Garcia’s Deli & Bakery, the take-out eatery behind Alley’s General Store in central West Tisbury, hung out “everything must go” signs last weekend and closed its doors Monday afternoon, not for the season but for good.
The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) owns the building, which it bought in 1998 from Howard Ulfelder for $1 million. The tribal council will meet tomorrow, W. Durwood (Woody) Vanderhoop said yesterday, “and will discuss where to go from here.” Tribal chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais and tribal administrator Tobias Vanderhoop were unavailable for comment.
Mr. Garcia, who lives next door to the deli and in the early 1990s took unsuccessful legal action to stop it from being built, a decade later leased the building to operate Garcia’s in what was previously Back Alley’s. But he lost his lease last month, unable to reach a rental agreement with the tribe. Mr. Garcia did not return phone calls for comment.
The tribe had previously run both the general store and the sandwich shop, a rare place to get a sandwich year-round up-Island. This week, Alley’s started carrying a line of Little Rock Farm sandwiches.
The Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust owns Alley’s. The tribe operated the store from 1998 until 2002, when it turned the operation back over to the trust, still keeping Back Alley’s.
At the time, tribal members described their tenure running Alley’s General Store as “a learning experience.” It is unclear whether they now will make another attempt at running a business in the space behind it.
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