Category Archives: Business

The new Brothers Marketplace will open July 30, per a press release from them.  I was told by Rob Gregg this morning that the mural on the South Street wall is going to be of a photograph of the Lord’s store from 50-60 years ago with diagonally parked cars.  However, Mike Sullivan told me last week the mural would be of The Emperor Onion Store.  Maybe if the photo is old enough it was The Emperor Onion store – i do not know my Medfield history ell enough to know.

Medfield was originally the first of this new store design for Roche Bros., but the press release says we are their second, so one other one got build out faster.

One of Dave MacCready’s companies has purchased the downtown building across from the former Lord’s that was the former site of Wills Hardware and Master’s Touch, for $765,000 per today’s Globe.

Dave and his son Rob were at the recent Board of Selectmen meeting to share their intentions for the building.  Their concept plans call for the creation of four retail stores on the first floor, five offices on the second floor, and three apartments on the third floor.  Three of the retail stores will have doors onto Jane’s Avenue, one onto Main Street, and all second entrances from the common hallway on the east side of the building.  They will add an elevator and lavatories on the first two floors.

The major problem would appear to be the lack of requisite parking at the site.  It was represented that some parking would be under the building.  The Zoning Board of Appeals has the authority to waive strict enforcement of the parking requirements for uses located in the downtown. The notes on the plans indicate that the zoning bylaws would require 51 parking spaces for the proposed uses:

• 30 spaces for the retail
• 15 spaces for the offices
• 6 spaces for the residential

Parking is becoming tighter all the time in the downtown, and will only get worse when the Brothers Market opens.

I scanned the hand drawn concept plans they shared – click here to see the floor plans

Roche Bros. circulated the attached plan of the proposed signs for their new market, which they are calling “Brothers Marketplace.”  The facades and the signs look really nice to me.

Notice below from Master Touch today that they are moving to Holliston effective 2/1/14, and that their Medfield store will only be open by appointment starting next week, thus opening a key retail location.

Our new address will be 24 Water Street in Holliston.

Our mailing post office box will remain the same.

Tracy Buckley of Medfield Yoga Studio at 28 Park Street raised with me this morning the need for a sign on Main Street that tells the Rte 109 traffic that there is a business district down Park Street.

She was preaching to the choir, as I have been saying for several years that we need to do something of that sort to promote the businesses on Park Street.  In the past the idea got waylaid and stalled because there is no town owned land on which to put the sign, and most recently the zoning issue with respect to off premises signs was raised.

Today I suggest that the town has the right to erect a directional sign, akin to a street sign, and that we should proceed to do so to give those Park Street businesses both greater visibility and viability.

We already have similar signs along Main Street for the Episcopal Church and the Roberts Mitchell Funeral Home.