Roche Bros. grocery proposed for 240 Elm Street; Meeting September 10

[ron_newman]

According to a Facebook post from Alderman-at-Large Jack Connolly, Roche Bros. proposes to open a grocery store in the former Social Security Building, 240 Elm Street. They will hold an on-site meeting to discuss this on Wednesday, September 10 at 6 pm.

Roche Bros. is a local family-owned supermarket chain whose current locations are mostly in the beyond-128 suburbs. They are now building their first urban store in the former Filene's Basement space in Downtown Crossing.

I really hope this happens. I think it suits Davis Square's needs better than the previous World of Beer and Beer Works proposals.

ETA: Based on the illustration that Jack provided, what they actually seem to be proposing is a new sub-brand of smaller Roche stores called "Brothers Marketplace", whose first location opened in Weston a few months ago. Their Facebook page is more informative than their rather skeletal website.

Comments

RE: Delivery Truck Routes

[laryu.livejournal.com]

I'll be very interested to hear about plans for deliveries. There doesn't seem to be any way Chester and Herbert could support deliveries of level needed to keep a grocery stocked.

Re: Delivery Truck Routes

[ron_newman]

There's a small parking lot behind the building, accessed from Chester Street. It would make sense to put loading docks there, rather than on Chester Street itself.

RE: Re: Delivery Truck Routes

[laryu.livejournal.com]

I'm aware of the lot, but it's difficult to access for trucks. The trucks that already use that lot drive onto the sidewalk on Herbert St. in order to back up down the alley. When there are cars parked too close to the corner of Chester and Herbert, or when there are snow piles on the ground on Chester, trucks have a hard time making the right turn from Chester to Herbert, before they can even try to back up. That's not sustainable for regular deliveries of groceries.

Re: Re: Delivery Truck Routes

[ron_newman]

I'm surprised any trucks at all are using the lot now -- are they delivering to Dunkin Donuts? The rest of the building is vacant.