MANCHESTER, NH – There’s nothing like a little bit of verified real estate gossip to get the retail juices flowing, and we have a few tidbits for you here, culled from various reliable sources:
Word on the street is that Trader Joe’s is coming to the old Macy’s location in Bedford, sometime in 2018, making that stretch of River Road the new alternative supermarket express – it’s already home to Whole Foods and Fresh Market.
NH Business Review reports Trader Joe’s will build a 13,000-square-foot store to launch in Q3 of 2018. Speculation over the other tenants is still speculation, says Shalott Cecchini, Marketing Manager of Encore Enterprises, Inc., who advised that some of the additional tenants mentioned in the NHBR story were not accurate. We’ve removed the list and will wait for the update – but she did confirm that Trader Joe’s is a go!
On Saturday, the Union Leader reported another definite is The Friendly Toast, best known in these parts for its presence in Portsmouth.
Of course, we’re also counting down to the new Manchester Chunky’s, due for a grand opening in May at the newly revamped Lowe’s building on Huse Road, and the urban wine bar Cabonnay, at the corner of Bridge and Kosciuszko streets, which is shooting for a late-April soft opening.
Word on the street is that Bunny’s Superette just bought the old CVS site on Elm Street for $900,000. This comes from Dan Scanlon of Colliers International, who knows his real estate gossip! Plans for an Elm Street convenience store in the heart of downtown is the best news of the week, possibly the year – it’s been sorely lacking since CVS closed up shop there.
And this just in: Bunny’s owner Pramod Nyaupane has the deets – he just filled me in Friday morning, via email:
“Absolutely, Bunny’s at Webster street will run as usual. We will be focusing more as a convenience store at Elm Street. but will offer our signature food products like Famous Bunny’s Beans, Chop Suey, Chili beans, fresh sandwiches, subs and salads. We will be offering pretty much everything you find in a convenience store, including beers and wine, small portion of grocery and other merchandises. So it will be a typical convenience store with some modification to meet the need of our downtown demand.
Will update you as it gets closer. We are hoping to open in few months,” Nyaupane says.
Bam! And there you have it.
Word on the street – also from Scanlon – is that the vacant Sports Authority on South Willow Street will become home to three new retailers, two of which are Guitar Center and Party City. That, coupled with the Anagnost/Sullivan retail build at the old Sylvania site, will make South Willow a true shoppers mecca. Hope the Mall of NH can survive the competition.
Got some news to share? Curious about something brewing? Drop us a line at robidouxnews@gmail.com, subject line Word on the Street.
