Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/469117
44 Worcester Business Journal • www.wbjournal.com 25 YEARS: CRASHERS & BURNERS The Maykel Family is proud to be a part of Worcester Business Journal history. Congratulations on 25 years ! 232 Chandler Street Worcester (508) 753-1896 www.lefoods.com *Credit requests are subject to approval. ©2014 People's United Bank | Member FDIC | Equal Opportunity Lender Paul Kelly, Regional Manager, SVP 508-890-5183 Discover what know-how can do. Whether you're starting a business or expanding an existing one, People's United Bank offers a wide range of credit lines, loans and commercial mortgages to help your company reach its goals. * $45,000,000 Food & Beverage $20,000,000 non-ProFit/ higher edUcation $4,500,000 social service $38,000,000 manUFactUring $4,500,000 distriBUtion $16,000,000 manUFactUring I n 2013, discount retailer Building 19 closed its Shrewsbury store, effectively ending the final chapter of the storied Spag's, a longtime regional lure for its deals. A decade earlier, in 2003, Spag's had been bought by Hingham-based Building 19 from the family of the late Anthony "Spag" Borgatti. The Spag's name was dropped from the building's awning in 2004, ending a 70-year legacy in the world of discount stores. Borgatti, who died in 1996, had been an inspira- tion to Building 19 founder Jerry Ellis (pictured above), who strove to revive the Spag's magic. Though Building 19 had operated stores since 1964, the for- mer Spag's couldn't hold its own. Last year, Building 19 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization and closed the Shrewsbury store, along with nine other locations. "It's hard to live up to the memories of what was once great," Bill Eloviz, president of Building 19, told the Worcester Business Journal after his company closed the Shrewsbury store. "[Borgatti] was way ahead of his time and it's hard to compete with those memories, and I think people wanted it to be Spag's and it never could be." While the Spag's site is now being used as an antiques mall, plans are in the works to revitalize the area in different ways. Last July, Whole Foods Market, a Texas-based natural-and-organic-foods grocery chain, announced plans to open a store within the proposed Lakeway Commons shopping center, which would be built at the former Spag's site. The builder, Grossman Development Group, plans to include 250 apartments, 35 townhouses and 80,000 square feet of retail space. N amed after the legendary twister that devastated portions of Worcester County in 1953, the Tornadoes had hoped to take the city by storm with its spot in the Can-Am independent baseball league. The team clinched the league champi- onship in 2005, its first season, led by its manager, former Red Sox catcher Rich Gedman. The team created some chatter in 2012, when it signed former American League MVP Jose Canseco — who had admitted to prior use of performance- enhancing drugs — to a one-year contract. At the end of the 2012 season, the league ended the financially strapped team's charter. The players even had their uniforms confis- cated prior to one game because the team had failed to pay a cleaning service. Plagued by controversy, debts and lack of an owner, the Tornadoes disbanded. This year, Worcester became the home of a new team, the Worcester Bravehearts of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, which, unlike the Can-Am League, does not pay its players. The team is owned and operated by Worcester resident John Creedon Jr., whose family runs Creedon and Co., a prominent catering service. And, as the Tornadoes did in 2005, the Bravehearts won its league's championship in the team's inaugural sea- son. Spag's/Building 19 Worcester Tornadoes