Alexis Kelleher, owner of Crust Bakeshop
April 14, 2022
New owners at BirchTree? Crust owner seeks license
Photo | File
BirchTree Bread Co. Co-owner Avra Hoffman
By Katherine Hamilton
BirchTree Bread Co. in Worcester has applied to transfer its alcohol license to an entity registered to the owner of the two Crust Bakeshop locations.
This type of transfer can indicate a sale of the business. When reached for comment Wednesday, BirchTree co-owners and spouses Avra Hoffman and Robert Fecteau implied they are selling the business, but they wouldn't confirm officially until after the Worcester License Commission hearing, scheduled for April 21.
"We feel that we've created a great business and an asset to the city of Worcester and are extremely happy to have found the right folks to carry it forward," Hoffman and Fecteau wrote in a text message. "We will have more details to follow after the hearing."
Crust Owner Alexis Kelleher declined to comment.
The application, submitted Monday, would transfer an alcohol license from Birchtree Bread Company, LLC, which is registered to BirchTree’s Green Street address, to Worcester Baking LLC, according to the legal notice posted Monday to Masspublicnotices.org.
Worcester Baking LLC is registered to Kelleher, and in the legal notice, the company says it will be doing business as BirchTree Bread Co. This would indicate, if Kelleher is indeed buying BirchTree, she intends to keep the name.
Crust was founded in 2014 by the owners of the Worcester restaurant Armsby Abbey, and Kelleher purchased the original Main Street location in 2017 after working there for three years. She opened a second location on West Boylston Street in 2020. Kelleher is a member of the family that runs the historic landmark restaurant George's Coney Island.
BirchTree Bread, which also opened in 2014, is a bakery and coffee shop based in the Crompton Place building on Green Street, shared with Bedlam Book Cafe, Seed to Stem, and the Crompton Collective boutique. BirchTree offers beer and wine on its menu, along with a variety of breakfast and lunch fare.
WBJ Editor Brad Kane contributed to this story.
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