Facing significant backlash from some neighbors, a private school has withdrawn its plan to take over the South End location of Foodie’s Market in June, the local online new outlet, Universal Hub, first reported.
In a message posted Feb. 6 on the South End Community Board on Facebook, Croft School founder Scott Given and Head of School Cristina Lopez wrote in part “that our involvement at this particular site, regardless of intent, compounded a moment of genuine grief and frustration,” so the school would instead be “stepping back” in deference to the opposition to its proposed expansion into the ground-level space at 1421 Washington St., which Foodie’s has occupied for the past 30 years.
Given and Lopez added The Croft School is already seeking another space in the South End neighborhood.
On Monday, Feb. 2, Victor G. Leon, general manager of Foodie’s Markets, announced the business’s decision to end its lease this June for its South End location, stating in part: “Operating a small, independently owned grocery store has become increasingly challenging in today’s economic environment.”
After Foodie’s opted not to renew its lease for the South End location, The Croft School, which has been in the South End since 2022, and occupies two other buildings at 1525 and 1310 Washington St., respectively, approached the building’s landlord, 1421 Washington Associates LLC, with a proposal to renovate the space to help accommodate the school’s proposed expansion.
In response to The Croft School’s proposed expansion into the South End, some residents of that neighborhood launched an online petition to preserve the retail space at 1421 Washington St. as a neighborhood grocery store, and to “protect retail storefronts and food access” in the South End (https://www.change.org/p/protect-retail-storefronts-and-food-access-in-boston-s-south-end). As of Tuesday, Feb. 10, the petition had garnered more than 1,700 signatures.
The petitioners had also planned a standout outside the storefront on the morning of Saturday, Feb. 7, prior to The Croft School’s decision to abandon its plans for the site.
On Friday, Feb. 6, Leon of Foodie’s released an additional statement, which read in part: “These are challenging times for independent grocers, and our success to date has been made possible by the incredible support of the community. Despite that support, it is no longer feasible for us to continue operating at 1421 Washington Street. This was a business decision – it was not a forced closure, and not a decision the Croft School was involved in or influenced.”
Leon added: “Continuing at this location would require significant financial investment to update the building and its mechanical systems. That level of investment would require a long-term commitment that we determined was too risky given the current economic realities of our industry.
“Knowing firsthand the challenges facing small grocers we were aware that finding another grocer to take our space would be a challenge, which made this decision especially difficult. We believe this is the right time for us to move on. We are not pursuing other locations in the South End and are instead focusing our efforts on our South Boston market,” Leon stated.