The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

Wellesley Business Buzz: Pampered Puppies opens in Linden Square; grocery shopping day to benefit WHS Class of 2019; estate sale near Elm Bank

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Our round-up of the latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:

Pampered Puppies, WellesleyYour dog has spa needs, too

Pampered Puppies is just about ready to open at 159 Linden St. (in the space formerly occupied by Miss Michelle’s Center for the Performing Arts). The business will offer dog grooming and bathing, training and daycare. You can stop in to their Open House on Saturday, April 13, 8am – 6pm.

Here’s a look at Wellesley’s most popular dog names and breeds for 2019, in case you’re wondering what kind of canine company your pooch will be keeping.

Wellesley Roche Bros, fall, Linden SquareDo your big weekly shop April 22, help WHS Class of 2019

The annual Roche Bros. shopping day to benefit the WHS Senior Class All Night Party (ANP), the safe party for students following the graduation ceremony, will be on Monday, April 22, from 10am to 2pm. Roche Brothers in Linden Square will donate 5% of the value of the collected register receipts, as well as gift cards purchased, during the WHS Shopping hours. Look for the ANP volunteers in their caps and gowns at the end of the registers collecting receipts at the front of the store. Please mark your calendars and remember to do your big shop that day!

Beyond Wellesley…estate sale on River St. in Natick

Don’t miss the estate sale just beyond Elm Bank Reservation, in an historic house at 8 River St, Natick, Saturday, April 13, 10am – 4pm. An art school graduate with an eye for color, quality, and originality is downsizing and her one-of-a-kind furnishings and accessories must go. (Sponsored content.)

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Wellesley UU rummage sale — this group knows how to Spring clean

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Wellesley Unitarian's Rummage SaleDo you love rummage sales? Are you looking for bargains? Do you love to find unexpected treasures?

WHAT: Rummage Sale at UU Wellesley Hills
WHERE: 309 Washington St, Wellesley, MA (near the intersection of Rt 9 & Rt 16)
WHEN: March 30, 2019 from 8:30am to 1:00pm.

For the Unitarian Universalists of Wellesley Hills, spring cleaning season is tied to a favorite event: the annual Rummage Sale. Shoppers are known to return every year, sometimes from as far away as Maine, knowing that they’ll find quality items at low prices. Departments include clothing (for children and adults, with a boutique for jewelry and better fashions), books, home furnishings, electronics, linens, china, sports, and toys. The Treasures room includes art, collectibles, fine china, and the unexpected.

The Rummage Sale is a fundraiser that serves many social justice initiatives at UU Wellesley.  In a town that appreciates environmentalism, this is a truly “green” event: reusable items find new homes, and the proceeds are used to support the congregation’s programming and outreach.  The social justice programs that benefit from the rummage sale include cooking for Bristol Lodge, hosting homeless families through Family Promise, the UU Wellesley Hills Green Sanctuary Team, our UU Partners, and the LGBTQ Interest Group (which was the founder of OUT Metrowest).

Stop by on March 30, and invite your friends, too.  And also consider donating items to the rummage sale!  It’s a great way to downsize, declutter, and give back.  Click HERE to make donation arrangements.

Items featured include:

  • Clothing (men’s, women’s, and children’s)
  • Books
  • Housewares, furniture and electronics
  • Kitchenware and china
  • Notions
  • Sporting goods
  • Toys and games
  • Treasures
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It’s curtains up soon for Tyler & Sash in Wellesley at former convenience store location

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The former Red Apple location has looked a little seedy ever since the convenience store peeled out in June 2018, leaving gum-seeking Hunnewell students adrift on early-release Wednesdays. The storefront likely won’t recognize itself once it gets a makeover from Tyler & Sash, slated to open in February at 540 Washington St. Look for the full-service interior design gallery to rip down the brown paper that currently passes for a window treatment at the Cameron and Washington Street corner location and seriously refresh it with something swanky.

Store hours will be

Tuesday – Friday: 9:00am – 5:00pm

Saturday: 10:00am – 3:00pm

Tyler & Sash, Wellesley
Interior design company Tyler & Sash is looking to open in February at the former Red Apple location.

 

 

 

The company also has a location in Winchester where it offers custom shutters, shades, and drapes as well as wallpaper and upholstery “solutions”.

A couple doors down in the former Yogurtology space, Rice Burg is getting closer to opening. The Board of Selectmen on December 17 approved the healthy rice burgers and bowls business for its first foray from food trucks to bricks-and-mortar. Owner Jessica Shen in a move designed to take advantage of practically new equipment left behind by Yogurtology and capitalize on past consumer behaviors, will also offer fro-yo at the 552 Washington Street location, next to Old School Pizzeria. The Rice Burg food trucks will continue to roam the streets of Cambridge and Boston.

MORE:

Where to eat in Wellesley

Remember these former Wellesley restaurants?

Beyond Wellesley: Versus arcade bar/restaurant

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Save the dates for half-price sale at Shoppers Corner in Wellesley

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Shoppers Corner, WellesleyThe Schofield Elementary School’s Shoppers Corner half-price sale is coming up. Racks are full of many new donations – winter outfits and outdoor gear. Don’t miss this popular sale. Come early to find great half-price bargains from the entire stock of this season’s winter merchandise.

Shoppers Corner is entirely parent-volunteer run, and sells new and gently used clothing and accessories from infant through adult, with many popular labels.  All proceeds benefit the Schofield PTO.  Located in the lower level of the school, entry to the rear of the playground.

SALE HOURS:

Wednesday, 1/30/19, 8:30am – 12:15pm
Saturday, 2/2/19, 9am – 11am
Wednesday, 2/6/19 for the Bag Sale

Like Shoppers Corner on Facebook to keep up-to-date on all the Shopper’s Corner news.

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Wellesley Business Buzz

Wellesley Shopping scene

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Wellesley businesses that came & went in 2018

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Wellesley saw its share of businesses coming and going in 2018, but the biggest change took place at the Belclare complex on Washington Street on the edge of Wellesley Square, where it was almost all about businesses coming.

The luxury condos at the Belclare filled up in a hurry back at the end of 2015, but the retail spaces remained mostly vacant, despite a few close calls.

Sure, Thirst Juice, located on the Grove Street side of the Belclare complex, did have its last kale in January. Later in the year, however, salon Atelier opened on that same block, and the real action took place on the Washington Street side. There, the Agnes Vision optical shop, Barber Walter’s, Laer Realty Partners, La Mia Moda boutique, CouCou kids’ clothing/fashions/housewares, Legit Activewear all opened for business. Pucker Gallery also made a cameo appearance.

belclare wellesley
The Belclare retail strip during a recent block party

 

On the food front, the big news was Bertucci’s closing suddenly in May, part of a corporate meltdown. While the space behind Playhouse Square remains vacant, White’s Bakery is expected to open soon in the former bank space at that corner of Wellesley Hills. The other big restaurant news was steakhouse Smith & Wollensky opening its first suburban location in Wellesley, in the former Blue Ginger space. Big shoes to fill, big wallets to empty.

Smith & Wollensky, Wellesley
Smith & Wollensky al fresco

 

Sweetgreen has been doing a steady business in Linden Square since it opened in early 2018, and nearby, The Cottage refurbished itself.  The Cottage owners are also prepping for Door No. 7, a fancier restaurant across the street, to open soon. Mark’s Pizza & Subs closed and that building was razed to pave the way for a refurbished Papa Razzi.

Mark’s is busy readying for its new location nearby at 10B Washington St.

marks
Mark’s Pizza & Subs gear ready to get back in action in Lower Falls

 

Fiorella’s, a fast casual Italian eatery, is aiming for a February opening at the former SuSu’s spot across from the Belclare.

Orangetheory might sound like food, but the fitness joint that opened in Wellesley Square is actually a solution to burn calories. New businesses like this are sure to keep Swellesleyites beautiful. And while id. Salon closed its doors in Wellesley Hills, Le Vernis Nail Studio opened in the old 2nd Time Around space in Wellesley Square.

On the fashion front, Fat Face opened in Church Square and Crane & Lion moved into the former Talbots spot in Wellesley Square.

Zoots earned recognition as the most classless closing of the year in Wellesley (2 locations) and beyond, leaving people in a lurch to start 2018, forcing some to drive to the back of beyond to pick up their belongings. Neither Zoots space in Wellesley has been filled yet.

Wellesley zoots
Zoots clothes-ed

 

Alfredo’s Hair Design, near the Lower Fall Zoots, also closed its doors after 30 years (and the word is that Mark’s Pizza & Subs could resurface there).

Alfredo's, Mark's Pizza

Some Wellesley businesses changed locations. Among them: Lyn Evans and Clementine (in the former Xylem space), both in Church Square. FLX Training, formerly near Clementine in that strip between Rte. 9 and Rte. 16, slid down to Linden Square. Page Waterman moved its framing and gallery business to an expanded space on Washington Street. Home Decor Group replaced C & T Paint on Linden Street.

Speaking of decor, Patti Bros., has left Wellesley Square to retrench at its Sudbury base. Miele shut down its Wellesley Square shop.

Other new faces in Linden Square include Verizon, Code Ninjas and Kenzie & Hope. The latter is a fresh twist on Kenzie Kids, which new owner Shani DeFina says re-opened in August after renovations, and is refocused on clothing, gifts and accessories for teens and young women. DeFina says she’ll aim to bring in brands that give back to the community.

kenzie & hope
Kenzie & Hope, Linden Square

 

One summer shocker involved Miss Michelle’s Center for the Performing Arts clearing out of Linden Square after 10 years following an unsuccessful lease renewal. A dog grooming business called Pampered Puppies is moving in. Linden Square also bid adieu to French Lessons, a tenant for 12 years.

miss michelle's wellesley 1

And finally, let’s not forget that Red Apple Convenience store peeled out as mysteriously as it operated.

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