Posts from — January 2012

Big Picture Framing 81 Union Street, Newton Centre and 60 Needham Street, Newton Highlands (plus other locations)

Barry Stahl & Bob Clayton opened Big Picture Framing, Boston’s premier chain of custom framing stores, in 2000.  (Barry was raised in Newton, but now lives in Metrowest.)
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Lash L’Amour 55 Langley Rd Newton Centre

Cynthia Tsang, of Boston, opened Lash L’amour in 2010.  Lash L’Amour is an upscale eyelash & eyebrow extension boutique providing an array of beauty services including manicures and pedicures and wedding make-up.  They employ the latest techniques used on Hollywood’s celebrities and highest quality semi-permanent eyelashes and medical grade adhesives in their process.

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Folks in Newton have been concerned about the proliferation of banks in our village centers for some time now.  Alderman Vicki Danberg, for one, has been leading an effort to change zoning to make it harder for banks to take space in our villages.  The city’s Economic Development Commission is considering a moratorium on banks in the first floor of village center buildings.

Why the resistance to more banks?

A fellow village lover in Beacon Hill tells the story very clearly in a recent blog post. Here’s an excerpt:

They’re out to destroy retail districts. The banks don’t see this as their aim, but this is the result if they infest our neighborhoods with their blank windows…. But these new banks may not want customers…. Real estate broker Ivy A. Turner, however, set the audience straight on why banks want to come. She said they don’t care so much about market share. They want a retail branch that acts as a billboard for their national expansion goals.

Go here to read the full article.

When I drove my yesterday and saw kraft paper covering the windows, I worried we might have lost another Newtonville gathering place. Heard with relief the coffeehouse news: Taste will reopen as George Howell Coffee next month.

My thanks to the journalists at Village 14, a great new local news resource started by former Newton Tab publisher Greg Reibman. Add them to your Facebook, Twitter, and/or RSS feed.

After 30+ years, John Dewar has closed its Newton Centre location and consolidated its operations at its newer Linden Square store in Wellesley. The local store closed January 9.

India Paradise on Union Street has closed — meaning there’s not one Indian restaurant in the 18 square miles of the Garden City. Residents will have to go to Needham, Waltham, Watertown, or Brookline for a vindaloo fix.

Brussels Sprouts is moving from its Newtonville location to the space vacated last year by Big Sky Bakery & Cafe at 105 Union Street. The store’s planned opening is Saturday, January 14.

Cupcakes on Centre has opened in the space vacated by the Mad Batter.

Duchess 77 Union Street, Newton Centre

Owner Rachel Sciaba of Brighton has owned and operated Duchess since 2009.   Duchess features women’s contemporary apparel.

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