Worcester Business Journal
January 2022

About two years after announcing his business’s closure, Albert Maykel sold the plaza which formerly housed the Living Earth Market on Chandler Street in Worcester for $1.5 million, according to the Worcester South District Registry of Deeds.

The sale was for 232 Chandler St., which includes the now closed Living Earth health food store, 234 Chandler St., as well as 64 and 87 Dewey St.

Maykel and his wife, Magdalena, opened the Living Earth business in 1971 and purchased the Chandler Street property in 1988 as the main site of the store. Nearly 50 years later, the Maykels announced they would close the shop as they were at retirement age.

The property was bought in a sale closed Friday by Kai Real Estate LLC, which is registered to Thuc Tang of Worcester. Tang also co-owns Kaizen Sushi Bar and Grill in Sturbridge with Chau Ho and Son Vo. Vo is a restaurateur with endeavors throughout the region, and bought the Wexford House on Shrewsbury Street in November.

Tang was registered with another limited liability company related to Kai Sushi on Stafford Street in Worcester, but the LLC was dissolved in 2018. He has worked with Vo on several other projects, including Sweet Kiwi Frozen Yogurt in Sturbridge, which opened in 2013 and has since closed.

The former Living Earth Market is a two-story, 12,257-square-foot building assessed by the City of Worcester at $958,200, according to the Worcester assessor’s data.

Kelleher & Sadowsky brokers William Kelleher IV and Mark Johns represented the sellers in the transaction.