second floor of the space. The remaining space will be turned into apartments. Lenox Pharmacy on East Center Street has closed. The pharmacy was a staple of Manchester Green area, and was one of the last remaining family owned pharmacies in Manchester. The prescriptions were transferred to CVS, who bought the pharmacy and their files. Save A Lot has officially closed the Manchester store. The store was located in the former Shaw's Supermarket. The space is now for lease by Northeast Retail of Windsor, CT. Sean's Fine Jewelry has closed their location on Main Street. The store had been liquidating for the past month. The store has a sister store, owned by Sean's wife, called 41 Closets. This store closed last year. Other Manchester News: Announced last week, People's United Bank will acquire Hartford-based United Bank. The deal will combine two Connecticut-based banks. The deal, which still has to pass regulators and shareholders of both banks, has drawn criticism from the former-head of Rockville Bank (merged with United Bank.) William McGurk coined the phrase 'That's My Bank!' has changed his tune saying 'That's Not My Bank!,' McGurk slammed the proposed merger. As the largest shareholder of United Bank, his opinion could ultimately kill the merger. The proposed merger would result in bank branch closure, as People's United Bank did after acquire Connecticut-based Farmington Bank last year, closing a recently opened Manchester branch on Middle Turnpike West. A developer has finally been found for the site of the Parkade. Manchester Parkade I says the 'dark side' of the Parkade will be built into a mix of apartments, entertainment, and restaurants. The developer has signed a memo of understanding for the site, and a finalized proposal for the site, including the sale of the site to the developer, is expected in September. The owner of Manchester Parkade I, Michael Licamele, is currently converting the former CO-OP property in the North End of Manchester into a pellet factory and apartments. Continuing the Danielle's Spencer Street Pizza news, they have announced the addition of a coffee hour on Saturdays! The restaurant will open from 10-11 in the morning with coffee, doughnuts, and muffins. $3 for a coffee and doughnut, $4 for a coffee and two doughnuts, and $4 for a coffee and a muffin. Urban Lodge Brewing Company on Purnell Place has added a patio to their taproom. The brewery has not opened for business yet; but based on the patio and exterior progress, the opening will be by the end of the summer. Mazda of Manchester has been sold to Manchester Honda. The dealership was owned by Stephen Carter, the former owner of Carter Chevy. Carter sold his Chevy dealership to Manchester Honda in 2017. The building is currently undergoing significant renovations to meet Mazda standards. Author Announcements: Last month I launched an online store as a way for loyal readers to help support the site. The site is expensive to run and has unexpected expenses. The site sells branded merchandise, and will eventually sell Manchester themed merchandise! I will include some examples that Aerin Paulo, a digital marketing guru, and myself have been cooking up for the last few weeks! I am open to recommendations or ideas as well! Take a look at the store by clicking SHOP under the menu above, or by clicking here!
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Manchester's second Dollar General will open in the former Rite Aid Pharmacy on Broad Street! Dollar General will take over the vacant pharmacy later this summer according to signs posted outside the building late Monday.
Dollar General will open in the former Rite Aid Pharmacy, a building that has remained vacant since Walgreens closed the store last year. The store was a Rite Aid, but was purchased by Walgreens in a deal that saw the majority of Rite Aid stores sold. Some of the acquired stores were converted into Walgreens pharmacy, while others were closed. The Broad Street store was announced to become a Walgreens after the deal was completed. The store's pharmacy was briefly operated as a Walgreens Pharmacy for a few months leading up to the closure. Walgreens sought to buy out Rite Aid last year; but the merger failed due to Anti-Trust concerns along with a planned sale of remaining assets to smaller-chain Fred's Drug. Fred's Drug would nearly triple their store count after the deal. Instead Walgreens bought nearly 2,000 Rite Aid locations from the company after a failed merger last year; almost 600 of these stores would be closed due to their proximity to a competing Walgreens. Recently Albertson's announced that they would acquire the remaining Rite Aid company with the much smaller footprint after the Walgreens sale. Rite Aid had two Manchester locations, the location at 335 Center Street, and a location at 232 Tolland Turnpike (now a Goodwill.) The new Dollar General will be Manchester's second, the first location is on East Center Street. The first location was once a professional building with doctor's offices before being converted to the ever-growing chain of variety stores. The store should open later this summer; construction on the interior is underway. Three new restaurants are planned for Manchester! On the heels of the opening of BJ's Brewhouse next week near the mall, and the opening of Toro Azteca last month inside the mall, the Buckland area will welcome three new restraurants. One restaurant will be themed to Cajun seafood, and another to a Mexican theme, and the third to a microbrewery.
Crab Du Jour Announced earlier today, Crab Du Jour will take over the former Hometown Buffet location at 196 Slater Street in Manchester, CT. The restaurant, themed with a Cajun Flair and Southern Charm, says that the restaurant should take 3-4 months to build-out and open. Other locations listed as coming soon on their website include a location inside Westfarms in West Hartford, CT. Crab Du Jour is an up and coming chain of seafood restaurants; with restaurant coming soon in Connecticut, North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, and Georgia. Hometown Buffet closed in January of 2019; the chain had occupied the 10,000 square foot space for nearly 15 years leading up to the closure. The restaurant had been the last remaining Hometown Buffet in Connecticut. Other locations in CT included West Hartford, Wethersfield, Orange, Enfield, and Waterbury; all of which closed during their 2012 bankruptcy. The restaurant has sat vacant since its closure. Frontera Tacos & Tequila A chain of Mexican themed restaurants will open their first location in Connecticut! Frontera Tacos & Tequila, a New York-based chain, will open in recently-vacant Plaza Azteca location near Best Buy! The restaurant is currently under renovation, but as Plaza Azteca sported a very similar theme as Frontera, the renovations should be minimal. The coming soon banner popped up on the building two weeks ago, roughly a month after Plaza Azteca moved into the mall as Toro Azteca. the restaurant should be open later this summer/early fall. The site of Frontera has been home to a few restaurants in the past, originally home to Romano's Macaroni Grille, an Italian themed chain. Plaza Azteca took over the vacant space after Romano's closed; and operated fo nearly a decade before moving to the former Bertucci's space at the mall. The space is slated to become yet another restaurant by the end of the summer. Elicit Brewing Company A new brewery/restaurant concept will open in the former Adams Mill location at 165 Adams Street! The restaurant will be operated by Eli's Restaurant Group, the owners of Eli's Restaurants throughout Connecticut as well as Roost, a fast casual chicken restaurant. The new restaurant will serve pizza, wings, pretzels, and sandwiches. The restaurant will have retro arcades games, giant jenga, a wine bar, beer garden, as well as on site brewing. The Adams Mill closed earlier this year after 37 years of business. The space was previously home to a mill that had caught fire and was mostly abandoned before the owners of a Glastonbury restaurant bought the space and opened The Adams Mill. Elicit should open later this year. Closing:
-Planet Fitness at The Plaza at Burr Corner officially closed their doors on July 10th. The chain consolidated their two Manchester location into the Parkade location. The Parkade location opened earlier this year when Planet Fitness bought out local chain Cardio Express. Members of the gym were transferred to the Parkade location, or had the option to switch to the Vernon location. -Dress Barn / Roz & Ali are currently conducting their 'Last Summer Sale' this is part of the closing of the chain; the chain will close all their remaining location by this winter. -Payless officially closed their Buckland Hills location. The store closed with the rest of the chain. -Charming Charlies will close their remaining 269 location by the end of August. The chain filed for bankruptcy earlier this week, and had filed for bankruptcy last year. -Flooring and Kitchens Today has closed their Hale Street/Slater Street showroom. The showroom was located next door to DSW. -All Star Liquors has officially closed their Deming Street store. The store was located next to AT&T; the store moved to a new location in the former Thiele Chiroprator space on West Center Street. Opening: -Bloodlines Tattooing has opened their new tattooing studio inside of the Buckland Hills Mall. The studio is located in the former C&C Unisex Salon. -Toro Azteca officially opened their location at the mall. The restaurant, formerly known as Plaza Azteca, moved from their Slater Street location. -Frontera Tacos & Tequila will open in the former Plaza Azteca location on Slater Street! The Mexican restaurant has location in Massachusetts and New York. -BJ's Brewhouse will open their new Manchester location on July 22nd! The restaurant was constructed in a vacant parking lot near Red Robin! -Construction is ramping up on the future home of Marshalls and K&G Fashion Superstore! The two stores will occupy the former Toys R Us space at The Plaza at Buckland Hills. The storefronts are now nearing completion, with an aimed opening in October; however they should be completed by late summer, early fall at this rate of construction. -Collectibles and Cards will open their store in the former Abercrombie & Fitch at the Buckland Hills Mall. The store was most recently occupied by Team Spirit. -Seventh Sense Botanical Therapy, a CBD store, has opened a temporary kiosk in the former Sweet U space. A permanent kiosk is under construction in front of JC Penney. -Kids Klubhouse has opened their kids play area inside the Buckland Hills Mall. The store is located in the former Remix space near Sears. South Windsor News: Hammer & Stain, a MUSE Paint Bar-style studio, will open a location in South Windsor this fall. The chain of studios has 32 locations throughout the country. The studio will be located on Sullivan Avenue, the exact location is not being released at this time. -A new distribution center is proposed for 360 Ellington Road. The 420,000 square foot warehouse would be owned by Scannell Properties and would be located across from the new Coca Cola warehouse. The Planet Fitness on Tolland Turnpike In Manchester will close on July 10th! The club has been open for nearly a decade in the Plaza at Burr Corners. The Planet Fitness members will be transferred to the chain’s second club located inside of the Manchester Parkade. The Planet Fitness website announces the closure as occurring on July 10th at 11:00 PM and the Manchester location at the Parkade will reopen on July 15th after a complete renovation of the facility.
The Manchester club at the Parkade opened earlier this year when Planet Fitness bought out locally owned and operated chain, Cardio Express. Planet Fitness took over clubs in Manchester, Vernon, East Hartford, and Southington. While clubs in Mansfield, Tolland, and two in Wethersfield closed. Cardio Express was once a franchisee of Planet Fitness, with the original clubs being located in Vernon (now KidZone) and in Manchester at the Parkade. The Burr Corner location was far smaller than the Parkade location; the Burr Corner location was 18,000 square feet in size while the Parkade is nearly 25,000 square feet with a vacant 10,000 square foot space for future expansion. The rent of the Parkade space is probably far cheaper, while Burr Corners is located in the retail center of Manchester. The Planet Fitness located at 346 Middle Turnpike (Parkade) is currently closed for renovations, but will be reopen to welcome the new members. Members are currently being diverted to the Vernon location and the soon-to-be closed Burr Corners location. The Vernon location reopened in early June after receiving a complete renovation of the space, including new equipment, signage, and a refreshed interior design. |
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