BOSTON — More and more businesses are announcing their permanent closures because of the pandemic. On Monday, The Fours on Canal Street in Boston shut its doors for good after 44 years in business.
“It is a little heart of Boston that we’re losing, all of us are losing, and it’s a sad, sad day,” said Matt Coleman, who used to work next door to The Fours.
The sports bar was a Boston staple, always packed on game days with its prime location across from TD Garden.
“We love the memorabilia, and the liveliness and just the history that this place offers to the city of Boston and our sports teams,” said Mary Gaye Grizwin, who lives nearby.
The Fours manager Jim Taggart says the restaurant couldn’t survive the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were in the middle of our best season when this all hit and everything came to an abrupt end,” said Taggart, who worked there for 15 years.
After they were forced to close for two months this spring, Taggart says they’ve only been doing less than a third of their normal business since they reopened, and it’s not just because of the COVID restrictions on restaurants.
“This location, we have three pillars of our business, the Boston Garden, federal and state employees and tourism, and all of those are gone for the foreseeable future, so it’s been difficult to do business,” said Taggart.
The Fours isn’t the only major restaurant closing in the Boston area right now.
The Friendly Toast announced Monday it’s closing its Cambridge location in Kendall Square.
The Legal Seafoods in Park Square will also not reopen after shutting down for COVID-19.
Legal Seafoods spokesperson Lindsay Rotondi says they didn’t have patio seating at that location and their lease was ending in nine months.
“The area is now without theater, and nearby hotels and office buildings have no real occupancy,” said Rotondi, who is the executive VP of Regan Communications Group. “So to reopen for a few months in light of the pandemic didn’t make sense.”
“When you can’t fill the place up and you can’t use the bar, it’s hard to continue,” said Taggart.
It’s hard to go on in what was once a prime location for these businesses – now unable to survive as the industries around them remain closed.
Download the free Boston 25 News app for up-to-the-minute push alerts
>> Complete local and national coronavirus coverage here
RESOURCES:
- Massachusetts Coronavirus Information
- Boston Coronavirus Information
- Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | Watch Boston 25 NOW
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
