GREAT BARRINGTON — Things were tough for a while at the Flying Church, the repurposed Main Street place of worship turned into a retail center.
First, owner Paul Joffe fell ill with Lyme Disease for several months in 2018, delaying the project. Then, just as the Flying Church was gathering steam, the great pandemic took hold, causing would-be tenants to pull back from renting new retail space.
But now things seem to be falling into place for Joffe and portions of the rest of downtown Great Barrington. Joffe now reports he has taken on two new tenants and has seven of nine spots filled in the Flying Church, so named for the period of time when the foundation was being replaced and the building was jacked up about eight feet higher than normal.
As the building neared the end of its construction phase in January, Joffe reported that five spaces had been rented to tenants, including CrossFit Great Barrington and Evoque Investments. Now he has attracted two more tenants: a bakery and a donut shop.
“It’s been an interesting week. This all happened during the short period of time after people started getting inoculated,” Joffe said of the COVID-19 vaccines. “Something’s going on.”
Joffe will also use the space at the southeast corner of the property, where the demolished parsonage used to be. In its place, Joffe has built a detached kiosk that will function as Great Barrington’s newest coffee shop, which Joffe will manage himself and hopes to open this spring. Among his other talents, Joffe is a coffee roaster and his strong suit is a “special dark roast” that he will feature for regular coffee and espresso-based drinks alike.
The bakery, Pixie Boulangerie, and Cosmic Donuts, will rent first-floor retail spaces. Pixie plans to open this summer and Cosmic plans to open its second donut shop at the Flying Church by the fall. Another tenant who recently moved in is popular Great Barrington photographer Stephen G. Donaldson, who has opened a gallery on the ground floor.
The Kinderhook, New York-based Cosmic Donuts – founded by mother-daughter duo Jhori Jurgenson and Bonnie Tedder, and Jason Garvey, “a police officer who fulfills the whole ‘cops-love-donuts’ stereotype” — offers what it calls “specialty donuts.”
“The change has been so dramatic from like three weeks ago,” Joffe said. “It’s a completely different market and a completely different attitude. It’s been the same in New York City.”
Things do seem to be looking up in South County, as the pending arrival of spring, the distribution of vaccines, and pent-up demand on the part of those who have been shut in for the better part of the year, all come together.
Earlier this month, Gov. Charlie Baker eased restrictions on restaurants, no longer imposing a percent capacity limit and permitting them to host musical performances, even as six-foot social distancing, limits of six people per table, and 90-minute dining limits remain in place.
Some previously empty storefronts in down Great Barrington have filled up again. In the Ware Block, previously home to the Jane Iredale Mineral Cosmetics retail store, the Bernay Fine Art gallery and a clothing store moved in after building owners, the Kimball family, divided the large storefront in half. The Edge office is directly above that storefront. (Speaking of The Edge, we plan to publish a story soon on the business climate one year after the pandemic took hold.)
Around the corner, in the alleyway between Railroad Street and the Triplex Cinema, 20 Wood Fire Pizza has opened in a space that used to be occupied by Dola Pizzeria, which was owned by the former proprietors of 20 Railroad Public House. Unfortunately, the 20 Railroad pub itself remains closed.
All businesspeople have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. For Joffe, the virus has made it more difficult to rent out the area that is the Flying Church’s showcase space: a 5,000-square-foot restaurant and performance venue. Finding a tenant for that space is his major goal right now.
Still, Joffe said, “Things changed all of a sudden. One year later, it’s completely different. I’m coming through hell and have come out of it okay.”
