On Saturdays at noon, Gonzalo Bethencourt's pop-up at Eve and Murray's in West Acton often had a line out the front door. He baked every loaf in the basement of his home, with no employees, and sold through farmers markets, Debra's Natural Gourmet in West Concord, the Concord Cheese Shop, and Friday tables at Cucurbit Farm on Parker Street. That basement has nearly hit its limit, so his bakery is moving into a storefront at 166 Great Road, The Acton Exchange reported in September.
Bethencourt Bakehouse is the friendliest new arrival on Route 2A this fall, and the clearest example of how the road is changing. National retailers are leaving or trading spaces. Apart from Warby Parker taking over a former Chico's, the new plans are local and smaller, and a lot of them aren't retail. Plans for this stretch of Great Road call for contractor workshops, a few apartments over commercial space, and a sourdough bakery with a window into its kitchen.
The Departures Were National Names
The biggest loss is at Acton Plaza. TJ Maxx and HomeGoods have closed there and moved up the road to The Point in Littleton. The Acton Exchange's August 29 Business Briefs said there was no word yet on a new tenant, and no replacement has been announced since.
Two other changes from the same report follow the same pattern. Chico's has closed at Brookside Shops near Trader Joe's, and Warby Parker is preparing to open in that space. Warby Parker's own store page for the Acton location still says "opening soon." Mathnasium, the K-12 math learning center, has moved from Acton to 197 Sudbury Road in Concord.
That leaves an empty anchor box, one chain swapping for another in the same unit, and a service business crossing the town line. The more concrete plans along Great Road come from a different source.
One Owner, Three Projects, Very Few Storefronts
Much of the physical change on Great Road traces to one long-time Acton resident. Leo Bertolami runs Wayside Management Corp. and owns Wetherbee Plaza and several other Great Road buildings, according to the Exchange's June 20 Business Briefs. Three of his projects are under construction or planned, and together they show where the corridor is going.
The trade-shop buildings near Sachem Way. The 1980s brick strip mall that most recently held Acton Convenience is coming down, along with the neighboring former Acton Carpet building at the corner of Sachem Way. Great Road Antiques and ThinkForFun had already moved elsewhere in Acton. Bertolami calls the two replacement buildings "trade" buildings, meant for plumbers, electricians and general contractors.
The buildings are big compared with everything else on this list. The west building will have four shop spaces, five overhead doors and 8,100 square feet, plus 2,000 square feet of finished attic. The east building will add four more shops and four overhead doors across 7,350 square feet. Acton's 2026 Zoning Bylaw defines "Building Trade Shop" uses broadly enough to cover welders, masons, landscaping and lawn care contractors, and building cleaning services.
The buildings aren't designed to look industrial. The town's Design Review Board memorandum describes eight ground-floor trade shops across the two buildings. On the sloping northern part of the site, two of the shops are taller and have mezzanines. The board wrote that the exteriors are "designed with a nod to Acton's residential scaled commercial buildings, evident in the villages and in portions along Great Road," with dormers, gabled roofs, gray clapboard siding and black-framed windows.
Before demolition, Bertolami offered the old building to the Acton Fire Department for training. None of the training involves live fires.
Applewood Square, 272 Great Road. This is the old Great Road Veterinary Hospital building, and it's the most visible construction site on the road right now. Most of the original building was removed. The new framing includes a 1,200-square-foot addition that will hold two apartments, with three overhead doors on the lower level for trade shops. Bertolami expects to finish by the end of the year. The three other buildings at Applewood Square are being remodeled and will keep their current uses.
Wetherbee Plaza, 97–105 Great Road. The small brick building in the middle of the plaza, which once held an ATM, is scheduled to come down. A two-story building will replace it, with commercial space on the first floor and an apartment upstairs.
Across the three sites, the planned uses are trade shops with overhead doors, a little commercial space, and three new apartments. None of it is a conventional retail storefront. New housing is going in off Great Road, too. The former South Acton Congregational Church at 35 School Street is becoming six apartments. The Exchange noted that they join several other new housing options on School Street, all within an easy walk of the South Acton commuter rail station.
Great Road, Stop by Stop
Here's where each change stands as of mid-October, using the descriptions in the Exchange and town records.
| Location | What was there | What's planned | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wetherbee Plaza, 97–105 Great Road | Small brick ATM building | Two-story building with commercial space downstairs and one apartment upstairs | Slated for replacement |
| Brookside Shops | Chico's | Warby Parker | Store page says "opening soon" |
| 166 Great Road | Velvet Vine Cafe | Bethencourt Bakehouse | Aiming to open by Thanksgiving |
| Applewood Square, 272 Great Road | Great Road Veterinary Hospital | Two apartments plus lower-level trade shops | Under construction, expected by year-end |
| Former Acton Convenience and Acton Carpet buildings, near Sachem Way | 1980s strip mall and carpet store | Two trade buildings with eight shops | Demolition scheduled, construction to follow |
| Acton Plaza | TJ Maxx and HomeGoods | No tenant announced | Vacant |
Of the six rows, Bethencourt Bakehouse is the only storefront you'll walk into for food and coffee. It's also the one with the most specific opening date.
A Microbakery Takes the Velvet Vine Room
Velvet Vine Cafe opened in early 2025 and has since closed. Its space at 166 Great Road is the one Bethencourt is taking over.
He's changing the room almost completely. According to the Exchange, the dark walls and ceiling will be painted a light color, wood-grain luxury vinyl will go on the floors, a wood counter will replace the black quartz, and new lighting will brighten the store. A new wall will separate the kitchen from the shop, with a large glass window so customers can watch the dough being prepared. All of the equipment from his home microbakery is moving over, along with a new large oven from Spain. All the appliances are electric, and the gas supply will be disconnected.
The menu starts with what he's already known for: a classic sourdough made with organic, freshly milled flours and long fermentation. He also bakes Cheese and Jalapeño, Figs and Red Wine, and Everything Bagel sourdoughs, along with Belgian triple chocolate sourdough cookies, focaccia with Italian herbs, and cranberry muffins made with fruit he picks up at Massachusetts bogs. With the extra space, he plans to add sandwiches on his own bread, plus coffee and other drinks.
As of the Exchange's September 19 story, Bethencourt was still working on the design, hiring contractors and applying for permits. He told the paper he hopes to open by Thanksgiving. Treat that as a target. The bakery is on Facebook and on Instagram at @BethencourtBakehouse.
Until the store opens, his classic sourdough loaves are still sold on Fridays at Cucurbit Farm on Parker Street. Cucurbit's October scarecrow display is also up there, with public voting. The 2026 contest proceeds are being split among the Acton Food Pantry, the Maynard Food Pantry and Open Table, per the Exchange's bulletin board.
What to Watch Between Now and New Year's
The next ten weeks should answer most of the open questions on the corridor:
- Thanksgiving week: Bethencourt Bakehouse's target opening at 166 Great Road, depending on permits and contractors.
- No date announced: Warby Parker opening in the former Chico's space at Brookside Shops.
- By year-end: Applewood Square's two apartments and lower-level trade bays at 272 Great Road, on Bertolami's timeline.
- No date yet: demolition of the Acton Convenience and Acton Carpet buildings, then construction of the eight trade shops, the new Wetherbee Plaza building, and whatever goes into the former TJ Maxx and HomeGoods space at Acton Plaza.
Acton Plaza is the biggest space still unaccounted for. Until a tenant is named, the projects already under construction or in design review are the best guide to where Great Road is going. They add eight contractor shops near Sachem Way, apartments and trade bays at Applewood Square, and a bakery with a glass kitchen window at 166 Great Road.
If you live near Great Road and are wondering how a new trade building down the street or an empty anchor store nearby might matter when you eventually sell, I'm glad to walk through it with you. You can reach me through Laura Rakauskas. Let's Connect.
