Four new brands coming to Blackstone Valley Shops in 2027. By Tom Marino | September 24, 2026 Last Updated: September 24, 2026 MILLBURY - The Shops at Blackstone Valley announced Thursday, Sept. 24, that four new brands - Caffè Nero, Topcoat Nail Bar & Spa, Lovesac and First Watch - will open at the Central Massachusetts shopping center in 2027. The four new brands are: * Caffè Nero, an international coffee house chain; * Topcoat, a nail and beauty salon brand; * Lovesac, a modular furniture retailer; will open in two newly built, centrally located buildings at the open-air center. First Watch, a breakfast, brunch and lunch chain, will open in a separate location across the property. Topcoat and Lovesac will open in two newly built buildings. The two buildings are part of a nearly 35,000-square-foot expansion first announced in late 2025 by WS Development, the Chestnut Hill-based real estate company that owns the shopping center, according to the Worcester Business Journal. The expansion added 10 retail, restaurant and wellness tenants along with new walkways, landscaping and electric vehicle charging stations. Yard House, a Florida-based restaurant chain, opened in one of the two buildings this past summer. The additions follow the previously announced arrivals of Shake Shack and Sweetgreen to the same expansion, along with the recent openings of Apple, Coach, the food hall concept Wonder and the clothing brand Aerie. Avvio Ristorante, an Italian-American restaurant chain based in Rhode Island, is set to open its first Massachusetts location at the center this fall. The Shops at Blackstone Valley, at 70 Worcester-Providence Turnpike, spans about 788,000 square feet of leasable space and is billed by its owner as the largest open-air shopping center in Central Massachusetts. Other tenants include Lululemon, Warby Parker, Sephora, Ulta, Barnes & Noble, Kohl's, Nordstrom Rack, Target and a 14-screen Cinema de Lux theater, according to WS Development. Image courtesy of the Shops at Blackstone Valley

Councilman confirms: First Watch brunch chain replacing Tuscaloosa's closed Red Lobster. A First Watch is coming to Tuscaloosa, filling the McFarland Boulevard building that has sat empty since Red Lobster closed two years ago. District 7 Councilman Cassius Lanier confirmed the brunch chain is taking the former Red Lobster at 2620 McFarland Boulevard East in McFarland Plaza. In a Thursday morning call with the Thread, Lanier said replacing major businesses that close in his district is a top priority. "As I always say in District 7, here we grow again," Lanier told the Thread. "WTUG want to be a major economic corridor, and when a place like Red Lobster gets shuttered it's really important to me to see something come and take its place. New-to-market businesses are important, too, and I'm just really excited to bring the First Watch brand to Tuscaloosa. Get its free mobile app First Watch calls itself "The Daytime Cafe," serving breakfast, brunch and lunch and closing in the afternoon. Most locations run 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and the menu rotates seasonally alongside staples like the Godfather Bowl and Million Dollar Bacon. The chain started in 1983 in California and moved its headquarters to Florida in 1986 and now runs more than 600 restaurants in over 30 states. The Red Lobster closed in July 2024 after the seafood chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection that May. Crews emptied the Tuscaloosa building over a single morning, and a sign went up on the door matching the ones posted at locations that had closed weeks earlier. Buzz around the location resumed this week as the demolition of the old Red Lobster got underway in earnest, and Lanier said the developers already have permits to build the First Watch on the site and should move very quickly. For more exclusive coverage of restaurant and retail news in West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread. Top stories from the Tuscaloosa Thread (9/14 - 9/21). Ten of the top stories published on the Tuscaloosa Thread during the 38th week of 2026. Gallery Credit: (Stephen Dethrage | Tuscaloosa Thread) (Stephen Dethrage | Tuscaloosa Thread) Tuscaloosa City Council President Kip Tyner, the District 5 councilman who spent nearly three decades representing Alberta and became the public face of its recovery from the 2011 tornado, has died at the age of 70. (Stephen Dethrage | Tuscaloosa Thread) A 23-year-old man is charged in the mass shooting that wounded seven people at a neighborhood reunion in west Tuscaloosa Saturday night, and the FBI is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to others responsible. (Stephen Dethrage | Tuscaloosa Thread) The Brookwood City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday afternoon to annex and rezone the final parcel of land needed for a New York developer's planned data center campus, further advancing one of three separate data center projects the Tuscaloosa Thread has identified along the town's industrial corridor. The University of Alabama plans to demolish a building near Bryant-Denny Stadium, Sorority Row and Tutwiler Hall to replace it with an $88 million recreation center built for the thousands of students who live on the south end of campus, far from the gyms UA already operates. Credit: Don Hartley, TSM Tuscaloosa The City of Tuscaloosa broke ground on the University Boulevard East Improvement Project on January 8th. In his "Mayor's Minute" post today, Walt Maddox said the work is nearing completion. Police in Tuscaloosa are investigating a non-fatal shooting at a south Tuscaloosa apartment complex on Sunday evening. (Stephen Dethrage | Tuscaloosa Thread) A Florida woman was killed in a head-on crash on U.S. Highway 82 in Tuscaloosa County late Wednesday night, Alabama State Troopers reported Thursday. (Noah Bryant) A Pickens County deputy has been arrested by state investigators and removed from the sheriff's office, though neither agency has said what he is accused of doing. (Submitted by Tuscaloosa County School System) The Tuscaloosa County School System needs bus drivers and is starting a free training class later this month to help get people licensed for the job. (Stephen Dethrage | Tuscaloosa Thread) A Fayette woman died Tuesday afternoon when her SUV left a county road and caught fire, Alabama State Troopers said.