By Phil Corso
Some new businesses have been moving into Bayside along the popular Bell Boulevard strip, turning heads as shoppers pass by.
An Avon training and recruitment center opened its doors just next to the Bayside Long Island Rail Road station, at 41-08 Bell Blvd., where First Edition sports bar and restaurant once stood.
Just down the boulevard, Beer Belly’s bar and restaurant has also started moving into the location, at 39-17 Bell Blvd., where Cascarino’s Italian eatery once was.
At Avon, district sales manager Lina Salazar said she decided on the location, which had been vacant since the one-time community staple First Edition closed in 2009 after more than 60 years in Bayside. The shop will offer product demonstrations, sales meetings, training and recruiting services for anyone interested in working for the company, Salazar said.
The Avon center has since claimed the building’s main floor and lower level. The second floor, however, was still vacant.
“I chose to move in here because Bell Boulevard is a great location for business,” Salazar said. “I love it here. I think it’s a beautiful space and the area is definitely nice.”
Since she opened the doors in August, Salazar said she noticed passers-by showing a particular interest in the new storefront, possibly because it had been vacant for so long. She said people have been peaking into the building and asking about its newest tenant.
“People are definitely curious,” Salazar said.
For years, a black and empty window was the common landscape on the boulevard sandwiched between Martha’s Country Bakery and the Bayside LIRR train tracks.
And soon to come on the boulevard will also be Beer Belly’s, a sports bar and eatery slated to open some time in November, the restaurant said. The site of former Cascarino’s Italian restaurant — including its second floor — has since transformed part of its exterior with signs teasing the opening of what is to come there.
A spokesman for Beer Belly’s said the bar will have roughly 50 different beers and about 70 different varieties of bourbon and whiskey. The restaurant’s menu will feature classic barbecue-style cuisine to accompany the wide selection of drinks.
The Avon and Beer Belly’s openings occurred at some of the hotter spots along Bell Boulevard, where seemingly any business closure or opening receives more attention than normally seen in other nearby business districts. The two will join the ranks of other new businesses to open in Bayside over the past year, including Pour House, at 213-11 41st Ave.; Yogurtland, at 40-02 Bell Blvd.; and Sterling Pharmacy, at 38-01 Bell Blvd.
The Shoes I Love shoe store, at 38-35 Bell Blvd., was one of the latest shops to close up earlier this summer and has been sitting vacant for weeks.
Reach reporter Phil Corso by e-mail at pcorso@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
