Interior of Wine Barrel on Springfield Avenue before its soft opening.
Changes are afoot on Springfield Avenue in Maplewood — and most of them are good.
Wine Barrel, in the 5,000-plus sf former Santander Bank location at 1886 Springfield Avenue, is scheduled for a soft opening this week, according to Julie Doran, Executive Director of the Springfield Avenue Partnership. Village Green peaked in the windows on Sunday and noted the new wood floors and astounding 64-foot-long beer cooler. Shelves were in place but still being stocked. The exterior features banners but no permanent signage as yet.
Wine Barrel will sell wine, liquor, crackers, and cheese and will feature a large craft beer selection. The store and its owner Atul Gupta recently sponsored Springfield Avenue’s 3rd Annual Holiday Celebration.
Elsewhere on Springfield Avenue, a new restaurant called “Cornbread” is coming soon to the former B. Hathaway’s location at 1565 Springfield Avenue. Village Green will have more on that opening soon, as well as on the opening of a personal day spa in the former KnitKnack location at 1914 Springfield Avenue, which plans to make its debut in January.
In addition, the Deals discount store at 1713 Springfield Avenue will become a Dollar Tree store, effective January 1. The name change is part of a nationwide effort by Dollar Tree Inc. which announced in October it would rebrand all 222 Deals stores by the end of July 2016.
