Bruegger's Bagels on Church St. closes, new tenant for North Face spot

The Bruegger’s Bagels shop on the Church Street Marketplace closed over the weekend, taking the eatery out of the city that has long-standing ties to the nationwide chain.

The shop closed as of Sunday, according to a sign visible Monday on the front door of the 93 Church St. storefront. Brown paper covered the windows and front door and the sign above the door has been removed.

The store is among 30 Bruegger’s Bagels bakeries to be closed recently, according to the Einstein Noah Restaurant Group that runs Bruegger’s.

“The bakeries are primarily located in Eastern markets including Washington D.C., Pennsylvania and Ohio,” according to a statement from the company. “The decision to close the locations was based on financial performance and improved positioning for future growth.” The company will continue to operate more than 240 locations across the country, according to the statement.

Bruegger’s Bagels was founded in 1983 by Burlington lawyer Nordahl Brue and Shelburne builder Michael Dressell, who opened their first store in Troy, New York. Bruegger’s grew into a nationwide chain but didn’t open its first store in Vermont until 1990 in Brattleboro, followed soon by one in Brue’s hometown of Burlington. The renovated Howard Opera House on Church Street became home to that store as well as the company's administrative offices.

A sign on the door at the former Bruegger’s shop on Church Street recommends that customers visit the nearest Bruegger’s Bagels restaurant, on Shelburne Road in Shelburne.

Becky Cassidy, marketing consultant for the Church Street Marketplace, said her office that oversees the pedestrian shopping area heard about the closure of Bruegger’s from several callers Monday.

More: Spellbound closing its doors on Church Street

“We’re always sad to see a store close on the Marketplace, but we are blessed with the fact that this is a popular place for retail and restaurants to be,” Cassidy said. “Commercial realtors tell me that they always have quite a line of folks waiting when a store closes ready to go ahead and make an offer.”

Cassidy said a couple of other vacant Marketplace properties are about to be filled. Fathead, which sells life-sized cutouts of athletes and film characters, may open in the next couple of weeks in the space that housed the Spellbound clothing store, according to Cassidy. She said the former North Face space should be occupied by Free People, a North American chain that sells women’s clothing, as early as February.

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at 660-1844 or bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.