Saturday, July 23, 2016

Pronails Spa opens in Great Road Shopping Center


Pronails Spa at 305 Great Road in the Great Road Shopping Center, held it's Grand Opening today. The Spa replaces the Radio Shack store which closed in November 2014. This is the 4th location for Pronails Spa. In addition to Bedford, they have two locations in Billerica and one in Braintree.

The interior has undergone an extensive renovation resulting in a much more upscale appearance. 
I recently spoke to Tom Phan who is one of the owners. Tom mentioned he has been looking to open an additional location. He started researching other towns when one of his clients who lived in Bedford, suggested they open a location in Bedford. Tom did some additional research and thought the demographics of the town matched up well with their business. Tom has been looking forward to opening and interacting with the Bedford Community.

There are over a dozen regular Pedicure chairs.
The Spa focuses on Manicures, Pedicures, Facials, Waxing and Massage (which they also referred to as Bodywork). The Spa consists of 20 Manicure Stations and 16 Pedicure Chairs along with several VIP Chairs and two Massage rooms.

Clients can choose from several massage treatments including Hot Stone Bodywork, Reflexology and Thai Styles.

Along with individual services, the spa also offer private events for occasions such as Weddings and Company Perks/Outings.

Special VIP Chairs are available for VIP Services such as Organic Pedicures and Signature Detox Manicures.

According to Tom, the Spa is starting with ten employees and hopes to ramp up to about twenty employees after the first few months.

The Pronails sign behind the reception desk features running water. Behind the sign is an electric fireplace which
will be turned on during colder weather. 
The Spa is open from 10am to 7pm Mon-Sat and from 11am to 5pm on Sundays.


Note:
The last few years have seen an increase in Nail Salons and Spa's. I expect this trend to continue in Bedford. Along with Pronails Spa, Simply Nails & Spa is expected to open next month in the Bedford Marketplace. It will be interesting to see if the additional competition will end up driving more business.

Friday, July 1, 2016

Comella's Restaurant Opens in Bedford Marketplace


Comella's Restaurant opened June 30th at 158H Great Road in the Bedford Marketplace. With the opening of the Bedford restaurant, Comella's now has 13 locations, all of which are in Eastern Massachusetts.

I recently spoke with Matt Comella, co-owner of the restaurant chain. The company was originally formed by his Father, Gene Comella who opened the first location in Wellesley back in 1988. Matt and his brother J.P., joined the business in 2003 and they have been adding locations ever since.

The dining room has a modern well lit feel
According to Matt, the restaurant has 81 seats and has two main sections. A counter service section  where you place the order and then food is brought to you (similar to Ken's Deli) and a full service section where you order at the table. This full service section also contain a bar area. The menu focuses on Pastas, Pizzas, Salads, Sandwiches, Soups, Traditional Italian Entrees and Desserts. The restaurant also has a full liquor license.

Comella's features a wide variety of desserts including Italian Pastries.
Matt commented that Comella's has been interested in opening a location in Bedford for quite a while. They liked the demographics, especially the fact that there are lots of Families in Bedford. Comella's has a history of getting involved in the communities where they operate. Matt mentioned they have already hired a lot of local Bedford students to work in the restaurant.

A good portion of the dining areas consists of half booths.
Most of the other Comella's have about 20 seats and focus on take out. The Hingham location which opened in May, was the first location to have a full liquor license and larger dining room. While the Hingham location initially saw most of their sales from dine in, they have been pleasantly surprised to see the takeout business quickly grow to become just as popular as the other locations.

This section of the dining room features full service dining.

According to Matt, Comella's has a strong commitment on continuous improvement to the taste and quality of their food. They also look at the menu selection and recently decided to add a personal size pizza.

The bar area features a wide assortment of beer on tap along with High Definition Widescreen TV's.

Along with online ordering, Comella's also offer corporate catering. The restaurant is currently open 11:30 am to 10:30 pm every day but they will re-evaluate after the summer (Restaurant dining in Bedford tend to quiet down in the summer as many people head to summer homes and vacations).

The pictures are on the wall are all real photos of the Comella Family.

Comments:
1. This is now the 3rd restaurant to open within just a few doors of each other. A 4th restaurant, Subway is expected to open later this Month which will create a mini restaurant row in Bedford.
2. It will be interesting to see how many former Cafe Luigi's customers will frequently Comella's. I think they will do very well in that regards. In addition, Comella's is well known for offering a 16" Pizza for $6, which will help drive a strong take out business.