CVS Pharmacy Undergoing Renovation

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The Pharmacy Department at the Bedford CVS at 199 Great Road is about to undergo two weeks of renovation. The renovation include a slight expansion of the pharmacy area which is expected to improve efficiency for the Pharmacists and Technicians. In addition, the customer drop off and pick up areas will feature a more modern look. The renovation will be done mostly at night and is expected to be completed by the end of the month.

The main area of CVS store #736 was renovated a few years ago including an expansion of the beauty section.

It's interesting to note that the Bedford CVS is one of the few in the area that is open 24 hours. The nearest CVS stores that are also 24 hours are located in Wilmington and Waltham.

Bedford Photo and Digital Moves to Village at Taylor Pond

Bedford Photo and Digital, formerly located at 363 Great Road (next to D'Angelo's Grilled Sandwiches) has moved to The Village at Taylor Pond which is located at 59 Middlesex Turnpike. According to owner Tim Barrett, they moved in about 2 weeks ago. They will continue to offer their regular services and hope to attract new customers. A good portion of their customers are corporations and he hopes his location will be more convenient to a lot of nearby companies. Currently Tim has posted some temporary signs on his windows and he hopes to add a larger permanent sign above his store in the next few weeks.

The main sign for The Village at Taylor Pond now lists Bedford Photo and Digital. The sign does not stick out on to Middlesex Turnpike, making it difficult to see until you are right on top of it. I'm guessing the sign visibility will improve once Middlesex Turnpike gets widened to 4 lanes.

This is the first retail tenant at The Village at Taylor Pond which is a mixed use development with 188 apartments and about 10,000 square feet of retail space. I previously wrote about the retail space back in April 2008. A new restaurant called Lola's with available outdoor seating, was supposed to open earlier this year.

It will be interesting to see how this retail area develops. Along with Taylor Pond, across the street is the fairly new Heritage at Bedford Springs which has 144 apartments plus you have the Goddard School and plenty of Office Parks nearby. The closest food/convenience store is the Mobil on Bedford Street which is about 1.2 miles away.  The Village at Taylor Pond could probably support a 7-Eleven as well as a dry cleaner while restaurants would bring customers to the other businesses.

What Changed in 2009

Now that it's 2010, it's time to look back at the last year and see what has changed in Bedford. According to my count, Bedford added 5 new stores, 3 stores were renovated, 3 store moved within Bedford and 5 stores closed.

Please click on this image for a larger more detailed view

While the number of store closings has increased, all of them except one have been replaced by new stores. It appears the retail market in Bedford is still fairly strong. It would be interesting to compare the retail vacancy rates in Bedford with those in the surrounding towns.


New Stores:
Bostonwood Furniture
Firebox BBQ
Inhome Design
Jack + Toba
Marcell's Auto Detailing and Repairs

Stores That Underwent Renovation:
Bedford Car Wash
Bedford Freight House
Dunkin' Donuts


Stores That Moved Within Bedford:
Bedford Jewelers (3 doors down)
Bedford Photo and Digital (reopening Jan 2010)
Cambridge Savings Bank

Stores That Closed:
Bedford Laundromat
Dunkin' Donuts (Stop and Shop only)
J. Gregory Lamp & Shade Gallery
Title Town Sports
UFood Grill

What Am I forgetting?

Planned for 2010:
Bedford Marketplace Shopping Center Renovation (dependent on economic recovery)
Blake Block (2011 maybe?)
Hanscom Credit Union (expansion in to old Bedford Jewelers location)
Lolas Restaurant (at Taylor Pond)
JRM Antiques (Bedford Depot Building)
Panera Bread (In Bedford Marketplace)
Restaurant on Middlesex Turnpike (new location for Home Plate Cafe Billerica)

Predictions for 2010:
1. An existing restaurant will close.
2. Outdoor dining finally comes to Bedford
3. New hotel plan submitted for the Crosby Drive/Burlington Road area

Marcell's Auto Detailing and Repairs opens on Great Road

Marcell's Auto Detailing and Repairs opened last month in the two service bays of the Gas Station at 105 Great Road. While the gas station last re-opened in July of 2008, the service bays have generally been empty.

I recently spoke with Fabricio (who does the detailing). According to Fabricio, Marcell's Detailing has been in Lowell for 13 years. They have recently been looking to add a second location and Bedford seemed like a area that could use another Auto Detailer and they liked the town itself. While the service bays are part of the gas station, Marcell's is actually  leasing the bays directly from Dahar Realty, the owner of the building. With two service bays available, they decided to add on auto repair in addition to the detailing service. The Bedford location offers a wide range of detailing services ranging from a Express Power Wash to a Deluxe Full Detail. It takes from 1-4 hours for most detailing depending on the level of service. The prices range from about $30-250.

I also spoke with Marcus (who does the auto repair). Marcus has been working on cars and trucks for most of his life and really takes pride in his work. He offers general automotive repair such as brakes, oil changes and  suspension work. According to Marcus, a lot of customers have initially come in for detailing work and find it convenient to have repairs or maintenance done at the same time. He mentioned that Fabricio and himself have been very pleased with the growth of the business. He credits the referrals from the gas station as well as some flyers he has placed at Ken's Deli. Marcell's has also been able to sign up some commercial accounts for repair work as well as partner with a local tire store for detailing customer cars. Fabricio and Marcell are currently the only employees, they may add a third employee down the road.

They are open Monday through Saturday from around 8am - 6pm and also offer free pickup and drop off within 10 miles for both detailing and auto repair which seems like a good benefit to employees at all the office parks in Bedford (you can have you car worked on without having to leave the office). It's interesting to note that there are not a lot of competing detailing shops. The closest location I could find is S & J Auto Detail which is just over the Burlington line on Bedford Street  (Route 62). I have also seen some mobile detailing companies that drive up in a van but don't know how prevalent they are in the local area. On the automotive repair side, the nearest competitors are Sullivan Tire and Riggio Auto Repair (aka Sunoco).

Jack + Toba Opens on the Blake Block

 Jack + Toba a speciality store specializing in vintage clothing and contemporary antiques recently opened at 72 Great Road on the Blake Block. I recently spoke with the owner Suzy Watters. Suzy has been interested in design and fashion her entire life. She spent 18 years working for Ann Taylor followed by 6 years as a decorator and wardrobe stylist for individual clients. She first got the idea for the store about a year ago when she saw a for rent sign on the Blake Block and thought this would be a good location. By the time she decided to move forward, the store was rented. So when another for rent sign went up on the Blake Block a few months ago, Suzy jumped at the chance. The store is named after her parents Jack and Toba who were both in the fashion industry. Her goal was to open a hip shop with a very friendly atmosphere that was a bit different from your typical everything goes antique store.

Suzy saw that Concord had a lot of speciality shops and though that Bedford could benefit from a shop. She thought the Blake Block location was perfect for capturing people driving to and back from Whole Foods.

Suzy mentioned that she has no formal fashion training but developed her talent through her life experiences in dressing and decorating. She grew up on the upper west side of Manhattan and fashion is in her blood. Her goal is to offer unique products with great style.

The store features an eclectic mix of upscale and classic antiques mixed with vintage clothing and home accents.

For the vintage clothing, Suzy closely inspects each item and only carries items in like new condition. 

 Her products also include furniture. Custom upholstery is available by order.

 According to Suzy, so far it's been a mix of people buying items for themselves and gifts for others. She mentioned that a man recently came in to buy a suit and a short while later his wife came back in to get him a tie for the suit. So far she has gotten quite a bit of positive feedback as well as repeat clients.

It's interesting to note this is the 3rd "artsy" shop on the Blake Block along with the used book store. There appears to be a decent amount of cross traffic with the other antique and design stores. With the Blake Block renovation on hold, it would be interesting to sign on additional antique stores as well as a artist studio or two and rebrand the Blake Block as a unique shopping destination.

J. Gregory Lamp & Shade Gallery Closes It's Bedford Store

The J. Gregory Lamp & Shade Gallery located at 186 Great Road in Blue Ribbon Plaza shut down on October 25th. The store, which opened about 3 years ago, still has a retail location at it's main office in Needham. The remaining "lamp" store in Bedford is Baudanza Electric Co. which has a lot more lamps than it's name implies.

A note posted to the front door announces the closing

Although I did not spend a lot of time in the store, the few times I did go in, it did not seem to have a lot of foot traffic. I am wondering if the product line was too upscale for the area. This appeared to be the case with Neena's Lighting which opened a location at the Vinebrook Plaza in Burlington only to close it about a year later.

With the closing of J. Gregory, Blue Ribbon Plaza is looking for a new retail tenant.

Cambridge Savings Bank Has Grand Opening at New Location

Cambridge Savings Bank which opened at it's new location at 181 Great Road on October 5th, had it's grand opening celebration today. The new location (which is approximately the same size as the old location at Bedford Marketplace) has added Safety Deposit Boxes and a Drive Thru. Inside the branch, it features a very modern airy look that seems more upscale than the other banks in town.. The branch also added an automatic coin counter that's free for Cambridge Savings Bank customers to use.

As part of the Grand Opening, Cambridge Savings Bank President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Wilson presents a check to the Bedford Historical Society. Cambridge Savings Bank which just had it's 175th Birthday, has operated in Bedford since 1943.