Bow St. Dunkin' Donuts To Relocate

The Dunkin’ Donuts currently located at 1 Bow. St. will move its storefront a third of a mile eastward to 1003 Mass. Ave. within the next three months, franchise owner David G. Carvalho told The Crimson Thursday night.

Carvalho said he hopes to open the new location before officially closing the current storefront.

“Hopefully we’ll be open before we make the transfer, because we’d hate to lose customers,” he said. He added that of equal concern is ensuring that the relocation does not disrupt the steady income of Dunkin’ employees, since “it hurts peoples’ pockets when they can’t afford to pay their rent.”

The decision to relocate is the latest development in a month of uncertainty about the Bow St. store’s future in Harvard Square. After the store announced in September that it would close, it reversed those plans several days later when management reached a short-term lease agreement with the landlord to remain open for the time being.

The store’s subsequent decision to relocate was greenlighted at a public hearing Thursday. Carvalho obtained the necessary approval when the Cambridge Board of Zoning Appeal unanimously voted in favor of a special permit application filed by the Riverside Management Group. Carvalho works within the group, which operates Dunkin’ Donuts locations in the Greater Boston area.

At the meeting, the Board debated any potential concerns, including obstruction of traffic, commuter safety, and the visual integration of the shop’s external appearance among existing Mass. Ave. storefronts, before ultimately deciding that relocation would not cause any significant issues. The shop also agreed to use biodegradable materials in packaging and provide customers with trash receptacles inside the store.

Multiple Cambridge residents attending the meeting voiced their support for the store’s move to the planned 1,600-square-feet location, which will seat approximately 20 guests.

Karil Alexandarov, who said he attended the hearing at the request of his wife, expressed his delight that the Dunkin’ Donuts will be kept in the area.

“[My wife] is a victim of the french vanilla,” he said. “I hope this will bring some life in the area, so she doesn’t have to go down all the way down to JFK Street or Central Square.”

When Dunkin’ Donuts departs from the corner of Mass. Ave. and Bow Street, it will leave behind the storefront where it found a certain fame in a scene in the 1997 film “Good Will Hunting.”

—Staff writer Nikki D. Erlick can be reached at nikki.erlick@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @nikkierlick.