D²: "Reincarnation" of Pluto

[m-b-w.livejournal.com]

Melissa, who many of you will remember from Pluto, is opening a store in what used to be the RJ Cody store - 409 Highland Avenue.  The name of it will be D², and it will be similar to the old Pluto that so many of us miss!

 

Unfortunately, the bad news mentioned in the comments to the previous post (http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/852288.html) on this subject was true.  The JP Pluto store has closed.  One of the owners of Pluto was very ill, and he recently passed away.  

Melissa is a Davis Square resident who is very excited about being in business here again, especially in a neighborhood which is the new home of two other great stores, Comicazi and Magpie.   I’m really looking forward to the opening of  D² (probably June).  I think we have enough food and drink here (although I love the idea of Kick*ss Cupcakes down the road); it will be nice to have another place to buy fun gifts, etc.

Comments

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

That's good news and bad news (that she is reopening and that he passed away).

Must be tough to run a small, storefront business, esp. in the quirky "dead zones" of Highland, etc. I wonder if banding together to do some sort of "First Friday" sale type thing like galleries do would increase traffic/presence and have shared advertising through some sort of coupon booklety thing.

I had a silly business idea the other day in posting @ the lack of a place around here to by decent bread: a "What You Want" store. We would stock what you want- bread/bagels from Iggy's, assortment's from Trader Joe's, cool sun glasses, and basically whatever (enough) people wanted. It would be a fun experiment..before going completely broke...

But to satisy my curiosity, what would you want that you can't get easily around here?

[mizufae.livejournal.com]

a 24 hour diner and some place to get really good pie. is that too much to ask????

[ursamajor]

Closest I can think of for good pies is Petsi Pies on Beacon St, but that's about a mile and a half out of Davis.

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

Oooh, you should get bagels from Bagel Rising in Allston. That's the one thing I missed after we moved up here.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

Second, times 10,000. It's tne only thing I miss about Allston.

[m-b-w.livejournal.com]

I don't really think of that part of Highland as a "dead zone." I walk down there frequently, on my way to Brooks or the ATM. I bet that Melissa would be very open to doing some co-advertisting with the other retailers up that way. I wouldn't be surprised if DARBI coordinates some more activities like "Midnight Madness" or "First Friday" to promote business throughout Davis Square.

As for your "What You Want" store - interesting idea; I'm thinking about all of the possibilities . . .

[ron_newman]

the best thing that could happen to that street is for the FDIC to close down some of the banks.

[abilouise.livejournal.com]

Speaking of co-advertising, I imagine there are better ways of getting foot-traffic, but if I were opening a retail business in somerville, I'd figure out how to get in on the Brown School card action, because I know that I, at least, am totally more likely to go to a place listed there.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

sushi, but we're getting that soon if I recall correctly.

sushi

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

We are?

Re: sushi

[ron_newman]

Supposedly La Contessa is to be replaced by a sushi place. Some folks think that's an improvement; I'm not among them.

Re: sushi

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

you know, each to each. I looked at the new Addis Red Sea going in just below Porter and thought 'Time to buy, if I can walk to Ethiopian!" But not everyone is going to feel the same.

Re: sushi

[ron_newman]

Where is that going, and what is it replacing? (Probably not something I love, like La Contessa.)

Re: sushi

[ursamajor]

It opened last Friday; it replaced the Indian Club which closed down a few months ago, so right next door to the Korean place on Mass Ave, just south of Porter.

Re: sushi

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

It's on Mass Ave right next to Seoul Food, and opening pretty shortly. I guess we haven't seen any traffic about it here because it's *really* not in Davis--it's Porter area. But close enough to my place that it's no stretch to walk over. Addis is generally better than Asmara in Central, but Asmara is so much easier to get to that that's my regular haunt.

Re: sushi

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

We used to go down to Fasika in Jamaica Plain -- it was in the back of a dive bar, and really cheap and really, really good. (So much better than Asmara -- I haven't eaten at Addis.) But now the JP location is closed and it moved up to Somerville (way out on Broadway). Unfortunately, while the food is still good, now the bar is even more of a dive and now populated by loud, drunken townies (nothin' wrong with townies per se, but...) instead of the former largely Ethiopian clientele.

Re: sushi

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

I only went to Fasika once when I lived in JP a few years ago--the food was good but the atmosphere put my companions off. I haven't been back. Interesting that it's moved--weird to think of an Ethiopian townie bar.

Re: sushi

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Pretty sure that's what I heard about the La Contessa space, no?

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

It's not technically Davis, but if you enjoy sushi, you should try Yoshi's in Powderhouse Circle. It's pretty good and the price is definitely right. They also offer Kroean dishes, and they deliver.

www.yoshis.net

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

My local preferences are Hana and bluefin. Unfortunately I find Yoshi's to have terrible service. Thanks for the recommendation though!

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's too bad. I haven't had any problems when I've gone, but I've also never been to Hana or Bluefish. Both come highly recommended. Sounds like it's time I try them out!!

[cook-ting.livejournal.com]

Trader Joe's

[righteousness-1.livejournal.com]

Trader Joes!

[ron_newman]

would be nice to have a place to buy men's clothes and shoes.

[chumbolly.livejournal.com]

There's Drinkwaters on Mass. Ave. It's really nice with incredible service, but nuts expensive. If you like $120 khakis and $500 shoes, you can't go wrong at Drinkwaters.

[ron_newman]

Not really what I had in mind -- something a bit more downscale would be nice.

[ursamajor]

What's this about kickass cupcakes? *perks up*

[ron_newman]

http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/855061.html

[ursamajor]

*facepalm* and it's even still on the front page, oops. Thank you! I'll be watching for opening day, that's for sure :)