Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Friday, March 29, 2024

New marketplace to open in Davis Square next fall

RocheBrosPlan031
A “small-scale, high-end” grocery store, Brothers Marketplace, owned by the Roche Bros. will bring fresh, locally sourced food to Davis Square.

With the opening of Brothers Marketplace in Davis Square next fall, grocery shopping will soon become much easier for Tufts students.

According to a Sept. 17, 2014 article in the Somerville Times, Brothers Marketplace, a small-scale, high-end grocery shop owned by Roche Bros., will occupy the basement and the first floor of the currently abandoned Social Security office located at 240 Elm Street. 

According to John "Jack" Connolly, Alderman-At-Large of the City of Somerville, the plan was presented to the public this past May and received no oppositions during its public hearing on Oct. 16, 2014.

Connolly said that having the store in Davis is essential, as it meets the increasing demand of the local residents.

“If I [had] a dollar for every time someone says to me that we really need a grocery store in Davis Square, I would have retired a very long time ago,” he said.

Associate Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning Justin Hollander believes that Davis Square is a good location for the store.

“I think that Davis Square is an excellent location because you have the T stop there [and] it is an area that is growing in population,” he said. “There are quite a lot of houses that had been single family homes in this area, and now they have broken up into two or sometimes even three units ... So you have an increasing population in Davis Square. So there is demand for a market that is closer.”

Connolly also believes that opening a grocery store in Davis Square provides great convenience to the local residents.

“Because there are a lot of those who live right near Davis Square, Porter Square is a much longer walk [and it’s] very difficult to park,” he said. “If you have a marketplace in Davis, many of us can just walk for five to 10 minutes. Having it near the neighborhood makes it more convenient.”

In addition, Hollander explained that the reuse of the old Social Security office building, which has been vacant since 2010, will be beneficial for both the city and Tufts.

“I have done a lot of research on ... abandoned buildings, and the most important thing is you don't want a building to be sitting vacant for a long period of time," he said. "Because then vandals will come in and vandalize, and people will be worried about the economic climate and other sectors will be less likely to invest. So it’s important that a city encourage the use of a structure like that.”

Accoring to Connolly, based on its detailed market analysis and its experience in successfully running two similar stores in Weston and Medfield, the Brothers Marketplace aims to appeal to both students and seniors, as well as working professionals living in the area.

"[It’s an ideal place] that you can come every other day to get fresh vegetables and meals to go," Connolly said. "They love this area, because there is such a huge number of people who can walk or take the T, or come to Davis anyways, because there are a lot of choices in Davis. So they very much want to be here.”

According to Connolly, the grocery store will provide locally sourced and fresh produce, fish and poultry at affordable prices; a cafe; and space for farmers’ market vendors to sell their goods during the wintertime.

“They have considered anybody who needs to eat ... fresh food, whether you are 15 or 65,” he said.

Based on his own undergraduate experience here at Tufts, Hollander believes that the new grocery store will help students.

“I was an undergraduate myself at Tufts," he said. "There aren’t too many supermarkets nearby if you don’t have a car. I remember doing food shopping at Jumbo Express. So this is [going to] provide a lot more options than just a convenience store. So for some students I think this is [going to] be a major improvement.”

Hollander also mentioned that having a small marketplace next to a college campus makes sense, as has been show in other situations.

“At Northeastern University, they have this new development right at the edge of their campus, and there is a market roughly the same size as this one being proposed,” he said. “I think it is a really good model.”

Despite the convenience that the grocery store will bring, junior Zhixin Xia does not find another supermarket necessary in the area. Nevertheless, she believes that the new grocery store will provide more options for the students, and support for the local business.

It would be nice to buy fresh produce from Davis, but I don’t know if it’s entirely necessary because there’s a Stop & Shop really close-by, which is approximately the same walking distance to Davis,” she said. “But I guess [as] people become more into organic produce and local produce now, I think there is more room to have one in Davis ... [which] is more locally based, and much more locally sustainable.”

The community has received these plans for the new supermarket well, according to Connolly.

“We had two big neighborhood meetings … and there was overwhelming support for the market,” he said.

Incorporating the existing Dunkin’ Donuts as a store-within-a-store, the construction of the new grocery store will start around mid-November, with a new fitness center being built on the second floor at the same time, according to Connolly.

“The hard part is when you build it for a year or so, there will be inconveniences … [as] there will be a big construction site for many months to a year,” he said. “But after a year, when they put up a beautiful marketplace, it will certainly be a big appeal to everybody.”

According to the article in the Somerville Times, concerns have been raised about the competition that will arise between the locally owned grocery stores such as MacKinnon's Meat Market and this supermarket store-chain. Connolly, however, believes that it won’t be a problem.

“It does provide competition for another place, [such as] McKinnon’s marketplace and Dave’s,”he said. “But I think it will actually help them, because they have very good prices and a lot of people will continue to be loyal to them, and [the new store] will also drive customers for them.”

Considering the store’s accessibility by bike, train, bus and foot, Connolly believes in the great prospects of this plan.

“Because I have been in Davis for a very long time, I can tell you that it is going to be a tremendous opportunity to fill a void that has been missing here in Davis for almost 25 years, to have a grocery store with this extensive mix of products,” he said.

After its public hearing, this plan is waiting for its final decision on Oct. 29, but Connolly believes that it will likely be approved.

“Several people testified in favor of the [Roche Bros.' Brothers Marketplace] being opened and be located at Elm St.," he said. "The Zoning Board will go individually look at the location just to double-check, but it’s likely that they will vote on this on Oct. 29. There [were no] spoken ... oppositions, so it’s quite likely that there might be a positive decision on the 29th."