What's Replacing the Big Stores on Acton's Great Road Is Small and Local
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
Great Road is changing shape this fall. The largest tenant to leave, TJ Maxx and HomeGoods, went to Littleton. The businesses moving into the empty spaces are mostly small. One is a sourdough baker who started in his basement. Another is a pair of contractor buildings with overhead doors. A third is a shop that sells and repairs mobility equipment. Across the corridor, the new tenants are smaller than the ones that left, and most of them are run by people from Acton.
Here is where each address stands as of mid-October 2026, roughly in street-number order.
The list only shows one street. Underneath it, three things are happening, and each fills space in a different way.
The best-known space on the list is 166 Great Road. Velvet Vine Café opened there in early 2025 and held its final nights on July 10 and 11, 2026, Boston Restaurant Talk reported. The next tenant is someone who has been building a local following for more than a year.
Gonzalo Bethencourt started Bethencourt Bakehouse as a microbakery in his basement in spring 2025. The Acton Exchange reported that when his home setup was close to capacity, he took the Velvet Vine space. He told the paper his bread is "authentic, European-style sourdough crafted with organic, freshly milled flours, long fermentations, and traditional techniques." Besides the classic loaf, he bakes Cheese and Jalapeño, Figs and Red Wine, and Everything Bagel sourdoughs, Belgian triple chocolate sourdough cookies, focaccia with Italian herbs, and cranberry muffins made with fruit he picks up from Massachusetts bogs.
The build-out will change the room a lot. According to the Acton Exchange, the dark walls and ceiling will be painted a light color. A wood counter will replace the black quartz, and a new wall with a large glass window will let customers watch the dough being prepared. A large oven from Spain will join the equipment from his home bakery. All of the appliances are electric, so the gas supply will be disconnected. With the extra capacity, he plans to add sandwiches on his own bread, plus coffee and other drinks.
As of the September 19 report, he was still working on the design, hiring contractors, and applying for permits. That makes Thanksgiving a goal, not a set opening date. Until then, the bread is sold through the same places that grew its following. The Acton Exchange lists them:
He has done all of this without employees. That bakery is one example of the pattern. The next one is built for the trades.
Farther along Great Road, property owner Leo Bertolami of Wayside Management Corp. is replacing two older commercial buildings with spaces for contractors. Bertolami is a longtime Acton resident who also owns Wetherbee Plaza in South Acton. The brick strip mall at 459-465 Great Road last housed Acton Convenience. Great Road Antiques and ThinkForFun had already moved to other spots in Acton the year before.
The Acton Exchange's June 20 Business Briefs lay out the plans:
| Building | Shop spaces | Overhead doors | Floor area |
|---|---|---|---|
| West | 4 | 5 | 8,100 sq ft, plus 2,000 sq ft finished attic |
| East | 4 | 4 | 7,350 sq ft |
Bertolami calls them "trade" buildings for plumbers, electricians, and general contractors. Acton's zoning bylaw defines "Building Trade Shop" uses to also cover welders, masons, landscaping contractors, lawn care services, building cleaning services, and "similar occupations." That adds eight bays for the businesses that maintain the houses on the side streets.
They are also meant to look like they belong on the street. Acton's Design Review Board wrote that the buildings were designed "with a nod to Acton's residential scaled commercial buildings, evident in the villages and in portions along Great Road," and that dormers, gabled rooflines, and changes in the footprint would break up their mass. The plans call for neutral gray clapboard, PVC trim, black-framed windows, and architectural shingles.
Before the teardown, Bertolami offered the old building to the Acton Fire Department for training. The Acton Exchange noted that none of the training would involve active fires. In June, demolition was expected later that month. By late August, the paper was still saying "soon." No newer report has confirmed that the buildings are down.
The departures explain why these small projects stand out. TJ Maxx and HomeGoods have closed at Acton Plaza and moved up the road to The Point in Littleton. When the Acton Exchange reported it in August, there was "no word yet on a new tenant." Mathnasium, the K-12 math learning center, also left town for 197 Sudbury Road in Concord and held its grand opening there on September 12.
National retailers are still coming to Acton, in different formats. The new Aldi opened July 11 at 100 Powdermill Road, away from Great Road, and carries about 2,500 items. On Great Road itself, the national name arriving is Warby Parker. The Worcester Business Journal reported that the store would carry eyewear, contacts, and accessories and offer eye exams, with an opening expected in the fall. It is taking over a former Chico's at Brookside Shops near Trader Joe's.
The newest small business on the strip is a service shop. Mobility City opened August 3 in Esterbrook Plaza at 155 Great Road, Suite B. Owners Gordon and Clem Pundrothu sell and repair mobility aids and equipment.
Some of this is still open. A Thanksgiving opening for Bethencourt Bakehouse depends on permits and contractors, and nothing published since September 19 updates that timeline. Warby Parker's own page still says the Acton store is coming soon. The former TJ Maxx and HomeGoods space at Acton Plaza is the largest vacancy on the list, and no tenant has been announced. The Acton Exchange's business coverage has been the most reliable place to follow each of these, address by address.
Changes like a new bakery or contractor shops replacing an old strip mall become part of what a home near Great Road is worth. If you live near the corridor and want to know how these shifts might affect your home's value, The St. Martin Team can walk you through it. Request your complimentary home valuation, and we'll give you a clear, local read on where your home stands this fall.
The St. Martin Team is a team of dedicated and well-respected Realtors®️ and they welcome the opportunity to meet with you and count you among our lifelong clients. Contact them today!