EXCLUSIVE: New Owner Reveals Plans for Worcester’s Famous Widoff’s Bakery

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Patrick Sargent, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Empty display cases at Widoff's Bakery

Last Thursday, July 16, Bay State Investment Funds LLC of Worcester purchased the building that held Widoff’s Bakery on Water Street for $550,000.

At the time of the sale, Widoff’s had a mortgage of $450,000.

According to Edward Murphy, owner of Bay State Investment Funds, the new building owners didn’t plan on the former Widoff owners closing as soon as they did.

“It came as a surprise to us on Monday that they were officially closed,” said Murphy. According to Murphy, the oven at Widoff's broke on Saturday night, forcing the bakery to close on Sunday and Monday - eventually forcing their hand to close permanently.

Plans for Widoff’s

“We have reached out to some local bakeries and have looked to find a baker to come in. Widoff’s occupied 19,000 square feet which is not economical for anyone else.”

Murphy said that they’ve spoken to a few bakery owners and that most of the bakery owners couldn't care less about the equipment that remains because it’s so outdated.

Plans for the building will be determined by who wants to move in there. If need be, Bay State will develop it into retail space.

Mixer no longer used in back room of Widoff's

According to Murphy, Bay State offered to reduce the square footage of Widoff’s in an attempt to save costs and keep them in business.

“Obviously, it was too little, too late for them,” Murphy said.

What Went Wrong?

After shutting down for three days in June, the former owners of Widoff’s attempted to raise $100,000 through GoFundMe to fix a faulty roof.

According to attorney Jonathan Finklestein, representative for the former owners, the bakery owners had multiple opportunities to fix the roof and resolve other issues that were brought up by the city inspectors.

“The roof was one of the big issues the board of health was concerned about,” said Murphy.

Finklestein could not tell GoLocal whether or not any money raised through the GoFundMe campaign was returned to donors. Finklestein said, “I just know that it (the GoFundMe campaign) happened before I got involved, and when we did get involved, we told them to take it down."

As far as priorities right now are concerned, Finklestein said, “We are trying to make payroll - that’s the first thing.”

According to Finklestein, the former owners hadn’t planned on closing on Tuesday afternoon. “Our response always was, we’ve been open for 100 years, and we plan to stay open for another 100 years,” said Finklestein.

The Future of Water Street

“In the last year or so, you’ve seen many business move to the area,” said Murphy. “There’s a ton of interest in the area. Even though Kelley Square is a mess, there’s 60,000 cars a day traveling through that intersection.”

Bagels sign outside Widoff's on Water Street

Bay State Investment Group owns the building at 1 Kelley Square. Right now, the building is the home to WeRentCentralMass, Labex of MA, and NKD Waxing, Lashes and Makeup

According to Murphy, a Subway will take a portion of the space on the bottom floor where Salty Dog Saloon used to be on the corner of Harding Street and Kelley Square. Murphy also revealed the addition of eight lofts in the former Vernon Theatre - an old movie theater in the front of the building.

“We plan on finalizing building permits in the near future,” said Murphy.

Across the street from Widoff's at Weintraub's Deli, owner David Mizrahi watched as people unloaded equipment from Widoff's.

“It's sad. I was shocked. That was the only bakery left on Water Street. Every day people would come down and get their bread and bulkies,” said Mizrahi.

Weintraub’s Deli is now the longest running business on Water Street.