[UPDATE] Bee’s Knees Supply Company Closes in Allston

Bee’s Knees Allston. / Photo by Yiqing Shao

UPDATE, July 6, 4 p.m.: Like a jar of artisanal caramel sauce, the plot thickens. @BeesKneesSupply deleted the tweet saying it closed its Allston store for good, with a photo of papered-over windows, hours after tweeting it. According to a new tweet sent at 2 p.m. today, the Allston store is undergoing renovations and will reopen “soon” with a new menu and products.

.. https://t.co/iv25pxTB5j https://t.co/rK2z34BhUi

— Catherine Carlock (@BosBizCatherine) July 6, 2016

Boston has reached out to Jason Owens, Julian Bolger, and a general email address for Bee’s Knees in Allston, and will continue to update this story with any new information.

PREVIOUSLY: 

Only 11 months after a gleaming new Bee’s Knees Supply Co. opened on Commonwealth Avenue, the artisan grocery store and coffeeshop has papered over the windows.

Yes folks, we closed our #Allston location. It’s been a wild ride. pic.twitter.com/PxovTKOGYa

— Bee’s Knees Supply (@BeesKneesSupply) July 6, 2016

Boston Restaurant Talk reported the abrupt closure Tuesday night.

The first Bee’s Knees location opened in Fort Point in 2013 with Jason Owens, a former chef at Local 149 and the Biltmore Bar & Grill in Newton, as a partner. Owens expanded the brand into Allston’s so-called Green District last year. A couple months later, Boston Restaurant Talk noted an online ad listing a “high-end market & cafe” in Fort Point was for sale, with attached images that looked like Bee’s Knees.

The Fort Point location is still open, and has not been associated with Owens or the Allston shop for at least a year, says Hilda Stumpf, general manager in Fort Point store, reached by phone at the store this morning. Stumpf says Owens’s former partner, Julian Bolger, still owns the Fort Point store, but she confirmed it has been on the market.

According to a LinkedIn profile, Bolger also owns the Playwright Bar, Tavern in the Square Allston, and Cityside Bar & Restaurant. Bolger was unavailable for comment at the Fort Point shop this morning.

With the Allston location, which was double the size of the Fort Point Bee’s Knees, Owens envisioned being the burgeoning neighborhood’s go-to market, promising a unique identity for the second store when he spoke to Boston in 2015. The shop stocked artisan-produced jams, chocolates, snacks, and other provisions, as well as responsibly sourced and often local produce and meats. It also carried a wide selection of craft beer and wines. The café offered free WiFi, as well as sandwiches, salads, brunch dishes, and wine, beer, and kombucha on tap.

Bee’s Knees Supply Co., 1316 Commonwealth Ave., Allston, beeskneessupply.com.