businesses

Meghan Lytton and two of her dogs.

Pictures will be replaced by puppies in the former Clark Gallery space at the Lincoln mall as a new dog-centered business opens its doors.

This spring, Lincoln Dog Training will offer private sessions and training consults for clients whose dogs have behavioral issues like barking, lunging, snapping, etc. Starting in the fall, owner Meghan Lytton of Lincoln plans to teach a few basic classes (puppy kindergarten, basic obedience) and will gradually expand classes and hours, adding one or two part-time trainers as demand grows. Eventually she hopes to offer three to four levels of obedience training, classes like Wag-It Games, AKC Canine Good Citizen training, and Tails on the Trail (practicing good trail walking etiquette and recall).

Lytton, who is launching a second career after working in health care consulting for a number of years, went on a sled dog ride in New Hampshire seven years ago “and just sort of fell in love with it,” she said. She interned at Proper Paws Dog Training in Concord in and is now a certified professional dog trainer as well as the owner of three huskies.

“It’s important because the business is very unregulated, but now it’s becoming more and more standardized,” she said. “I’m trying to create evidence-based, science-backed methods of training.

“I’m super excited to be there and look forward to meeting more of the dogs of Lincoln,” Lytton added.

Donelan’s in Lincoln. (Image: Google Maps)

A broken water pipe isn’t such a big deal… or is it?

Customers who tried to shop at Donelan’s Supermarket in Lincoln on Sunday, Jan. 17 were met with closed doors after a water pipe ruptured the night before. The original expectation was that the store would be closed for just a few days, but that turned out to be overly optimistic given the extent of the damage.

The pipe that broke was in the ceiling of the basement, a 600-square-foot concrete room that houses all of the store’s electrical systems and refrigeration units as well as the hot water heater. The main shopping floor was spared, but power was knocked out for the whole store (and water was temporarily shut off for the entire mall until workers could get an initial handle on the situation), and hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment had to be replaced.

“I never thought I’d see anything like that,” said store manager Jason Deveau. “It was like a scene out of Titanic.” The stairway to the basement has 14 steps, then a turn and then five more — but when he arrived, only the first four steps were above water, which was nine feet deep. “When I first saw it, I figured we were going to be out for months.”

After ServPro pumped out the water, Deveau and Paul Wheaton from Wheaton Electrical Services stayed on site for 36 hours straight to get power restored (“he’s been unbelievable,” Deveau said.) The phone system was still out of order as of Wednesday night, and national supply chain issues have delayed delivery of parts from other parts of the country.

The $250,000 refrigeration units and hot water tank should be replaced by this weekend. The only thing still missing is a sprinkler system part that’s due to arrive Friday. But the snowstorm expected this weekend and the persistent delivery delays have made Deveau cautious. He estimated that the store would reopen by Wednesday, Feb. 2 at the latest, and hopefully even a day or two before that. It’s a seven-hour job to install the part, and the store must be restocked with perishables.

Employees were offered shifts at other stores while the Lincoln one was closed, though several opted to take vacation time instead, Deveau said.

This was not the first time disaster has struck Donelan’s. The Lincoln store was closed for 15 months when the roof collapsed after a heavy snow storm in February 2011. The chain was sold in June by Joe and Jack Donelan, but the new owners have been “super supportive” during the current crisis, Deveau said.

“We’re in the home stretch,” he said on Wednesday evening. “I just want to get us back to [serving] the community because a lot of people rely on us.”

By year’s end, Lincolnites should have a new restaurant in town serving “elevated comfort food” using local produce.

The Select Board this week transferred the liquor license from the former owners of Real to Boston resident Michael Culpo, who bought the lease from Lindsay Parker. The Tack Room will feature a “rustic” decor and a full lunch/brunch and dinner service with reasonably priced food for everyone, “whether it’s a family coming in or someone who just wants to grab a quick bite off the commuter rail,” he told the Lincoln Squirrel late last week.

Culpo plans to serve local craft beers on tap, add more TVs and offer a kids’ menu — “we want it to be inviting for everyone,” he said. He also plans to offer catering options and delivery using online services such as Uber Eats.

The liquor license transfer still has to be approved by the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, which can take two months. He also needs to hire staff — something that can be challenging in the current employment market — and “I will be there every single day, working 60 to 70 hours a week, being the face of the restaurant and meeting people,” he told the Select Board.

Culpo, a Pittsfield native, is part-owner of the Black Oak Kitchen & Drinks in Coventry, R.I., and tends bar at one of its sister restaurants, Lulu’s in Allston. “I’ve been looking at different spots for a restaurant for a while, but the moment I saw this in Lincoln, I knew it was the right one,” he said.

The liquor license for a possible new restaurant, small cell antennas, and South Lincoln planning are the topics of public hearings and meetings next week.

The Select Board will hold a hearing at 7 p.m. during its meeting on Monday, Sept. 27 on the application to transfer the liquor license from Lincoln Station Partners, Inc., which leases the property formerly occupied by the Real restaurant, to the Tack Room, Inc.

“Lindsey and Rob Parker (Lincoln Station Partners) are in the process of trying to sell the restaurant lease to another owner/operator,” said Geoff McGean, executive director of the Rural Land Foundation (RLF), which owns the Lincoln Station property. Lindsey Parker co-owned Real with Tom Fosnot and Ruth-Anne Adams of Sudbury, but the restaurant closed in November 2020 after less than two years.

After the closure, Fosnot and Adams (who now cook and deliver meals as Food for Home) told former customers in a group email that Parker had sued them. Parker listed the business for sale earlier this year. Last spring, it was announced that Tim and Bronwyn Wiechmann would open Turenne in that location, but the deal didn’t go through.

“Due to confidentiality requirements, I am not at liberty to provide any further information at this time, but it is exciting news for the town of Lincoln,” Parker said in an email on Wednesday evening. According to state records, Tack Room, Inc. is owned by Michael Culpo of South Boston, but further contact information was unavailable.

Verizon proposal

Following the liquor license hearing, Verizon will present a proposal at a 7:30 p.m. to install four small cell antennas in Lincoln: two on Trapelo Road near the intersections with Silver Hill Road and with Stratford Way, one near 66 Weston Rd., and one on Sandy Pond Road near the Five Corners intersection.

“Those are areas we get regular complaints about” regarding spotty cell coverage, Town Administrator Tim Higgins said. The town has retained a consultant to assist in the review of the technical aspects, he added.

Small cell antennas are mounted on utility poles or other existing structures as part of 5G cell phone networks.

South Lincoln

On Tuesday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m., the Planning Board and its South Lincoln Planning Advisory Committee will hold a public forum on the results of the survey on the future of South Lincoln. The results, which were released in August, indicated that respondents want to retain viable businesses in the area but don’t want to see more parking or damage the town’s rural character. About 24% of respondents wanted no additional housing in the village center, while 27% preferred 50-100 units and 26% weren’t sure. Click here for detailed survey results and associated documentation.

As part of the information-gathering process, the town has hired the environmental engineering firm Wright-Pierce to assess the condition and future capacity of the septic system that serves Lincoln Woods and the Lincoln Station commercial area. Community Builders (TCB) owns both the septic system and the apartment complex, but the RLF has said that the mall can’t be redeveloped without an upgrade to the septic system.

Wright-Pierce began its work in July and is expected to issue an initial report early next month.

The June 9 article headlined “Donelan’s grocery stores purchased by Patel Brothers” incorrectly stated that the four Donelan’s Supermarkets were being sold to the national Patel Brothers Indian grocery chain. The stores are in fact being purchased by a family including father and son Gohal and Mohanbhai Patel, who own or have an interest in 10 convenience and food stores with various names in (eight in New Hampshire and on each in Maine and Massachusetts). 

The closest Patel store to Lincoln is in Pepperell, site of another former Domelan’s supermarket and now called Quality Market. The four recently purchased stores will retain the Donelan’s name — “the idea here is to continue with the tradition of Donelan’s as a family business,” said Alex Parra, attorney for the Patels.

The original article has been updated to reflect this correction and new information.

Donelan’s in Lincoln. (Image: Google Maps)

(Editor’s note: This article was changed on June 13 to reflect corrections about the stores’ buyers.)

Lincoln’s only grocery store is about to change hands for the first time since it opened at Lincoln Station 45 years ago.

Brothers Joe and Jack Donelan are selling the grocery stores that bear their name to a family including father and son Gohal and Mohanbhai Patel that owns or has an interest in 10 convenience and food stores with various names in (eight in New Hampshire and on each in Maine and Massachusetts). The new owners have retained all of the existing staff at the Lincoln store and are taking over the beer and wine license as well.

The Donelans are selling all their stock interest in the four stores (the others are in Acton, Wayland, and Littleton) but will stay on for the time being as directors of the corporation to assist in the transition. 

“We may try to bring new food products, but the [Donelan’s] quality and customer service will remain the same,” Mohanbhai Patel told the Select Board during a June 7 public hearing on the liquor license transfer. “We’ll try something different than what they have right now… we’ll see what people like and don’t like, and keep what people like. We’re very excited to become part of the Lincoln community and we’ll try our best to make the community happy.”

The closest Patel store to Lincoln is in Pepperell, site of another former Donelan’s supermarket and now called Quality Market. The four recently purchased stores will retain the Donelan’s name. “The idea here is to continue with the tradition of Donelan’s as a family business,” said Alex Parra, attorney for the Patels.

The Select Board praised the Donelan brothers for their decades of support for town events and charities. “I want to thank them for their friendliness and being a key part of our community over the years,” board chair Jonathan Dwyer said.

“The people of Lincoln have been fabulous to us, and we’re going to miss Lincoln,” Jack Donelan said.

The first Donelan’s opened in Littleton in 1948 and the Lincoln location debuted in 1976 in the new mall. Joe and Jack Donelan bought the company from their father in 1985, and by the 1990s there were six stores in the chain (locations in Groton and Pepperell eventually closed). 

The Lincoln store had its ups and downs as well. It added 5,000 square feet in 2009 after taking over the space formerly occupied by the post office. But the store had to close for almost 16 months after the roof collapsed under heavy snow in February 2011, and at the time there was uncertainty whether it would reopen at all. The Donelans filed a legal complaint against the Rural Land Foundation, which owns the mall property, but the dispute was settled a year after the roof collapse.

In recent months there were rumors that one or more Donelan’s stores might close — rumors that were denied by corporate headquarters in Littleton when asked by the Lincoln Squirrel.

Before the mall was built, Lincoln residents bought groceries at the Community Store, which operated out of what was then a pink stucco building across the street in the building whose tenants now include Barrett Sotheby’s International Realty.