What happens to a downtown block when the bakery leaves, the bar has been dark for two years, and the bookstore next door wants more room, all in the same season?
Maplewood is finding out on the 7300 block of Manchester Road this fall. Five addresses within a few doors of each other are changing at the same time. Most of what is coming next is being built from what is already there. A coffee bar is staying in the space its bakery partner left. A bookstore is moving into the back of the building next door. A new bar is keeping the floors and the bar of the old one. Newcomers are writing a smaller share of this block's next chapter than you might expect.
The Block, Address by Address
| Address | What it was | What's next | Status as of early October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7360 Manchester | Great Harvest Bread Co. and La Cosecha coffee | La Cosecha stays and adds food | Great Harvest's final day was set for September 19 |
| 7350 Manchester | One retail building | Two front shops plus a rear expansion for The Book House | Front units listed as available, no tenants named |
| 7344 Manchester | Boogaloo | The Sports Bra | Liquor license approved, opening date not announced |
| 7282 Manchester | A T-shirt shop | A shop selling handmade goods | Reported by a worker on site, no name or date |
| 2704 Sutton, around the corner | Elmwood, earlier Pizza Champ | Gamlin's | Open since August 4 |
The Bakery Leaves, the Coffee Stays
Great Harvest Bread Co. at 7360 Manchester set September 19 as its last day of service. Franchisees Steve and Alecia Jawor are retiring after 25 years of baking bread in St. Louis. They opened in Maplewood in 2013 after moving the bakery from Olivette. The brand is still in the area. The Kirkwood Great Harvest at 125 W. Argonne is a separately owned franchise, and it remains open.
The more telling detail for this block is what happens to the rest of 7360. La Cosecha coffee shares the address with Great Harvest, and a co-owner told 40 South News the shop is staying and working on food options for its customers. That means the storefront keeps its morning traffic, and the one tenant left decides what fills the gap. La Cosecha has not yet said what the food will be or when it starts. Its coffee-bar page still suggests pairing a drink with Great Harvest baked goods, so expect the menu to change before the website does. No new tenant has been named for the bakery's side of the space.
The Bookstore Grows Into the Building Next Door
Two doors down at 7350 Manchester, the same pattern shows up in a building being remodeled. In July, 40 South News reported that the owner, Rothschild St. Louis, is renovating 7350 and splitting it in two. A worker on site said the plan is two front retail spaces of 1,000 square feet each, with a rear 2,000 square feet going to The Book House next door.
The Book House has been part of this stretch for a long time. St. Louis Magazine was already covering the bookstore at its Manchester Road location in February 2014. Great Harvest opened in Maplewood in 2013, so the two have been on Manchester for about the same length of time. Two businesses that settled on Manchester around the same time are going in opposite directions this fall. One is closing because its owners are retiring. The other is taking on more square footage.
So far, nobody has said what The Book House will do with the extra rear space. The two front units are the block's true openings. Rothschild's own listing shows the 1,004-square-foot unit at 7350A as available now, and no tenant has been reported for either front space.
The Bar That Keeps the Old Bar
The corner at 7344 Manchester is the clearest case of a new business moving into an old room. Boogaloo served its last meal there on June 15, 2024, after 19 years. Its owners pointed to weak sales after the pandemic and much higher food and labor costs.
The next tenant is The Sports Bra, a bar devoted to women's sports. In October 2025, Sauce Magazine described the plans, which keep Boogaloo's wood floors and its double-sided bar and add a bar top made from a reclaimed basketball court. Plans also call for at least ten TVs inside, more on the patio, and rain guards and heaters so the patio works in colder months. Those details come from the plans, and the finished room has not been shown publicly. If the plans hold, people who knew Boogaloo will recognize the room under the new name.
Getting it open has taken a while. The Maplewood City Council approved The Sports Bra's liquor license unanimously at its January 13 meeting. At that meeting, co-owner Heather Hill said construction could not start until the remaining permits came through. In an interview on the company's site, Hill says the architecture firm, general contractor and sign company are all women-owned, and the interview puts the opening in fall 2026. As of this writing, the brand's St. Louis page still says only "Coming in 2026." Exterior signage reportedly went up in September after permit delays pushed back the earlier target. Until an opening date is announced, the bar is still a work in progress.
The Few Real Unknowns
Two spots on the block have no clear next tenant. One is the pair of front units at 7350. The other is 7282 Manchester, a former T-shirt shop. A worker there told 40 South News it will reopen as a shop selling handmade items. That comes from one conversation on site, with no shop name or opening date yet, so it's the least certain change on this list.
Even with those gaps, the block's direction is fairly clear. In three of the five changes on Manchester, either a business already on the block takes over the space or a newcomer keeps what the old tenant built. The empty spaces are small, mostly front units of about a thousand square feet, and they sit next to tenants who are staying.
Around the Corner, the Same Approach
Gamlin's took the same route on Sutton. The Italian-leaning chophouse opened August 4 at 2704 Sutton in the former Elmwood space, which had earlier been Pizza Champ. It marks restaurateur Derek Gamlin's return to the industry after five years away, working with longtime partner Henry Arciniega and executive chef Chris Arnold. The team built the concept around several kinds of visits: a full dinner, happy hour at the bar, or a burger and a cocktail during a Cardinals game. They have kept portions and prices modest so people can come back often during the week. It's the only confirmed new opening in the downtown district this year, and it went into a well-known restaurant space, not a new building.
Dates That Bring the Street Together
A few dates on the city and parks calendars over the next two months will bring people back to this block and the surrounding district:
- October 9, 5:30 p.m. Fall Flights & Bites at A.B. Green Park, with live music, food vendors and a free concert.
- October 22. The Great Pumpkin Glow.
- November 14. The Sweet & Savory Stroll, with details still to come from the city.
- November 28. Small Business Saturday.
If you drive in from the south, plan around Big Bend. The city has scheduled an overnight closure for bridge-girder setting from 10 p.m. Friday, October 10, to 6 a.m. Saturday, October 11. After it reopens, expect one lane each way for most of the remaining bridge work. That work is part of the Greenwood Corridor and Deer Creek Greenway project. The project rebuilds Greenwood Boulevard from Sussex to Canterbury and adds a 10-foot trail linking Deer Creek Shopping Center to the River des Peres Greenway, with work scheduled through the end of 2026, weather permitting.
By Small Business Saturday, the block could look different again. La Cosecha may have a food menu, The Sports Bra may be open, and the front units at 7350 may have their first tenants.
Owning an older commercial-district building or a historic home near one brings the same question this block is answering: what to keep, what to change, and who should get the space next. The Warner Hall Group works through that question with Central Corridor owners every season. Request a private consultation if your property's next chapter is on your mind.
