The long-dormant Widoff's Bakery building in Worcester's Canal District will see it's first tenant move in this September after more than two years of inactivity.

Building owner Edward Murphy confirmed that the Team Link Gym will move into approximately 5,000 square feet on the second floor of the historic bakery building. Team Link will feature Muay Thai classes, in addition to several other combat sport and strength training lessons.

Widoff's closing in 2015 dealt a major blow to the Worcester and the Canal District neighborhood. The legendary bakery had been serving bread and pastries on Water Street since 1907 and was one of the few remaining links to the Canal District's past as a neighborhood where people bought their meat, cheese and bread.

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​For the Worcester Renaissance to work, everyone needs to work together.

That's according to Ed Murphy, manager of the Baystate Investment Fund, which currently owns the former home of the Widoff Bakery that closed after 100 years of operation.

Murphy recently posted renderings of potential renovations to the space at 129 Water Street on his Facebook page. Baystate Investment has spent the past year deliberating what to do with the site.


"We've been reluctant to rent to nightclubs and bars. We could've rented it 10 times over to those places," Murphy said. "Everybody has to be responsible. We talk to tenants every day, and we say no more than we say yes. We don't want someone undercapitalized to come in or a cheap build out. There's demand, and we're fortunate we can hold out."

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WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A Worcester bakery is closing its doors for good after serving treats and baked goods since 1907.

The Telegram & Gazette (http://bit.ly/1g4YTfh ) reports that Widoff’s Bakery closed Saturday after owner Mark Picard called off an unsuccessful GoFundMe campaign to raise money to replace vital equipment and fix the roof.

Widoff’s shut down for three days in June following complications involving the city and state health inspectors. Picard says he was experiencing problems with the bakery’s ovens when he launched the failed $100,000 GoFundMe page.

A last-ditch effort to save the bakery was made by Edward Murphy, who purchased the 19,000-square foot building that houses Widoff’s on July 16.
Murphy says he wasn’t planning on Widoff’s going out of business so soon and hopes another bakery takes the space.
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WORCESTER – Widoff’s Bakery, a city institution dating back to 1907, closed for good over the weekend.

The bakery, which shut down for three days in June to address problems found by city and state health inspectors, closed Saturday after owner Mark Picard experienced problems with the bakery’s ovens.

The business had been struggling to address the inspection issues and in June launched a $100,000 GoFundMe campaign to raise money to fix its roof and buy new equipment. That online campaign was unsuccessful, however.

At the time, then-co-owner Joey Ducas of Sutton told the Telegram & Gazette the business had been struggling for some time.

Between June and this weekend, Mr. Ducas had stepped away from owning the bakery, according to Worcester lawyer Jonathan Finkelstein. Mr. Finkelstein said he had been helping Mr. Picard manage the business for the last several weeks.
“We had been closed too often in the past few months because of a number of items ... so we had to make a decision,” Mr. Finkelstein explained.

One last-ditch effort to save Widoff’s was made by the building’s new owner, Edward J. Murphy, principal of the limited liability corporation Baystate Investment Fund Inc. Baystate purchased the 19,000-square foot building at 121-129 Water St. for $550,000 on July 16, according to the Worcester Registry of Deeds.

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