The addition of plastic trim at the oldest retail store on Martha’s Vineyard has officials in West Tisbury questioning whether they should allow new modern construction materials on historic buildings.
The new proprietors of Alley’s General Store in West Tisbury quietly reopened the famous shop Saturday morning, quickly drawing customers after a summer-long closure.
Punctuating a summer of upheaval, the Vineyard Trust announced changes in board leadership, and said it had launched a search for a new executive director.
Alley’s General Store will likely remain closed throughout the summer, representatives for the Vineyard Trust told the West Tisbury select board Wednesday.
Concerned about the shuttered state of Alley’s General Store, the West Tisbury select board said this week it will invite spokesmen for the Vineyard Trust to appear at next week’s meeting.
The Wampanoag Tribe will purchase Back Alley’s in West Tisbury for a price reported to be in the high six figures.
Howard and Susie Ulfelder, longtime owners of the up-Island bakery and deli, have already accepted the tribe’s offer and expect the deal to close in the next few weeks.
The purchase will consolidate tribal ownership of Back Alley’s with its management of Alley’s General Store, which the tribe leases from the Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust.
The trust announced Thursday that the owners of LeRoux — a kitchen and home-goods store based in Vineyard Haven — will manage the historic general store.
This week for the second time in less than a decade, Alley’s Store, a venerable West Tisbury institution, is changing hands. Howard and Susan Ulfelder of Hingham are buying the store from Charlie and Teena Parton, who bought it from the Alley family six years ago.
