Why did Freestone's close its doors? Co-owner talks major factors behind the decision
NEW BEDFORD — After reopening for two years under new management, on Monday, the historic Freestones City Grill announced that the restaurant would be closing indefinitely.
"First of all, we didn't just make this decision weeks ago and decided to do it. If you see, we put a brand new sign up on Thursday," said co-owner Howie Mallowes.
"The summer's always been really, really rough there, and that even dating back to before we owned it."
On June 28, Mallowes said the major factor was their chef giving notice and the cook also quitting on June 30, with no notice, leaving the restaurant with no kitchen help.
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"All we had was two prep cooks left at that point," Mallowes said. "And by the time we hire people and get them to give their notices, if we can even find people that quick... we had a meeting amongst ourselves as owners and we're like, 'You know, this one's just not working for us.'"
Mallowes also said that if it was in the middle of the winter, they might have had better luck at trying to restaff.
The 40-year history of Freestones
Located at 41 William St., the building was constructed in 1870 by Caleb Hammond and Sons. After being utilized by the Citizens' National Bank, the building served as a bank and warehouse before its transformation into a restaurant and bar.
It first became known as the popular Haskell's Cafe, featuring the unique attraction of Go-Go girls in cages, and later became the Pequod Lounge.
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Debbie Seguin, along with her late husband Kerry Mitchell, established Freestones in March 1979. They were the sole owners until they sold the business in February 2006, to Jack Wetherbee and Russ Kandalaft.
In October 2021, Freestones closed and underwent renovations, including an update to its bar and dining room area. It reopened again under new management in December 2022, with Seguin returning as a manager alongside co-owners Al Peters, Pat Long and Mallowes.
Renovations and the Zeiterion closing were major factors
Mallowes said the restaurant's challenging renovation process was also a major factor in the restaurant's success.
"We admittedly kind of missed the mark with the renovations we did," he said. "The first one wasn't us. And when we bought it, we wanted to rehab and keep the bar, but the entire bar was rotting and falling apart, so we had to put a new bar... And then we had to kind of design around that."
Mallowes said the new plans changed the overall tone of what people loved about Freestones.
"A lot of people liked it, but a lot of people that were regulars said this isn't Freestones anymore," he added. "That's kind of where it misses the mark."
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The decision to close was also influenced by other factors, including a decrease in business during the summer months and the impact of the Zeiterion Theatre closing, which invites upwards to 70,000 people a year to its multitude of seasonal events in the downtown area.
Mallowes said they had about a 40% drop in attendance.
"Parking is also really difficult," Mallowes added. "When we bought Freestones we knew the park [Custom House Square] wasn't there anymore, but we didn't think it'd be that big of an impact. But it turned out it was."
Freestones informed all staff before closing
On July 1, the decision was to first notify every staff member before making the public announcement they would be closing the restaurant.
Mallowes said that all of the staff were informed before any public announcement was made. "Throughout the day, I talked to most of them," he said. "I really made sure everyone knew. We even have some people asking to come work at our other restaurants [i.e. Carmine's, Cork, and Rose Alley]."
Although Mallowes said it was always the plan to keep the legacy of Freestones, he said that the next person to take over the property may have better luck with a full remodel or approach.
On July 3, Lanagan & Co, inc. listed the building for $2.1 Million, which includes real estate, all business assets and liquor license.
"Somebody could come in and do something really good there," he said.
"They have a brand new sign. So if somebody were to buy it, I would think they'd want to keep it and maybe kind of bring back some of the old character of it, if they can."
Standard-Times staff writer Seth Chitwood can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter: @ChitwoodReports.Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Freestone's co-owner: Loss of staff, challenging renovations behind restaurant closure
