The latest Wellesley, Mass. business news:
Discover Wellesley event Oct. 2-3
Spend two days exploring the shops, restaurants, people, stories, and experiences that make Wellesley such a distinctive destination.
Participating Wellesley businesses will bring Discover Wellesley to life in their own ways. New businesses such as My Gym (Parents’ Night Out on Oct. 2 from 5-8pm) and Clarendon Fine Art (Oct. 3, 5-7pm gallery show, talk on the greatest art heists, and some sparkling beverages) will introduce themselves. Longtime favorites like Isabel Harvey (15% off cards featuring fun facts about the retailer) and A.M. DePrisco (20 welcome gift bags, with one featuring fine jewelry inside) will be among the others getting in on the shopping fun.
Enjoy 2-hour free parking at bagged meters in Wellesley commercial areas on Oct. 2 and 3.
The Village Bank to celebrate arrival with open house, ribbon cutting
The Village Bank, which earlier this month opened its first Wellesley branch at 579 Washington St., will make things formal with a ribbon cutting and open house on Oct. 7 from 9-11am (RSVP to Amy Werner by Oct. 5, 617-467-6101 or awerner@village-bank.com if you’d like to check out that action).
We stopped by ahead of the Sept. 16 opening to get a preview of the 4,300 sq. ft. space, which includes a 24-hour ATM, with bank leadership and staff.
The fact that The Village Bank is occupying the site that served as retailer E.A. Davis’s home for 120 years isn’t lost on the bank officials. Their nods to that history include displays of the former E.A. Davis sign and a cash register in the storefront, plus historical photos on the walls.
We also had a chance to meet Yvonne Piper, whose Piper&Cloth children’s clothing retailer was selected to be the first pop-up shop within the bank’s Village Shop through the holiday season. The bank is working with an outfit called UpNext to match small businesses with the space here (they’ll each stay four-to-six months, rent-free) and in future Village Shops within Village Bank branches in Needham and Newtonville. More than 45 applications have been submitted, and UpNext’s Allison Yee said concepts have ranged from nonprofits to apothecary products to home goods to candy.
Yee is excited about the Village Bank partnership on behalf of small businesses like Piper&Cloth. “There’s a lot that goes into launching a retail shop, and if you have to make long-term commitments and major dollar investments up front before you really get proof of concept, it’s not the best way to go about it. That’s where pop-ups come in,” she said.
Piper said she didn’t even know what a pop-up was when first hearing about this opportunity to set up shop with her natural and sustainable clothing in Wellesley. She has been operating online since 2022, so having a physical shop in Church Square is a brand new opportunity.
“I have a lot of ideas,” Piper said, when asked how she might go about displaying the many offerings she makes available online. “My style is a bit season-less. So even if I have something like a pinafore that is sleeveless, there’s a lot of layering that can happen with it. ”
Piper never attended fashion school and taught herself to sew. Before long she was sewing for herself, family, and friends, and was attracted to the idea of creating children’s clothing that was soft and comfortable. Piper’s still got some of her original designs in her inventory, and intends to include a section of archives in her pop-up.
“It’s like your own vintage shop, it’s coming back,” I said, encouragingly.
“It’s never gone away,” Piper exclaimed.
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Jennifer Aniston visits Wellesley… storefront
As we reported over the summer, a new fitness studio called Pvolve is headed to 251 Washington St. in Wellesley Hills this winter. As we also noted, they tout their relationship with actress Jennifer Aniston, and the former Friends star is now plastered all over the windows. Will Aniston be there for you in person at some point? We’ll see…
Oh boy another bank and another fitness studio. Seriously? How many do you need?
George Clooney is in Wellesley too — in the dressing room of the Wellesley Holiday Boutique!!
Always makes me laugh when I see him in there!