Photos/Grant Welker
Fuel America is run by managing partners Jeff Bonasia, Rick Vallarelli and Carlos Magalhaes.
November 24, 2020
Fuel America planning second Worcester site as part of expansion
Photo | Grant Welker
The Northworks building on Grove Street in Worcester
By Grant Welker
Fuel America, whose cafe on Front Street in downtown Worcester has been a high-profile retail presence since opening nearly two years ago, is ready to expand its operations even amid a challenging period for food and retail.
Fuel has begun teaming up with franchisees, and among its first such locations will be in the Northworks mill building at 100 Grove St., a location slated to open next spring. Another is planned with a franchisee in Weymouth, just south of Boston.
"We discussed and debated for over a year whether we wanted to grow that way. We decided it would be a good way to grow," said Jeff Bonasia, one of Fuel's three managing partners.
Fuel opened just after New Year's Day in 2019, moving into a corner location at Front and Commercial streets at the base of Mercantile Center. Mercantile Center's offices have been largely vacant during the coronavirus pandemic, and it's eaten into much of the location's traffic, with sales down by half or more, Bonasia said. A second location near Boston College, which opened in 2012 as the company's first cafe, is doing better, he said.
"We're hanging in there," he said.
Fuel isn't deterred from expanding anyway. The company roasts its own coffee at the Front Street location in massive machinery seen behind open garage doors. The cafe's industrial aesthetic, with black-and-white photos paying homage to long-ago American workers, has resonated with would-be franchisees, Bonasia said. The menu has evolved by adding acai bowls, for example.
Aside from the two franchise locations, Fuel is building a company store for Harvard University on its Allston campus, where the school is expanding its science and technology footprint. Fuel doesn't have any expectations or goals lined up yet for how many stores it may reach in the coming years, Bonasia said.
"The goal from our perspective is not to just grow for growing's sake," he said.
The Northworks building has been renovated in the past few years with facade improvements and the demolition of some industrial buildings behind the main brick structure. Today, the site has a mix of office and commercial uses. The 100 Grove St. location will perfectly complement the Front Street location, Bonasia said, with just the right distance between the two sites and a spot near Worcester Polytechnic Institute for the new location.
"The fit will be beautiful there," he said.
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