Duston's Bakery building listed for $1.85M. Owners explain grand plan to expand.

DOVER — The Duston’s Bakery and Deli building has been listed for $1.85 million, though the owners of the longstanding business don’t plan on walking away from the 53-year-old institution. Instead, they’re doubling down and looking to expand beyond Dover.

Dennis and Krista LaBrasca are attempting to sell the building at 153 Portland Ave., and lease the space back from the new owner as they renovate the interior. The plan doesn’t stop there. The LaBrascas’ goal is to open a second Duston’s location in the Portsmouth or Newington area.

Dennis LaBrasca sees an opportunity for growth for the business due to an influx of customers following the closures in Dover of Earl’s Steak Sandwiches and the Sassy Biscuit. By renovating the existing building alone, the LaBrascas project a 25% to 35% jump in sales.

“As these other places close down, we keep picking up people,” he said.

The Portland Avenue building was listed Tuesday through realtor Bob Marchewka of Brick & Barn Group | Compass real estate in Portsmouth. The LaBrascas have owned the business and the building since 2022, when they bought it from founder Bob Duston, who was retiring.

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The commercial sale and lease back listing calls for the building to be sold for $1.85 million, then leased back to the LaBrascas for a decade at $180,000 per year.

“They would still be operating the business,” Marchewka said of the Duston’s owners. “They would still be using the building. They would then use the funds from the sale of the building for improvements for the business and expand the building.”

Though dependent on the sale of the building and market factors, the LaBrascas wish to take on a “complete facelift” of the 10,400-square-foot building, according to Dennis LaBrasca. New floors, a new ceiling and a new alarm system would be installed, while combining the kitchen with its downstairs baking station and leaving the first floor open for retail operations and interior dining.

Parking at Duston’s would also be expanded from 31 spaces to 56, he said.

“Once the building is sold, let’s say we sell it July 1, the renovations would begin as soon as possible,” he said.

A timeline for the upgrades and potentially finding a second Seacoast site to house a new Duston’s location would be dependent on the sale of the Dover property. Dennis LaBrasca envisions opening a second Duston’s not in downtown Portsmouth, but in another high-traffic location on the outskirts of the city, or potentially in Newington.

"(Customers can expect) the same high-quality, fresh-made products we have now, just more of them,” he said of the future renovation and expansion in Dover. “You walk in now, our place looks nice. But if you walked in (afterward), everything (would be) brand new.”

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In 1971, Bob Duston, then 20 years old, purchased a small business on Broadway Street, renaming it Duston’s Market. He moved the business to multiple locations over the years before settling on Portland Avenue for decades.

The LaBrascas are betting on the business and attempting to attract more customers for years to come.

“It’s been a very communicative, very friendly, very welcoming last few years,” Dennis LaBrasca said of business in Dover. “We feel very grateful for the last two years.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Duston's Bakery building listed for sale in Dover in plan to expand