Lowe's Unfamiliar With Massachusetts Culture

Lowe's may want to build a new home improvement store in Brighton Landing at the former Barry Controls building, but at a neighborhood meeting Thursday night Lowe's made it sound like the company doesn't understand Massachusetts culture.

One audience member asked, "Would you consider putting a Dunkin' Donuts in?"

Lowe's site development manager Larry LePere responded that he had actually raised the issue with Lowe's management before in other projects, but was always struck down by his bosses -- such that he got the message not to raise the issue again.

LePere didn't mention, however, that the nearest Dunkin' Donuts (aka Dunking Doughnuts) is far, far away from the proposed development site -- two blocks away, that is, at the corner of North Beacon Street and Market Street. You know, the one that used to have the 1957 sign [upper right] that was torn down nearly two years ago.


Image of former Dunkin' Donuts sign in Brighton:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkn/ / CC BY 2.0

Dunk the Sign?

The blog-world is a-twitter after a Boston Globe story ran over the weekend saying that the 1957-vintage, neon Dunkin' Donuts sign at the corner of Market Street and North Beacon Street in Brighton will likely be replaced.

The story has been around all year, though. First word of the sign's probable demise appeared back in March 2007 in the Globe, when reporter Will Kilburn dialed up most of the Brighton Allston Historical Society's masthead for comment:

"My personal feeling is that it should be preserved in the neighborhood somewhere," said John Quatrale , who recently helped plan and open the Brighton-Allston Heritage Museum . "It may not seem very historical right now, but it could become a very special commercial artifact." ...

"I'm sort of neutral on it," said Charlie Vasiliades , the Brighton Allston Historical Society's vice president. "I've never been too enamored with the Dunkin' Donuts look, but I don't hate it either."

"That sign has never struck me as particularly beautiful," said historical society board member Eva Webster . " I'd take a big, robust tree in a town center over any large sign any time."

Standing across the street from the "nuclear aircraft carrier" -- the brand, spanking-new WGBH headquarters -- the neon sign has definitely seen better days.

I've got a different proposal: get rid of the Dunkin' Donuts restaurant altogether. We've got enough of them already. The local franchise owner should be able to create an even more prosperous business catering to the hungry GBH-oids at meal-time.

What to do with that old neon sign in my new scenario? Project its image on the WGBH digital mural over the Mass Turnpike. Then we can enjoy it for all eternity -- and from miles away.


POSTSCRIPT (1/13/08): Read this story about this Dunkin' Donuts, a 20-inch crucifix, and Boston Police in riot gear.