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Needham Bank, Wellesley
Write Ahead, Wellesley

Wellesley Business Buzz: élan Fine Consignment just fine again; Fair in The Square on Sunday; Easter Bunny brunch; French Bakery selling its treasures locally; On to spring for Faherty

March 30, 2023 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

The latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:

élan Fine Consignment is back in style

After a pipe burst last December under the floorboards at élan Fine Consignment in Wellesley Hills, business owner Kim Hutchings mopped up the mess and kept on going. None of the merchandise at the high-end shop had been damaged, so she rigged up a couple of industrial fans and stayed open until mid-January while she plotted her repairs.

elan, Wellesley
élan Fine Consignments is back in action after a two-month closure.

Now élan is back in action and as Kim moved about her renovated shop, she happily rattled off the designer bags and clothing brands she’s currently carrying—Chanel, Loius Vuitton. Valentino, Gucci, Prada, and more. Many are brand-new.

Although Kim’s never gone through a business upheaval that forced her to close for two months, now that the drama is behind her, she’s philosophical. She never liked that ugly old floor anyway.  “It was kind of nice to put it all back together, and now it looks beautiful,” she said.

WELLESLEY BUSINESS: élan Fine Consignment
LOCATION: 402 Washington St.
HOURS: Monday-Friday, 11am-5pm; Saturday, 11am-4pm; Sunday, closed


Fair in the Square

Fair in The SquareLinden Square, Wellesley is back and has a new date due to weather—Sunday, April 2, 11:30am – 1:30 pm, in the Linden Square Courtyard. Meet the Easter Bunny, get a temp tattoo, and enjoy free ice cream for the first 200 kids—all free.

 

Easter Bunny brunch

Bunny Brunch at The Cottage will remain April 1 as planned. Grab the kiddos, dress up in your fancy spring outfits, and head over to The Cottage to meet the Easter Bunny as everyone enjoys a bountiful brunch. Photos are encouraged. There will be two seatings: 8:30am and 10am. Call for prices and reservations: 781-239-1100

Sock Drive

Linden Square also is kicking off a Cradles to Crayons Sock Drive this weekend at participating stores. Please bring a brand new socks from new-born to adult sizes to donate during Fair in the Square on Sunday. The drive will continue through April 16.

French Bakery selling its treasures locally

Needham backyard bakery Le Petit Four has begun selling its croissants, breads, and other creations at both Capt. Marden’s and Fells Market in Wellesley.

CBS News 4 recently caught up with the owner, who has brought her talents from France. Keep an eye on Le Petit Four’s website for local sales, typically on Fridays at Capt. Marden and Saturdays at Fells Market.

On to spring for Faherty

Clothing retailer Faherty plans to open in Wellesley Square at 50 Central St., formerly home to Talbots, and adjacent to where Lululemon now operates.

The signage at 50 Central St., indicates a winter 2023 opening, but that ship has sailed. We reached out to Faherty and they say a mid-April opening is now the goal.

Faherty opening winter 2023


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Filed Under: Business, Food

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Linden Square, Wellesley
Wonderful Wellesley, Lockheart
Write Ahead, Wellesley

Pinnacle Group now based at Douglas Elliman Realty in Wellesley Square

March 28, 2023 by admin Leave a Comment

SPONSORED CONTENT: Douglas Elliman Realty, one of the largest independent residential real estate brokerages in the United States, has welcomed the top-producing Pinnacle Group, established by Elaine Bannigan, to the firm. The group comprises an eight-person team, including Cece Yan, Elyse Marsh, Jane Neilson, Susan Bevilacqua, Danielle Comella, Maureen McCaffrey and Susan Lyman. The Pinnacle Group is now based out of Douglas Elliman’s new office in Wellesley, Mass., at 40 Central Street.

“We could not be more thrilled to welcome The Pinnacle Group,” says Scott Durkin, president and chief executive officer of Douglas Elliman Realty. “Elaine has grown to become a pillar of the Wellesley community. We applaud her success and look forward to driving the team’s business to the next level at Elliman.”

A force in the Massachusetts real estate market for 37 years, Bannigan has won several awards including the Better Business Bureau 2006 Torch Award for Ethics and Excellence, Business Professional of the Year from Wellesley Chamber of Commerce, and the Leadership Award from Wellesley Chamber of Commerce. In 2022, The Pinnacle Group’s total sales volume reached an impressive $164,643,000, with top sales including the complete sellout of Fieldstone Way, a development of 44 luxury townhomes in Wellesley.

“Douglas Elliman has welcomed our team with open arms,” says Elaine Bannigan, founder of Pinnacle Residential Properties. “We are so impressed by the firm’s first-class resources in public relations, technology and marketing and look forward to helping Elliman expand its presence and reputation as a full-service, luxury brokerage throughout Massachusetts.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Houses, Real estate

Page Waterman, Wellesley
London Harness, Wellesley

Wellesley business buzz: La Toscana’s, Express Gourmet to serve alcohol; Where the town banks (not SVB!)

March 16, 2023 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:

La Toscana’s, Express Gourmet to serve alcohol

The Wellesley Select Board approved licenses that will allow La Toscana’s in Wellesley Square and Express Gourmet in Lower Falls (11 River St.) to serve alcohol. Both benefit from the town’s updated alcohol licensing rules that let smaller restaurants in on the revenue booster.

It sounds as though La Toscana’s might be ready to roll by the time the Boston Marathon streams through town in mid-April. The business secured an all-alcohol license to give patrons more choices to pair with their pizza, salads, or lasagna.

Express Gourmet plans to continue offering its counter lunch service, but later in the day will switch over to a seated dining service with beer and wine options. Fenced-in outdoor seating is part of the plan as well.

Owner David Van Tassell says the restaurant is probably a couple of months away from the expanded menu. Hiring a staff is the biggest challenge ahead, he said.

There’s potential for more new or existing businesses to secure alcohol licenses. Nine all-alcohol and 3 beer/wine licenses remain available.

La Toscana, Wellesley
La Toscana’s, Wellesley

Where the town banks (not SVB!)

The dramatic images of people lined up at Wellesley’s SVB branch in the wake of that institution’s collapse got people wondering: Uh, so where does the actual Town of Wellesley bank?

svb
SVB line-up (Photo courtesy of Erry Johnson)

 

Town Treasurer Maura O’Connor addressed that question during the March 13 Select Board meeting.

“Our banking situation is very secure,” O’Connor said. None of the town’s “investments are at risk or with any of the banks that are in the news recently.”

Safety, liquidity, and yield, in that order, are the treasurer’s priorities, O’Connor said.

Of course you can’t throw a nickel around here without hitting a bank, and the town has diversified its funds among many institutions. Among those that the town uses are:

  • Rockland Trust, including trust, scholarship, and stabilization funds, as well as money market and vendor payable accounts
  • TD Bank, where Wellesley has a depository account (“all the money we collect in the office on a daily basis”), as well as payroll and credit card accounts
  • Eastern Bank, which holds funds that go into the town’s lockbox for utilities, real estate taxes, etc., plus a credit card account for school, recreation, and other programs
  • Bank of America, also for utility and real estate payments as well as parking revenue
  • UBS, which is used for large investments—treasuries—backed by the federal government
  • PRIM, the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management fund
  • Mass Depository Trust Account, including general and short-term bond accounts

 


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Refined Renovations, Wellesley

Wellesley business buzz: Jejes Coffeehouse & Roastery opens; Run on collapsed Silicon Valley Bank; Church Street shapes up with Figurella; Landscape architect takes over space

March 10, 2023 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:

Jejes Coffeehouse & Roastery opens in Wellesley Hills

It’s taken a while for specialty coffee to gain a foothold in New England, but Jejes Coffeehouse & Roastery is confident that those in Wellesley and nearby communities will be receptive.

Owner Soonhee “Sunny” Ka wasn’t a coffee drinker while in South Korea, where instant coffee with cream and sugar was popular at the time. “It caused me stomach pain,” she said. But after being introduced to light- and medium-roasted specialty coffee, Ka began to enjoy the less bitter drink. Using her food science background, she started to experiment with roasting beans herself, using different approaches to maximize their potential. “Different roasters make totally different coffee…this is pretty me,” Ka said of Jejes offerings.

 

jejes
Coffee power couple Soonhee “Sunny” Ka & Duse Lee of Jejes Coffeehouse & Roastery

 

That’s the origin story for Jejes, which launched in 2020 during the height of the pandemic. Coffee shops and restaurants serving coffee were closed, so Jejes emerged as a way for people to try a different style of coffee and order it online. (The name “Jejes” stems from the letter “J”—Ka and Lee’s 2 sons and dog all have names beginning with the letter.)

Jejes roasted its coffee in Sharon, and after a Jewish customer inquired about whether the product was kosher, Jejes looked into getting certified as such to make its offerings accessible to more people. Jejes’ production roastery, now at its 259 Washington St. coffeehouse, is kosher-certified, including for Passover. “The word has spread through this community quickly,” says Duse Lee, who manages the shop and is married to Ka. “It’s a stricter process than the basic health codes.”

Lee says he believes Jejes is the only kosher-certified shop in New England. That uniqueness has grabbed the attention of local news sites, including a TV station that showed up Friday morning.

Jejes initially looked to expand its roastery into a coffeeshop in Sharon after customers asked, but could not find the right space. They kept looking further out and came upon the Wellesley space, which previously has housed a fitness business among others. The current Sharon spot will be used for testing new products. It’s possible a separate, larger roastery could be opened in the future.

When I visited the roughly 850 sq. ft. shop in Wellesley Hills on Friday afternoon, 2 days after it opened, a steady stream of customers stopped in, and a handful more peeked in after the door was locked at 2pm. Jejes is open 8am-2pm Monday-Saturday. Closing at 2pm gives Ka time in the afternoon to roast up new batches of coffee, some of which very time consuming. Ka and Lee described a Dutch Brew process that includes some 6-plus hours of water dripping and at least 48 hours of aging.

Checked out the new Jejes Coffeehouse & Roastery in Wellesley Hills https://t.co/V3gJSgnQLc pic.twitter.com/mYeCNzIrU7

— swellesley (@swellesley) March 10, 2023

The most popular offering so far is latte ($4.75), and Ka said she’s been surprised by the demand for oat milk in it.

The shop will close for a spell in April as well when Ka competes at the US Coffee Championships in Portland, Ore.

Jejes is more of a take-out than hang-out establishment, initially with 4 indoor seats inside and later expanded to 8 (outdoor seating will come with warmer weather). Baked goods, based on recipes from Ka, are also available.

Jejes Coffeehouse & Roaster (259 Washington St.)

Hours (updated May 9, 2023):

  • Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to 3pm
  • Sunday: closed
  • Monday: closed (our roasting day)
jejes
Where the roasting happens at Jejes. Beans are sourced from around the world

 

Run on collapsed Silicon Valley Bank

Jeez, we went away for a few days and there was a run on Silicon Valley Bank in Wellesley (and elsewhere) as the financial institution collapsed. A line of customers, and local TV news stations, could be seen at the 336 Washington St. branch in Wellesley.

California banking regulators on Friday shut down the tech startup-focused bank, in the biggest such collapse in more than a decade. The FDIC seized banks assets.

Hal Burstein, M.D., shared this photo of the action at Wellesley’s SVB branch via Twitter.

svb wellesley
Lining up at SVB’s Wellesley branch (Photo by Hal Burstein, M.D.)

 

Church Street shapes up with Figurella

A women’s fitness and weight loss business called Figurella has popped up at 51A Church St. (near B/Spoke), promising a healthier you via a combination of working out, detoxing via “active oxygen treatment,” and nutrition.

Figurella got its start decades ago in Italy, and has become popular in Florida. The Wellesley space follows the opening of a location in Newton in 2021 by owner Chiara Migani.

Landscape architect fills long-vacant space

When visiting Jejes, we noticed that Dan Gordon Landscape Architects has filled the long-vacant space at the corner of that Washington Street strip that formerly housed a spa. The landscape architect has been at 267 Washington St., and now has taken over 269.

landscape architect

 


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Call and Haul, Wellesley

Wellesley Business Buzz: Jejes Coffeehouse set to open March 8; Oath Pizza aims to debut April 1; Linden Square happenings

March 5, 2023 by Deborah Brown 1 Comment

The latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:

Jejes Coffeehouse set to open March 8

Jejes Coffeehouse & Roastery is set to open its shop at 259 Washington St. on Wednesday, March 8 with a full men of coffee, tea, and baked goods.

For the opening, Jejes will have coffee (Espresso, Americano, Latte, Mocha, etc), tea, and baked goods (cookies, muffins, madeleines, and scones). Also, they will offer some specialty coffee menus (pour-over and Dutch brew).

“Our espresso menu uses 100% organic, fair trade coffee beans freshly roasted at our shop (you will actually see our small roastery nested in the back). Tea is also organic. Also, we will sell bags of coffee,” says owner Duse Lee.

You can find Jejes on Facebook, and soon its website will be live.

Jejes has received a Kosher certification from the KVH to make its offerings accessible to kosher/halal consumers. “So, we kindly ask our customers not to bring outside food and drinks into our shop,” Lee says.

Jejes will have 4 seats inside, plus more outside later as the weather warms. They will mainly operate on a take-out model.

Opening hours are Monday to Saturday, 8 AM to 2 PM.

After receiving the Select Board’s approval for a common victualler license in early 2022, Jejes Coffeehouse had planned to open by fall 2022. But issues with a contractor delayed things.

Jejes coffeehouse

Oath Pizza aims to debut April 1

The Oath Pizza shop in Linden Square is looking to open on April Fools’ Day according to its job postings for people to run the operation.

Oath Pizza, Wellesley

Keeping up with Linden Square

Linden Square is planning lots of ways to coax everybody out of hibernation to celebrate spring. New fashion is arriving in the stores, restaurants are featuring new, seasonal items, and we’re all feeling lucky that we got through another New England winter with no major snowstorm…yet! Check out all the doings here.


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Filed Under: Business, Restaurants

Rumble Boxing, Natick Mall

Wellesley business buzz: Spartan Safe shuts down; Truly’s gets go-ahead for coffee hours; Capt. Marden’s aims to reopen for breakfast

March 1, 2023 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:

Spartan Safe shuts down

Spartan Safe, which cracked open its business in Linden Square in March of 2021, has closed its Wellesley and other locations. Parent company Chadley Management made a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing in December.

The Wellesley showroom featured big, strong, fireproof metal safes with electronic or mechanical locks. Unfortunately, some customers across the country are out thousands of dollars after purchasing safes before the bankruptcy filing, and are now scrambling to recover their funds.

Hate to ask, but if you’re chasing down a refund from the Wellesley store, want to let us know?

spartan safe
Nothing to see here right now at the former Spartan Safe site in Linden Square

The maker of Liberty safes, sold by Spartan, was none too happy with its partner, as outlined in a statement issued in December.

The statement starts off:

On November 14, 2022, Liberty Safe & Security Products, Inc. terminated its supplier relationship with Spartan Safe, which is no longer an authorized Liberty Safe retailer. Spartan Safe, doing business under the trade names Spartan Safe or Liberty Safes of McLean, owns and operates or has operated retail stores in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Arkansas. Effective immediately, Liberty Safe has discontinued all product shipments to Spartan Safe, due to Spartan Safe’s repeated failure to meet its obligations under the parties’ dealer agreement.

Liberty Safe remains committed to ensuring that its customers are satisfied with Liberty Safe’s products and the sale process. Liberty Safe will provide updated delivery information to any customer who purchased a safe through libertysafe.com, and who were notified that delivery would be made by Spartan Safe. Customers who are awaiting delivery of products purchased directly from Spartan Safe, are encouraged to contact Spartan Safe for a remedy.

That doesn’t sound like such a promising remedy…

Meanwhile, Federal Realty now looks to fill about 2,000 sq. ft. next to Code Ninjas.

Truly’s gets go-ahead for coffee hours

Truly’s, which has made its big move next door to 39 Grove St., this past month gained Select Board approval to open earlier so that it can serve Peet’s coffee as well as other hot/cold beverages and baked goods.

Truly’s traditionally has opened at noon, and that currently remains the case, but it now has approval to open as early as 7am and stay open as late as 10pm. Truly’s looks forward to opening on mornings, though still has some barista hiring, etc. to take care of before doing so. It will soon have more information available about its morning plans.

truly's

Capt. Marden’s aims to reopen for breakfast

Capt. Marden’s Table & Takeaway on Linden Street is close to reopen for breakfast, but it needs to fill out its staff first. The plan is to open Wednesday-Sunday for breakfast.

Wellesley’s Gannon named bank SVP

scott gannonJ. Scott Gannon of Wellesley was recently named Bank of Canton’s senior vice president of residential and consumer lending. He has more than 30 years of experience developing and overseeing mortgage programs for local and national lenders.

Gannon is responsible for all aspects of the bank’s retail and wholesale residential mortgage program and consumer loan department, including loan originations, underwriting and processing, servicing, compliance and secondary market efforts. His previous roles include leadership positions at local, regional and national mortgage companies and banks, and a $2.5 billion credit union.

The banker is a 14-time marathon runner, and has raised more than $100,000 for nonprofit organizations including the Open Door Foundation, Sloan Kettering Hospital and Casa Myrna.


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Time is right for new owners of Wellesley’s Coconut Thai Cafe

February 27, 2023 by Bob Brown 4 Comments

The new owners of Wellesley’s Coconut Thai Cafe, the wife-and-husband team of Nui Phitpiboonlerd and John Mongkontavy, have dreamed of running their own restaurant for years. Both have worked at a number of other eating establishments since moving from Thailand to the United States in the 1990s, and while they’ve never owned those businesses, they’ve done nearly everything but. They were confident they could run a restaurant if the opportunity presented itself.

Any such plans were put on hold during the pandemic when Phitpiboonlerd returned to Thailand for more than a year to help her family. But the couple continued to talk of possibilities all the while.

Coconut Thai
New Coconut Thai Cafe owners John Mongkontavy and Nui Phitpiboonlerd

Their first big step toward owning a restaurant brought them to Salem, N.H., where they went in on a partnership and refurbished the place. But before long, they realized it wasn’t the right fit, especially given the long commute to and from their Natick residence. Fortuitously, Phitpiboonlerd learned that the longtime owner of Coconut Thai Cafe, where she once worked, was looking to retire and sell the Wellesley Hills restaurant at 257 Washington St.

“I was so surprised when I asked and he said ‘yes,'” she said. “He’d been keeping quiet about his plans.”

The couple, who met in 2006 while working at Natick Center’s Dah-Mee restaurant (Nui a waitress, John a chef), refreshed the interior of Coconut Thai during a brief restaurant closure earlier this year as the business changed hands. They did most of the work themselves or with friends, removing or painting over wallpaper, replacing lights and fans, and adding floral arrangements and friendly wall decor. The makeover includes the bathroom, which Mongkontavy insisted I check out (it didn’t disappoint!).

“This space is just the right size, just what we wanted,” Mongkontavy said of the 12-seat restaurant, which does a brisk take-out business, too. “With a bigger place, finding help is really hard.”

The new owners will redo the exterior as well, but they’re going to catch their breath first.

They have revamped the menu though, slashing the number of items from about 100 to more like 30. Among the new attractions is a hot stone pot that includes a mix of a meat (usually beef), rice, egg, and vegetables, and that sizzles as you eat it. “It’s the kind of thing you’d otherwise need to go into Boston to find,” said Mongkontavy, who coincidentally used to work at Brown Sugar Cafe on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, a Thai restaurant I’d visited a few days before I met him at Coconut Thai.

Such connections within the restaurant community helped Coconut Thai’s owners get to where they are now, and will no doubt keep popping up.

Phitpiboonlerd said she was delighted when Coconut Thai’s first customer turned out to be a patron she knew from Dah-Mee.


Coconut Thai Cafe (257 Washington St., Wellesley)

781-235-8255

Take-out & dine-in (delivery coming soon)

LUNCH : TUESDAY-SATURDAY 11:30am -2:30pm ,
12:00pm -2:30pm (only SATURDAY)
DINNER : TUESDAY-SUNDAY
4:30pm-9:00pm
CLOSED MONDAY

Coconut Thai


More: Where to eat in Wellesley


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Wellesley Business Buzz: élan Fine Consignment temporarily closed; Coconut Thai is back; Boston Veterinary Clinic wants to see your pets; It’s brown paper season

February 21, 2023 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

The latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:

élan Fine Consignment temporarily closed

It was the naked mannequin in the window that stopped us in our tracks. On a regular day she’s our style icon, the one we look to as our fashion role model. Some days the well-dressed mannequin of élan Fine Consignment in Wellesley Hills is dressed in Lily Pulitzer. Some days she’s sporting a puffer coat, a cool beanie, and designer jeans. She always looks good. So when she appeared in the window in a state of undress, we were concerned.

elan, Wellesley
élan has been accepting consignment for designer and name brand  women’s clothing, handbags and accessories in new or like-new condition since 2013. We’re hoping they reopen soon.

The sign on the door of the 402 Washington St. business told part of the story: “élan will be closed temporarily.”

Inside, the racks were all but emptied, an unheard-of situation at the popular shopping destination. We checked in with owner Kim Hutchings, who told us by email, “We had a pipe burst in the store, and we are working to get it back open ASAP. We are hoping for the new floor to go in next week, then some painting, and putting all the fixtures back in!”

Sounds like the repairs will be completed just in time for fashionistas to pop by for their spring wardrobe needs.

Coconut Thai reopens

Coconut Thai, located at 257 Washington St., is slated to reopen on Tuesday, Feb. 21 under new ownership.

coconut thai

Boston Veterinary Clinic wants to see your pets

Boston Veterinary Clinic has expanded its reach into Wellesley with a new location at 239 Washington St. (formerly a realtor’s office). The business also has locations in Boston and Brookline.

Services at the 3,300 sq. ft. space include wellness and preventative care (shots, dental, etc.), sick and emergency care, alternative care, and puppy and kitten assistance. Separate exam rooms are designed for cats, dogs, and exotic pets, and there’s a separate waiting room for cats. The staff is trained in techniques to reduce stress for patients.

Early reports are that the office provides friendly and patient care. An open house is slated for April 1 from 10am-1pm.

buster boston veterinary clinic
Boston Veterinary Clinic: Approved by Buster the pug (Photo by Mara Laird)

It’s brown paper season

Brown paper has filled up a number of Wellesley storefronts, sparking excitement about what possibly could be under the wrapping. Among the latest, Wellesley Square’s 101 and 97 Central St., formerly occupied by Joel Bagnal Goldsmiths and Brueggers’ Bagels, respectively.

Any hopes of Brueggers being replaced by another bagel shop or eatery would appear to be slim given that the building permit describes elimination of such elements as the fridge and waste piping. The demolition planned for the site would leave a shell of a structure for the next tenant.

Got the skinny on either of these spots? Let us know: theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

97 central 101 central


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Author visits in Wellesley and beyond

February 11, 2023 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Jan Brogan, author of The Combat Zone
Jan Brogan, author of The Combat Zone

Author Jan Brogan stopped by the Wellesley Free Library to talk about her non-fiction book The Combat Zone, a re-examination of the 1976 murder of a Harvard football player in a semi-sanctioned red-light district in Boston. Brogan conducted dozens of primary-source interviews, which informed her understanding on how the resulting two trials related to the stabbing impacted the city, state, and ultimately the nation.

Brogan’s presentation included a slide show with lots of “before and after” shots of the bad old days of Boston’s Combat Zone, the 5.5-acre area abutting the Chinatown and Theater districts that was zoned in 1974 as an adult entertainment sector. The move was made by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (now the Boston Planning & Development Agency) in an effort to keep strip clubs, peep shows, naughty video/bookstores, and the like contained to one area. Part of the idea was to protect the Brahmins in their Beacon Hill and Back Bay brownstones from potential encroachment of such businesses in their neighborhoods. Although the Combat Zone had its inherent dangers, it was a popular spot for dates and friends’ nights out. People called it slumming back then, and considered themselves quite adventurous for spending a night out in the Zone.

Only Centerfolds and The Glass Slipper (both on Lagrange St., if you must know) carry on the tradition, and identify as “gentlemen’s clubs.” Fun fact: Brogan says the area is still zoned for such vice businesses. But if you’ve visited the once-dicey area that’s been re-branded “Midtown” by real estate developers, you’ve seen the gleaming high-rise condo buildings that have gone up in recent years. Most of the combat going on in the former Zone is currently over the asking prices for luxury units.

It was in this neighborhood on November 15, 1976, where Andy Puopolo was stabbed after a night out with a group of his Harvard football teammates. Puopolo died 31 days after the attack. Three Black men were charged with first-degree murder of Puopolo, who was white. Only one of the defendants stood accused of actually stabbing Puopolo.

The case riveted Boston and beyond at a time when racial tensions were high, and violence over busing Boston’s public school students outside their neighborhoods to achieve integration was at its peak. It took two trials to come to a verdict in the Puopolo case. The 1976 murder and those two trials forever changed the way juries are chosen in Massachusetts and the nation, and ended the once-common practice of excluding jurors based on the color of their skin.

Brogan, a journalist for over 30 years, has worked as a correspondent for the Boston Globe, and as a staff writer for the Worcester Telegram, and for the Providence Journal, where she won the Gerald Loeb award for distinguished business writing. You can buy her book here.

The event was sponsored by the Friends of the Wellesley Free Libraries.

Other author visits in Wellesley

Wellesley Books on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at 10am will host children’s book author Deborah Farmer Kris, who will read two books in her “All the Time” series, I Love You All the Time and You Have Feelings All the Time. Deborah will also bring some arts and crafts. This is a free event, but Wellesley Books asks that you RSVP.

Haley Neil, author of Once More With Chutzpah, will be at Wellesley Books on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 7pm to discuss her new YA romcom, Planning Perfect, a charming, heartfelt YA romcom about being on the asexual spectrum. When a girl tries to craft the perfect wedding for her mother, she discovers that sometimes the best parts of life can’t be planned.

The event, which is ticketed, will include a pizza party.

Get tickets or RSVP for events here.

Best-selling author, philanthropist, acclaimed speaker, and senior-level executive for the likes of Monster.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance, and Workhuman Steve Pemberton will appear on Monday, March 6, 7pm, at Wellesley Middle School. Steve’s story is about defying seemingly insurmountable odds to become a trail-blazing corporate executive, enlightened diversity leader, visionary youth advocate, and acclaimed speaker. His best-selling memoir, A Chance in the World, recounts his triumphant life journey and drive to become a man of resilience, determination and vision. In 2017 the major motion picture, A Chance in the World further amplified Steve’s highly motivational messages: Believe in your dreams, rise above obstacles, create opportunities for others, and most of all, persevere.

Register here. Sponsored by Wellesley Education Foundation.

On March 16, 7pm at Wellesley Books, Julie Gerstenblatt will present her debut historical novel, Daughters of Nantucket, a gripping saga of the days leading up to Nantucket’s historic fire of 1846 and its dramatic aftermath. Julie will be in conversation with Jenna Blum, author of Woodrow on the Bench and The Lost Family. Get tickets here.

Author visit beyond Wellesley

SPONSORED CONTENT: New York Times Bestselling author Bonnie Garmus will stop by Hummingbird Books at The Street in Chestnut Hill on Monday, Feb. 27, at 1:30pm and 6:30pm to promote her debut novel, Lessons in Chemistry. (Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.) This is a ticketed event.

Swellesley’s favorite books-related Instagram

If you’re looking for fiction and non-fiction reads with compelling storylines by a diverse group of authors, follow cookingthebook on Instagram. As if having a curated selection of must-reads laid out for you isn’t enough, the Instagrammer couples each book with food or drink inspired by the story.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Janet (@cookingthebook)

Some examples:

Things We Lost to the Water, by Eric Nguyen
When Huong arrives in New Orleans with her two young sons, she is jobless, homeless, and worried about her husband, Cong, who remains in Vietnam. As she and her boys begin to settle in to life in America, she continues to send letters and tapes back to Cong, hopeful that they will be reunited and her children will grow up with a father.

Published by Vintage, Apr 26, 2022, 304 pages

Party of Two, by Jasmine Guillory
A chance meeting with a handsome stranger turns into a whirlwind affair that gets everyone talking.

Published by Berkley, June 23, 2020, 352 pages

Black Cloud Rising, David Wright Faladé

A dramatic, moving account of soldiers who only weeks earlier had been enslaved, but were now Union infantrymen setting out to fight their former owners. At the heart of the narrative is Sergeant Richard Etheridge, the son of a slave and her master, raised with some privileges but constantly reminded of his place. Deeply conflicted about his past, Richard is eager to show himself to be a credit to his race. As the African Brigade conducts raids through the areas occupied by the Confederate Partisan Rangers, he and his comrades recognize that they are fighting for more than territory. Wild’s mission is to prove that his troops can be trusted as soldiers in combat. And because many of the men have fled from the very plantations in their path, each raid is also an opportunity to free loved ones left behind. For Richard, this means the possibility of reuniting with Fanny, the woman he hopes to marry one day.

Published by Harper Collins, Feb. 15, 2022, 304 pages

Filed Under: Books, Business, Embracing diversity, Entertainment

Wellesley business buzz: Loyal Companion closing; Chamber campaign aims to help restaurants, communities

February 6, 2023 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:

Loyal Companion closing

Loyal Companion, the pet shop-plus that opened at 276 Washington St. in Wellesley in late 2019, is closing its Wellesley store this month—along with all its other stores.

Everything must go, according to the window signs.

Loyal Companino doesn’t make its news clear from its social media or main website. But in a statement, parent company Independent Pet Partners says it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and will seek to use any resources to rally around its Chuck & Don’s and Kriser’s brands.

Loyal Companion
Loyal Companion at 276 Washington St. (the store is not lopsided, that was us)

Charles River Chamber launches Love Local Campaign to boost restaurants & community

 The Charles River Regional Chamber has launched a campaign this month designed to support the restaurant community in Newton, Needham, Watertown and Wellesley, while also helping those in need.

The Love Local: Supporting Our Restaurants & Our Community campaign is designed to encourage dining locally at a time when restaurants continue to struggle in a challenging economy. In addition, about 30 area chamber member restaurants—including Fiorella’s and The Local in Wellesley—are organizing a clothing drive to give back while visiting their favorite restaurants. All collections will benefit Circle of Hope, a nonprofit that provides homeless children, women and men in Boston, Cambridge and Metrowest with clothing and necessities via 25 local shelters and health clinics.


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Filed Under: Business, Restaurants

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