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Fenway Target opens next month, maybe with a liquor license
By adamg on Wed, 06/10/2015 - 11:13am
UPDATE: They got the license.
The Boston Licensing Board decides tomorrow whether to grant an all alcohol license to Target for the new store the chain says will open July 22 at Boylston and Kilmarnock.
The four-story store will be the first East Coast CityTarget, aimed at nearby residents who arrive on foot, rather than in a car.
Target attorney Joseph Devlin said the Fenway is ideal for that, given all the residential development along Boylston. He said the neighborhood's existing liquor outlets, which includes the Boylston Star Market, have not kept pace with the demand.
Devlin said the alcoholic beverages, in a single aisle near housewares, will be aimed at people stocking up for parties or events, rather than the sort of people looking for a quick buzz. The store will not sell 40s, nips or pints, he said.
The proposal was supports by the mayor and city councilors Josh Zakim, Ayanna Pressley, Michael Flaherty, Michelle Wu and Steve Murphy. Nobody spoke in opposition.
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Comments
Will this Target have a full grocery section
with bakery, butcher, fish, eggs, produce, etc? (Somerville and Watertown Targets don't.)
Ron
You aren't missing much really.. I shopped at Target when they first rolled out these addons to their stores a while back. I find the product to be meh. All the meat is prepackaged. Outside of the veggies, the Target in Everett didn't seem like it got much more (except expanded freezer and cooling cases)
And they have no scales so all the produce is by the piece (which can be pricey if you aren't careful).
It's fine if you are already IN Target and need a few grocery items but to try to do all your grocery shopping... I wouldn't.
So, not really competition for Star Market across the street
not really
Like I said, it's fine for a few items.. but to try to shop there as a replacement for a real supermarket doesn't work.
So No, probably not. They will probably work in tandem with each other. Meaning shoppers will get some items at one store, and the rest at another.
This is why the Stop & Shop on Furlong Drive in Revere, didn't fret at all when Target put groceries in the store next door. Not that much of a competition.
no full grocery in Somerville Target
is supposedly because Stop & Shop (the landlord there) won't allow it.
Once upon a time that was an all-S&S plaza: Stop & Shop supermarket (now CW Price / Fallas), Bradlees (now Target), MediMart Pharmacy (now an auto parts store)
also
That store is TINY.. its about a half the size of the Target in Everett.
And not surprising that S&S did that. They did that to their 25 year lease on their old store on Squire in Revere (where Price Rite is now). S&S fought for years for any competitor to move into that location, until the city of Revere forced S&S to give up their lease or be fined heavily for a empty store front
And tidbit of info.. remember that Target was a Bradlees store. And Bradlees was a subsidiary of the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company for many years. And while S&S spun most of the Bradlees stores off in the 1980s, it kept the property management rights of all the properties where Bradlees had stores. And still holds many of them today, long after Bradlees went belly up.
So not surprised that S&S did this. They must own that shopping center (I will have to look this up then). However, they don't own Furlong Drive (National Development and/or CBE Richard Ellis does), so they have little to say about what Target can or could not offer.
Typical feature of retail leases
It is normal for commercial leases to have "exclusive" clauses that prevent the landlord from leasing to other stores that would compete. It can get pretty complicated, particularly with restaurants.
agreed
I shop Target specifically for pre-packaged food like granola bars, chips and baby food pouches. The selection is good, the store brands aren't unappealing, and their prices are competitive... I think I'm getting a good deal on aggregate. But I prefer fresh fresh fresh for produce and meat, and I don't mind making a few stops if I have the time.
Let's not forget the Wegmans
Planned for Landmark Center.
There is also a Craft Beer
There is also a Craft Beer Cellar opening up in the same neighborhood this summer. Fenway will have plenty of options for alcohol, but in Fenway Park your only option is $10 for a crappy beer.
Ugh. Talk about expensive! I
Ugh. Talk about expensive! I was looking forward to trying Wegmans -- stopped at the one in Burlington and was shocked at how little fresh produce there was and the astronomical prices. I figured they'd at least be competitive with Trader Joes, but they're actually more expensive than Whole Paycheck when it comes to things like fresh fruit and veggies. It's a huge store, but surprisingly not that much on the shelves and a lot of non-grocery items that seemed to take the place of actual food selection. Never going back. Sticking with TJ and Market Basket when I can get to one.
Nobody ever said Weggies was cheap
Gotta set the right expectations
If it's anything like the other
urban concept Wegmans in Chestnut Hill, pass. Nothing like a "true" Wegmans experience.
Well ...
anything would be competition for that Star Market. :-)
I dunno
Probably still not worth it to have to cross Boylston and Brookline during rush hour/Red Sox traffic.
I haven't been in that Star since I moved nearly three years ago, but driving by recently I noticed there's a Starbucks there now. My question to those who have actually been in there recently, where they hell did they cram it? Is the flower section gone? Are they finally getting use of that front door?
Massive overhaul
They totally rearranged and made that location nice. Starbucks is in front, where produce once was.
Sure hope so
Once the new Wegman's opens it would feel like Germany with the ability to visit three supermarkets all within a short walk of one another. (Wegman's, Target, Star) If Target is granted this license they'll all sell booze too.
Wegman's will be my favorite of the three but it's sure nice to be able to shop around if you don't like the prices or selection in the first one you went to.
Now where's the guy who is going to complain loudly about the fact they are catering to people who didn't drive to the store? What bogus reason for hate will he come up with this time?
now now
BostonDog, let's not poke people... :)
OK
THEY ARE CATERING TO PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T DRIVE TO THE STORE!
No complaints
Other than that if they are going to cater to people not driving, they should accommodate them with smaller, lighter packages, for example: nips and pints instead of 750 and 175ml bottles. 40's instead of six packs and cases!
But the Licensing Board
apparently doesn't approve the sale of nips. Of course, the concept that a Licensing Board should be allowed to dictate the packaging size of a product a business wants to sell is just reason 1,386 why the Board should just be completely abolished.
No, no, no
If we're going to have a licensing board, it's sole function should be to stop the sale of nips within 1000' of any residence.
Signed,
Area resident with serious nip bottle litter problems.
Solution to nip problem is
Solution to nip problem is easy: add nips to the bottle deposit rules. I can't think of anyone - retail outlets included who would object to adding a 5 cent deposit for the return of these bottles.
Easy enough to carry a case of beer
They fit pretty nicely on a good rear rack on a bike.
Bring a Bob trailer, and anything goes!
I don't know if this is still
I don't know if this is still the case, but I recall reading that if you drive to this new City Target there will be free garage parking available. That certainly sounds like catering to people who drive to the store to me!
Yeah, that's a real incentive
The catch is that you have to drive there, through the Fenway area.
Which means you really have to want to drive there.
Sorry, but I think I'll stick with Somerville or Everett, and others will point their cars toward South Bay,etc.
why no pints of beer?
seems like a pretty arbitrary size of bottle not to sell.
I'm assuming they're
I'm assuming they're referring to any single pints, not necessarily 6-packs of tallboys.
Liquor
I thought it was pints of liquor - same way they won't be having nips.
wait a minute!
Mahhty supports this, but not marijuana dispensaries? I mean, I support both, but someone's math doesn't add up.
Yeah who would have thunk the
Yeah who would have thunk the mayor would support free and open enterprise but not something that's the burden of the city.
Yes, weed is definitely more of a burden on this city
than say.....Boston2024 or gun violence.
This is the moron who said that marijuana is definitely a gateway drug? Forgetting of course, that most basos of Da Mayah's generation started out with Schlitz before they started passing out in the street from too many Jameson's. Then of course, this same generation found it perfectly acceptable to trade booze and weed in for nicotine and caffeine.
of not on
of not on
capitalism is one thing...
...but saying you don't support pot legalization because you, as a former alcoholic, consider it a gateway drug, while saying that you DO support a liquor aisle in a store that generally doesn't have liquor for sale - well, it's just sort of a strange way to twist things around, in my humble opinion. I'm all for both, as I said. I just think it's curious that the mayor is against one and not the other.
It's almost as if these are
It's almost as if these are two entirely different issues that aren't related at all with the level of city invovement.
because
because mahty is a good mayah.. he only does what he's told to do. Apparently his 'advisers' say this is OK.
and what about the packies
is there license going the way of the taxi medallion
The Packie
Was in CA last month, and even the CVS had a small liquor section. The world didn't seem to be ending....
CVS in NY and Maine
Many CVS' in NY state have beer (but not demon wine that is only sold in liquor stores.)
In Maine the Rite-Aids have full beer/wine/liquor depts. Things are still just fine in both places.
On tap in NOLA
You can get Abita on tap at CVS.
At 1am!
I had to do it, just because I could do it!
(That night, the city was getting its party on for the Saints, as they were headed to the Super Bowl)
Alcohol sold in drug stores
It's legal in MA, but the big drugstore chains are subject to the same MA law as the supermarket chains, or Target, or any other owner: only five package store licenses per owner statewide. (The limit increases to seven next year, then to nine in 2020. Source)
Walgreens in Downtown Crossing sells liquor.
Yup
it's so weird going from MA to CA, and seeing gift sets of whiskey and tequila in endcaps in CVS and Target. It's not a problem in CA, even though CA has way higher crime and far more free-range mentally ill folks wandering the streets. The Jack Daniels from Target seldom figures into that equation.
In many states
You can buy liquor, wine and beer in Walgreens, 7-11, all supermarkets, etc , The liquor laws need drastic changing in MA. And there's this rampant attitude that 'drinking' is dirty, bad. The puritans have been gone for 300 years, most Catholics here are nominal, evangelical Protestants, Baptists, Mormons don't hold sway in these parts. I just don't get it. And it's not a socioeconomic or educational attainment thing either, if anything our 'educated' class (many not from here) are the most uptight and prudish.
Why do people always bring up Puritans in these discussions?
The Puritans drank plenty of alcohol. Probably more than we do. It was safer than drinking water.
The law that keeps alcohol out of most large chain stores is intended to protect and benefit small-business owners. Whether you think that's a good idea or not, that is its only purpose. It has no moral content at all.
Not the Puritans
Despite the reputation, Puritans were very much ok with alcohol.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31741615
Brahmin social control of the behavior ....
... of undesirable immigrants from the wrong parts of Europe.
Don't forget legal control for profit.
Beyond whatever residue of puritan mores and brahmin conceits are the attorneys, always the attorneys.
There are liability attorneys with insurance companies, legislators writing laws to make de facto monopolies and special interest deals for influential constituencies like the Beverage Biz.
There are sops to the building industry and hardware retailers slipped into the building codes and so on.
That may because the commonwealth has had a long boom/bust cycle history, giving rise to pessimism. What better way to ensure some constituents will always get something no matter what?
ah let's go to the packie
and get some beeeeers.
So drinks aside will this
So drinks aside will this still be something like a full Target? Clothes, electronics, house goods? That'd be awesome to have in that part of town.
Yep, but in smaller sizes
The example I keep seeing is they'll still sell patio tables, but smaller, and with just two chairs instead of four. The total square footage of the place is actually larger than the South Bay one, just spread over four floors.
how will shopping carts work?
Will it have special escalators for carts, or will everyone have to take them on elevators?
(The old-line department stores like Filene's didn't have shopping carts, and had checkouts on every floor)
I vote for the special escalators
They have one of those in the Randolph (I think) Target as the store starts one floor above ground with parking underneath.
CityTarget is basically
Just a slightly smaller regular Target with sometimes slightly higher prices. Think of it as a convenience fee for not having to go out to Revere, Everett, Somerville, Southie, or Watertown.
I've shopped at the San Francisco one near Market a few times, (including this past week) and have always been able to find what I was looking for. Based on my experience at that location, they tend to opt for less inventory of more items than more inventory of limited items, including groceries. Can't say that Fenway will be the same, but I can't see why it wouldn't.
Think of it as...
..an ugly-ass blight on what used to be a good neighborhood. Oh for the good old days...
How so?
The ones that I have seen are a very useful amenity that makes it easier to live in a city.
Really not that much different in what it will offer than that giant Sears did once upon a time.
I think that Sears Building was an ugly-ass blight before it became recycled.
Blight?
Target is a useful store, and having one a block from the T will benefit the entire city.
You're right
The parking lot and 2 story garage were much better looking.
The ridiculous pricing for all of the new condos popping up is what you should be upset about, not the buildings themselves.