Our roundup of the latest Wellesley MA business news:

Papa Wheelies relocating here from Natick

Papa Wheelies is moving its bike shop from 1400 Worcester St. (Rte. 9) in Natick to 8 Church Square in Wellesley. Sunday was a busy day, as moving trucks were stuffed at the Rte. 9 location, and the former Lyn Evans space started to fill with bikes and accessories. The Natick store closed this weekend, and the Wellesley store is slated to open this week.

Papa Wheelies also has locations in the Back Bay and Portsmouth, NH, where it offers bike sales, rentals, services and accessories.

The shop offers road, mountain, electric, and other bike styles, with prices starting at less than $1,000 and ranging up to 5 figures. Kids’ bikes start at about $125.

We’ve shot a few questions to the business about why it is moving, etc., and will update this past if they get a chance to answer us between the move.

The business did post on its Facebook page that: “We are moving in order to be in a more community oriented location. & Plenty of parking in the FREE lot behind us.”

A new bank in town (sort of)

In the wake of Eastern Bank announcing plans to gobble up Century Bank earlier this year, the Century Bank branch at 258 Washington St., in Wellesley Hills is becoming an Eastern Bank branch.

As with all bank mergers, the institutions say everyone’s a winner, everyone gets access to more services, and family values survive.

Contact MetroWest Property Maintenance

Businesses invited to work with Babson students

The Babson Graduate Experiential Learning program is seeking proposals for its spring 2022 semester. The Wellesley-based school is looking forward to returning to an in-person model of student consulting kicking off in January. If interested, submit a proposal by Oct. 1.

As a former technology reporter I’ve been in over my head more than once in trying to explain complicated subjects. I knew I had my work cut out for me recently when Wellesley’s Christos Papavassiliou, a rising senior at Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, asked if we’d be interested in learning about his sneaker bot flipping company, DemonIO, and the hypebeast industry.

Not one to back away from a challenge, I agreed. But where to even start?

How about with what the heck sneaker “bot flipping” and “hypebeast” are.

Papavassiliou explains that DemonIO “provides bot-flipping calls, so kind of like the stock market, but for sneaker bots.”

The bots are software that automate the checkout process when trying to buy a hot new pair of shoes.

“For example, it will try to add the shoe to your online shopping cart and then fill in all of your credit card and personal information,” the 17-year-old says. “Bot flipping calls are posts that I create telling users how much to buy a bot for, the reason why I think it will go up, and the price I think it will hit. This way people have a very clear understanding of why to invest in the bot.”

As for “hypebeast,” Papavassiliou says the term “has many different meanings, but in my mind I see it as anyone who has a joy for designer and hype items and buys and sells the items in order to make a profit.” The hypebeast industry is expanding into a multi-billion dollar one, he says.

OK, with all that out of the way, how did Papavassiliou get into this business 7 months ago, originally by himself and since then with a small staff?

He’s had an entrepreneurial spirit for about as long as he can remember. “When I was 12, I had come up with the idea and even sketched out a product I called SmartPark. It was a small circular device that would go under parking spaces in garages and connect to an LCD monitor. It would detect once a car went over and say how many spots were available. Obviously, we have something very similar nowadays, but not when I came up with the idea.”

The teen started reselling shoes about 2 years ago, initially trying to get hype shoes online without a bot. Once he earned enough money, he invested in his first bot (called Phantom). While the $800 bot he bought with a friend wasn’t very good, he says, it did get him invested in the whole process.

With DemonIO, Papavassiliou wanted to share his bot experiences with others and help them make money. The name DemonIO isn’t meant to sound evil. “One of the definitions of the word ‘Demon’ is ‘a person with great energy, drive, etc’ and I feel this really represents me,” he says.

Papavassiliou (AKA, “HyperVenomBoston” online) spends a couple of hours per day on the venture, and uses the Discord communications app to support it.

I asked about whether bot flipping is frowned upon in that those not skilled at it could be left out when it comes to snagging new merchandise. But Papavassiliou says if people have gripes, they probably should be directed at the shoe companies themselves. “The way these shoes are released by the company in the first place is not addressing the needs of the average person,” he says. “These products are primarily aiming at a specific clientele that is willing to pay a premium price in order to have something relatively unique. Bots are just taking advantage of the poor infrastructure and carelessness of the retailers. These big shoe companies like Nike and Adidas actually don’t care at all because there is a hype built around the shoe and will sell out. ”

DemonIO has 4,000-plus members on its Discord server, and 1,600-plus Twitter followers. Customers range from kids to adults trying to learn about the bot market, as well as the stock market and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

“Overall, DemonIO is a modern version of a consulting company that tries to keep up with the needs and demands of customers in the twenty-first century,” Papavassiliou says.

As a high school senior this year, Papavassiliou will have his hands full getting ready for college. That means he’ll either find a co-owner to operate DemonIO with him or sell it entirely.

If he does get out of the business, Papavassiliou is sure to have a few keepsakes.

“I still collect sneakers,” he says. “I sell some for profit and others I keep for myself or my siblings.”

Our roundup of the latest Wellesley business news:

Lyn Evans loves Wellesley and is coming back to us

After closing its 32 Church Street doors on July 1, 2021,  Lyn Evans just couldn’t stay away. The women’s clothing boutique will reopen in fashionable new digs in mid-September at 87 Central St. (the former home of Wildflower). The team tells us there’s just a little bit of work to be done in the new space. They’re building out dressing rooms and making decisions about how to showcase a curated selection in their smaller space.

Pure Glow is back

Sometimes when we see a business has “temporarily” closed in town, it turns out not to be so temporary. But Pure Glow, the organic spray tanning business that shuttered its Church Square spot in February to focus on its Boston business during the pandemic, has announced plans to reopen in Wellesley on Sept. 13.

Church Square goes designer route

20-year-old interior design firm Capello Design has announced plans to move its studio from its 445 Washington St., location in Wellesley to 24 Church St., formerly home to nuts and chocolate shop Fastachi.

The firm will work with its design clients and offer various accessories and art at the new location.

Capello says on its Facebook page: “We will also pay homage to Fastachi chocolates who many people in town miss including me! So from time time I promise to offer their chocolates to sample along with champagne of course!”

Next door on Church Street is new tenant Katie Rosenfeld and Company, another interior design outfit.

Linden Square sidewalk sale

The place to score great shopping deals will be Linden Square during the blow-out Sidewalk Sale from Thursday, September 9 – Sunday, September 12. Loads of merchants will have their goods out all day, so don’t miss the discounts at this fun yearly event.

There will be deals of up to 70% off on SALE items only at your favorite stores. Sort through racks and racks to find that go-anywhere dress, comfy work-out clothes, tops galore, baby gear, and more.

Save the date for Parents Day Out in Wellesley Square

The Wellesley Square Merchants’ Association is getting ready for two big days of their always-popular fall shopping event. Parents Day Out will take place on Friday, Sept. 17 and Saturday, Sept. 18, and participating stores throughout Wellesley Square will offer discounts, special offers, and surprises.

Details to follow.

Got tips on business openings, closings or whatever, feel free to email us here: [email protected]

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