Green Line delay means no mo' Boloco on Boston Ave in Medford

[ron_newman]

from Medford Green Line Neighborhood Alliance blog:
Medford Boloco to close; owner cites GLX delay as factor

The Boloco restaurant at 340 Boston Ave. will close on Nov. 30, Boloco CEO John Pepper told the Medford Green Line Neighborhood Alliance in an email Sunday night.

Responding to an email reminder about a public meeting this week about the latest Green Line delay, Pepper said the fact that the project is languishing was a factor in his decision to close the Medford location.

Comments

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Bummer :( I keep forgetting that location exists, but still sad.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Argh!

[ron_newman]

For us at least, Harvard Square is just as close, and doesn't require hill climbing.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

The Harvard location isn't very convenient for me since I'm not biking right now. Neither is particularly on the way for me when I'm on foot, but the Tufts location is very easy to pop into when I'm in the car. Suck.

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

Same for me. I'll have to make a special trip to Harvard Sq. to cash in the occasional freebie burrito rather than just drop by on the way home from work.

But, if you can't make it work on the edge of a college campus, then it's time to move on. I daresay we won't be seeing a Boloco in the neighborhood anytime soon.

[ron_newman]

They seem to be doing fine around other colleges - Berklee, Emerson, and Harvard.

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

But those are in much denser neighborhoods. For the Medford location to work, you gotta have Tufts students. Not sure that issue applies to the others.

They also have a location at Northeastern inside the student center.

[ron_newman]

And one more in Cleveland Circle near BC.

[fefie.livejournal.com]

This news is sad, but not totally surprising, unfortunately. Among the 2500+ signatures to the mayor's petition protesting the Green Line Extension delay were several comments stating that their decision to move to Somerville was based on the coming Green Line Extension.

[flightofideas.livejournal.com]

bah! this is 2 blocks away from my apartment and we frequent it. :(

[gruene.livejournal.com]

Really? I bet that's just a cover. The Green Line will mostly serve as transit for residents of Medford Hillside to get into Boston. I doubt you will seen too much reverse traffic. It's not going to become the next Davis. Not that Boloco made it in Davis either...

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

The Somerville boloco was not in davis, it was about halfway between Davis and Porter. Also, the Medford boloco is sadly about a quarter mile from the proposed College Ave green line stop (which was to be sited across from the Tufts Garage, which is not a great location for it but was basically forced to be put there by the anti-green line Medfordites)

But that's neither here nor there. I've officially given up hope that the GLX will happen either ever or while I live in the area.. whichever comes first.

Sad but True... and No Excuses

[john s pepper (from livejournal.com)]

Maybe one of the best side effects of an email I assumed was private (woops, never do that!) getting leaked is that I get to now address my friend on Davis Sq LJ for the first time in a few years. Not that the closure of Medford was a big secret, or a surprise to many, but I was surprised to see my email make it as far as the Boston Globe today about a small restaurant in Medford closing without as much as a phone call being placed to our offices to get the "inside" scoop.

Below is our own press release that sheds a bit of light on how we view this. What it doesn't say is that we are mostly just SAD to leave. We had missteps in this location from the very beginning and ultimately never built the legion of loyal followers we need to justify renewing the lease (we had 15 years left if we had chosen to renew).

Here it is, for what it's worth... and please feel free to join us on our October 31 closing party.
Anyone who knows us knows we do it right, both in good times and bad ;)

---------

BOLOCO MEDFORD WILL CLOSE ITS DOORS
Location near Tufts University ‘wraps up’ on October 31

Boston, MA – Boloco, a chain of inspired burrito restaurants headquartered in Boston, announced it will close the doors of its Medford location when its lease expires on October 31. Boloco opted not to renew the first of three lease extension options, which would have allowed it to remain on Boston Avenue until 2026.

John Pepper, CEO and co-founder of Boloco, explained the reasoning behind the decision to close the nearly five-year-old location. “Boston Avenue in Medford didn’t ever develop as we had once believed it would,” said Pepper. “Add to that the seemingly indefinite delays in the MBTA Green Line Extension Project and the unfortunate fact that our restaurant, our menu, and our service never attracted the droves of Tufts students and Medford residents we needed, we didn’t see a compelling reason to do another lap around the track. We obviously wish that we had done things differently that could have made us successful. Our Medford team will miss their neighborhood friends when they relocate to other Boloco restaurants throughout Cambridge and Boston.”

Boloco has six new restaurant openings planned in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland, and Washington, DC in 2012. Regardless, the closing of any restaurant is a difficult decision, and Boloco will host a special event on October 31 to thank its team, loyal guests, and community supporters.

--------

John Pepper
CEO/Co-Founder
Boloco
Twitter @bolocoCEO

Re: Sad but True... and No Excuses

[ron_newman]

Hi, John. I got a Groupon e-mail today, offering $20 of Boloco food for $10 at the Medford location only. Does this mean you have decided not to close it on October 31 after all?