To the long list of changes in ownership of Island businesses that includes the legendary Linda Jeans in Oak Bluffs and even stalwart enterprises like the Chappy Ferry in Edgartown, add The Ice Box, a seasonal ice-cream shop in the Tisbury Marketplace.
The Ice Box transaction deed shows that Salopia LLC sold the Ice Box property to Santoro Seafood Inc., which is owned by Island restaurateur Michael Santoro, for $871,250 on May 18. Santoro’s plans for the business remain uncertain, and he was not immediately available for comment.
“We’re sad that we ultimately didn’t make it,” Alex Salop, co-owner of Salopia LLC and the ice-cream shop, said.
The Ice Box is not alone in its struggles and shifting fate. In Tisbury, the former Mocha Mott’s location on Main Street, a longtime gathering spot for locals, was acquired by the owners of Toccopuro in February, and the Wave Restaurant and Bar, owned by a Nantucket restaurant group, took over the Garde East location on Beach Road. The new Highlands General café and marketplace took over the spot where Linda Jean’s, a longtime Oak Bluffs favorite, once stood. Santoro had planned to open a restaurant called Michael’s there before those plans fell through.
For generations, businesses on the Vineyard have had to adapt to different challenges of operating on a location seven miles off of the mainland, which raises expenses and makes it difficult to find housing for workers. So change is inevitable in such a business environment, giving way to new opportunities to revive empty storefronts by enterprising entrepreneurs or to the next generation to preserve what Islanders are familiar with.
In particular, it seems there have been changes of ownership at restaurants across the Island in the past year, including the ownership change at the Plane View, located at the Martha’s Vineyard Airport, over the winter. And there are various new eateries to breathe new life into downtown Oak Bluffs, with approval given by the town’s select board since April: The operators of the Black Dog have plans to open a full-service restaurant called Coastwise Pub where the Oak Bluffs Mikado restaurant once operated on Circuit Ave. (the original Mikado is in Vineyard Haven); the former Oak Bluffs Avenue location of the Martha’s Vineyard Chowder Company (now on Kennebec Avenue) is planned to become an events and restaurant venue called Inkwell Beach House, run by AJ Calloway, a television personality and seasonal Islander, and Gerry Garvin, better known by his celebrity chef name of G. Garvin; the former Lobsterville Bar and Grille on Circuit Avenue became the Jetty Beach House under Jordan Wallace, owner of the popular Midnight Taco; and the owners of Dos Mas changed the Mexican eatery into ESH, an upscale American cuisine restaurant.
Erica Ashton, executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce, said it can be difficult to see longtime businesses close or change hands. Some of these transitions, Ashton said, can also reflect the challenges of doing business on the Island, from housing constraints, worker shortages, rising operational costs, and the seasonal nature of the Island’s economy.
A high-cost location, the Vineyard can be a difficult place for anyone to run a business.
Still, she said, new operators can bring fresh life to the business scene. “While we never like to see challenges force difficult decisions, new ownership and investment can also create exciting opportunities for innovation, job creation, and economic vitality,” Ashton said. “A healthy business community needs both continuity and fresh ideas, and we’re encouraged to see entrepreneurs continuing to invest in the Island’s future.”
Beyond eateries, there have been other services that have changed hands or shuttered. The Martha’s Vineyard Family Campground in Tisbury was purchased last month by Northgate Resorts, a Michigan-based company that owns resort sites across the country. And the Edgartown Select Board approved the transfer of the Chappy Ferry license on May 25 for the first time in nearly two decades. For parts of the community, these changes were cultural as well. Island Music in Tisbury wasn’t able to recover from the damages caused by a car that crashed into the building; it was the only on-Island shop that sold and serviced instruments, and the loss was a gut punch for local musicians. Meanwhile, Oak Bluffs lost a nearly century-old downtown staple with the closure of Phillips Hardware in the fall, and the building has since been demolished. Benito’s Hair Styling, once a popular business in Oak Bluffs, moved to Edgartown in November after the property that housed it was sold.
Ashton said change is a “natural and healthy” part of any business community, especially seasonal destinations like the Vineyard.
“Martha’s Vineyard has always evolved while maintaining the character that makes it so special. Business transitions are part of that evolution,” Ashton said.
Jordan Wallace agreed that the recent spate of changes to Island businesses is “largely a healthy and natural part of a seasonal economy.”
“While it’s always bittersweet to see longtime institutions change hands or close, I think fresh investment and new ideas help keep the Vineyard vibrant and relevant,” he said. The challenge, Wallace added, is “finding the right balance between honoring the Island’s character and embracing thoughtful evolution.”
When an opportunity arose to convert “one of the most beautiful waterfront settings on Martha’s Vineyard” into a new restaurant, Wallace and his business partner, Mike Tierney, saw it as a chance to serve wine, local seafood, and be a locale where customers could meet creative people, from artists to musicians, throughout the summer.
For outside investors, the Vineyard can be an attractive venture. Milan Basnet, a Nantucket restaurateur who opened the Wave, said he saw his new location as a “double win” as a spot near the water on the Vineyard.
As someone who owns restaurants on both the Vineyard and Nantucket, Basnet has seen the similar ways in which businesses are impacted by operational constraints, like housing and the finding workers. Still, he said the process of setting up the Wave has been eased by a good community of people willing to help, and by being able to bring a resident chef from Easy Street, one of his Nantucket restaurants, to the Vineyard.
While the Wave is currently a summer business, Basnet told The Times he wants to explore ways to open the space for the year-round community. “We don’t want to serve just to tourists,” he said. “We want to serve the local community as well.”
Salop told The Times the Ice Box was opened in 2023 and operated for three summers. He said while the ice-cream shop had a great group of customers, it wasn’t enough for long-term viability, especially when the store needed to make all of its money in two and a half months.
“Ultimately, you can have a base of reliable customers who come all the time … it’s all about foot traffic,” Salop said.
Salop will still be operating the Toy Box in the same market center. But, Salop said, he also plans to work on his new consultancy called Island Analytics, which helps small businesses get more information and utilize artificial intelligence to take on repetitive processes, like payrolls and invoices.