Citgo Opens on Great Road - Again

The Citgo gas station at 105 Great Road is open again after being closed for most of 2008. The Citgo first opened in September 2007 after being closed for several years. This gas station has gone through many periods of closing which seem to occur whenever gas prices rise sharply. I'm not sure if the recently falling gas prices have anything to do with the station re-opening. Besides this gas station, the Northland Convenience Store at the old Gammy's General Store location is only a few days away from opening and is expected to sell gas as well.

KnowFat Closes for Renovations - Reopens as UFood Grill

The KnowFat LifeStyle Grille at 347 Great Road briefly closed last week for renovations and a name change. It reopened on July 15th as UFood Grill. The business is part of a local chain with 5 other locations in Massachusetts (which are also in the process of changing their name). In addition to the Massachusetts stores, UFood Grill is adding locations in Chicago, California, Florida, Texas and Utah.

I recently spoke with Eric Spitz, Executive Vice President of Business Development for UFood Grill. I asked Eric about the name change. He mentioned that while they were happy with the food sales of the Know Fat restaurants, they felt the Know Fat name was self limiting as customers liked the food but many associated the name with foods they typically didn't enjoy. Eric explained how they did lots of customer research to come up with the new name and hope to attract a much broader audience.

While the general layout has stayed the same. The interior has been renovated and includes new seats and a cleaner more modern look. The restaurant no longer has a separate area selling protein bars and supplements.

The renovation took just over a week and included changes to the menu as well. The protein bars that were previously sold have been replaced with "Smuuthies" which can be enhanced with Whey Protein, Ginseng, Antioxidants, Bee Pollen and other supplements. Also new on the menu is UBerry which is tart soft serve yogurt. Frozen Yogurt has become increasingly popular in the last year or so with the introduction of new restaurant chains like Pinkberry and Red Mango popping up across the Country.

The "Smuuthies" are made with fat-free yogurt, fruit and berries and are available in a dozen different varieties.

Along with these changes, UFood has also added additional Vegetarian items as well as a few other entree items including a Bison Burger and a Falafel Roll-Up. The new menu no longer offers beer or wine.

Eric mentioned the restaurant currently has 36 seats but is working with the town to get that increased to 44. While the restaurant would be interested in offering outdoor seating it does not currently offer any. It does have a pickup window to which you can walk or drive to in order to pick up an order you previously called in.

The Sign for the Pick-Up window could be better designed. I suspect many customers are not aware of this option.

This is where you can pick up your order after you phone it in. A better sign is needed. There is no mention of UFood Grill at all.

The Restaurant still features a few breakfast items and is open 11am-8pm most days. The store currently has 20-25 employees. Know Fat had an existing loyalty program called "In the Know" that will continue with UFood. The loyalty program offers you 3% cash back on all your purchases. You get points with each purchase and once you reach 100 points, you get a $3 certificate off your next order.

Along with the new name, the restaurant has also retained George Foreman (former boxer and seller of the Foreman Grill) as it's spokesman. George will be visiting the Massachusetts stores (including the Bedford location) in September.

In addition to in store dining and take out, UFood Grill also offers catering for business and other events. Catering is handled by the local store.

The UFood Grill "catering van". In addition to the regular menu, UFood Grill can also offer custom menu items.

When Know Fat first opened a few years ago, they ran a lot of marketing promotions including Bedford Day to get a lot of people to try their food. This seemed to work well as the restaurant got pretty busy during lunch in just a few weeks.

After taking a look at the renovations, I took a look at some of the other restaurants in Bedford. Both Papa Gino's and Dunkin' Donuts seem like they would benefit from an updated look.

A Brief Update on Three Bedford Businesses

This is the new location of the Salon Alfonse Salon & Spa. The space was formerly occupied by Hair Extraordinaire. An "official" Grand Opening is planned for later this year.

1. Salon Alfonse moved 1/4 miles west from 142 Great Road to 50 Great Road.

142 Great Road was the former location of Salon Alfonse. The building is still partially occupied.

2. The JC Cleaners next to the Post Office in the Bedford Shopping Center (soon to be known as Bedford Marketplace) has closed. With the recent opening of Lapels, I counted six Dry Cleaners in town (Bedford Cleaners, Great Cleaners, JC Cleaners, Lapels, Luongo's and Top Cleaners). I'm not sure if it was the competition or the fact that reconstruction of the shopping center is scheduled to begin next spring and they decided not to renew their lease. Earlier this year, a sign appeared saying they were under new management and had changed the name to Care Cleaners.

The JC Cleaners next to the Post Office closed on May 31st. There are still 5 other dry cleaners in town.

If you had clothes at JC Cleaners, it looks like you need to drive up to Chelmsford to pick them up.

3. According to Stop & Shop employees, the renovations are almost complete and a Grand Re-Opening is set For July 8th. As previously discussed, the renovations are fairly limited. The biggest changes are in the Produce and Prepared Food areas which in my opinion do have a cleaner and more modern look to them. They also have seemed to have added a lot more prepared items, perhaps to better compete with Whole Foods. Unfortunately there has been a set back in the self checkout which now closes at 9pm an hour earlier than previous.

Bedford Farmers' Market Opens

The Bedford Farmers' Market opened this past Monday. I stopped by several times during the afternoon. Each time there was a good amount of foot traffic to most of the booths. I think this will be a success. Seemed to be plenty of parking.

While the Bedford Farmers' Market has been promoted in town to residents, it appears to have not yet been promoted directly to many of the people who work in Bedford. In fact, I spoke to two office workers just one block away who were on a break. They had no idea about the Farmers' Market. They both thought it was a great idea and in fact, one of them immediately headed right to the Market. Perhaps some flyers could be distributed to some of the local businesses. Since the Market stays open until 6:30pm, I think some of the local workers will stop by after work before heading home.

Northside Convenience Store and Gas Station Coming to Bedford

The old Gammys General Store at 44 North Rd is being remodeled. A new gas station and convenience store are coming soon and will be named Northside Convenience. The new gas station is sorely needed. A few years back, Bedford had six gas stations, now only three remain (Sunoco, Shell and Exxon). More details to follow.

Remodeling has begun for the new Northside Convenience Store and Gas Station. The second floor which was formerly occupied by The Callahan Kenpo Karate Studio, is still available for rent.

Bedford Stop and Shop Undergoes Renovation

The Bedford Stop and Shop has recently begin renovations to make the store more inviting. I spoke to Stop and Shop about the renovation. The most noticeable changes will be a larger produce area with new fixtures and an expanded natural food section. They will also be adding a full service meat case which will feature a much wider selection of marinated meats and some prepared foods in an effort to better compete with Whole Foods. Some of the flooring will also be replaced with the new style "wood" laminate. As part of the update, the outside facade will also be replaced with an more modern design. The store will remain open during the renovation.

The exterior facade has chipping paint and is in need of an overhaul.

No changes are expected for the Pharmacy, Dunkin' Donuts or Citizen Bank. The checkouts will stay the same as well. The one change I wish they would make, is having more than one cashier working in the later evening. I have frequently seen 10-20 people in line and only one lane open and the self checkout is closed as well. What's the point of having self checkout if you close it?

In any case, the renovation work is expected to be completed by the middle of July and it is likely there will be some type of "re-grand opening" at that time.

Bedford Depot Freight House Closes For Renovations

Renovation has started on the Bedford Freight House which is located at Depot Park at the end of the Minuteman Bikeway. The Freight House was originally used by the Billerica and Bedford Railroad to house it's train engines. While the building is too small to house a regular train engine, the Billerica and Bedford Railroad was one of the first in the country to use a 2 foot narrow gauge track (most "standard gauge" tracks are just over 4.5 feet wide). After the Billerica and Bedford Railroad went out of business, the Freight House was taken over by the Boston and Maine Railroad. Since the Boston and Maine Railroad used a wider gauge track, it's engines would not fit and the building was used as a Freight Shed by the railroad. The railroad sold the building in the 1950's and over the next 40 years, it was used for a variety of retail businesses. About 10 years ago the building was sold to the Town of Bedford and is now run by the Friends of Depot Park which use the depot to provide drinks and snacks as well as historical information about Bedford's Railroad History to users of the Minuteman Bikeway.

As previously noted, money has recently been appropriated by the state for the renovation of the Freight House. The renovation includes a complete overhaul and will include public bathrooms and a information Kiosk containing a map of Bedford and local points of interest.

The renovation work started last month and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2009.