Jun

29

These are the People in Your Neighborhood: The Sign Post

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Interview with Chris Mosher, owner of The Sign Post

Please describe your business.
The Sign Post is a customer-savvy advertisement facility that strives to come up with solutions for the everyday client.

How long have you been in business in Roslindale?
While The Sign Post has been here for over ten years, I, Chris Mosher, have been here for over one year.

What made you open your business here?
I have been searching for a location near Boston and found this area.

What is your favorite thing about owning a business in Roslindale
Roslindale Village is a great location for small businesses! The diversity of the traffic that flows into and out of this area is an everyday occurrence.  I enjoy that feeling that encompasses this environment.

Of the products and services you offer, what will customers be surprised to see in your store?
Most of the customers love the new and exciting products that are here. The MESH banners in the windows are a prime example of solving two problems with one custom product.  

How is your business involved in the community?
I try to get involved by participating in the various projects that Roslindale Village Main Street has provided.  There are Board of Trade meetings that I also attend.

What is your best selling product or service?
Our best product is Advertising!
Hours:  Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Jun

28

Eat your way through Roslindale

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On a busy Mother’s Day afternoon, whispers swept across town: Basketball star Lebron James was right here in Roslindale Village taking in a late brunch in our own Blue Star Diner with his family.

While word of the basketball star’s presence here could not be officially confirmed, given Roslindale’s rising reputation as a breakfast spot – and the fact that the hated Boston Celtics’ foe was in town – it could easily be believed.

Over the last several years, Roslindale Village has grown beyond its reputation as a place to eat a quick bite or delicious dinner. It has now developed a region-wide reputation as an outstanding place to eat the day’s first meal – giving the Village a life of more than 18 hours per day. Whether it’s a sumptuous European-style brunch or a quick bite, our neighborhood is rapidly becoming Boston’s best breakfast buy.

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Jun

24

These Are the People in Your Neighborhood: Tony’s Market

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Tony DeBenedictis has operated Tony’s Market on Washington Street for 42 years. This year, Roslindale Village Main Street honors Tony’s Market as Business of the Year. We caught up with the village butcher and opera buff on a weekday afternoon. (A recording of Luciano Pavarotti performing the role of Canio in Il Pagliacci was playing in the background.)

Who is your typical customer, and what’s your best selling item?
About 70 percent of my business is to individual customers The other 30 percent is to restaurants. Sausage would be it. Everybody says it is the best they’ve ever tasted.

What brings people into a specialty butcher shop like Tony’s Market versus, say, a grocery store that sells everything under one roof?
It’s me! It’s the opera, Pavarotti! (Laughs) First of all, top quality products. And you treat people with respect. That’s all it is. You can carry the best food, but if you don’t treat the people with respect, they don’t care enough to come back. If you get a good reputation for being nice to people, you get a good business. They visit you, because you treat them right.

What are people surprised to find in your store when they come in?
They like the way it’s set up. It’s more like an old fashioned type of store. This kind of store is dying. You hardly find this kind of store anymore. They look around and say, “Wow! Beautiful store. I never knew this was here.”

What made you come to Roslindale?
I started in East Dedham 48 years ago in November. Then urban renewal came in and bought us out. I went back to Italy for a while. Then I came back here. Somebody told me this store was for sale. The owner came from the same part of Italy as me [province of Avellino]. He was 65 years old, had just retired. He sold me the store. It cost quite a bit to remodel. Then, he worked with me for 15 years, until he died, 80 years old.

What are you doing to introduce Tony’s Market to new customers?
My stepson sells sandwiches and things at the Farmers’ Market. Before the Farmers’ Market, on a Saturday during the summer, after 12 o’clock, business would die. Now, with the Farmers’ Market, I’m busy all day Saturday.

What do you like best about being in Roslindale Village?
The people. I’m a people person. I come from a family of nine. I’ve been in business 48 years. What keeps me going? I’m a good ballroom dancer. I love what I do. If you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work. And when nobody comes in, I listen to opera.

What’s the greatest opera performance you’ve ever heard?
It has been quite a few. I was in Arena di Verona and saw Aida two years ago. I saw Turandot at the Met. But years ago, the Metropolitan Opera in New York used to come to Boston at the end of the season. They used to perform seven operas. I saw some of the greatest opera singers of the time. One of the best I saw was La bohème, with Renato Tebaldi and Carlo Begonzi. I saw Androgene with Franco Correlli and Mario Sereni. Then I saw Tosca with Corelli. And Otello with Tito Gobi – some of the greatest opera singers that ever lived! The best ever recorded is Ernani [by Giuseppe Verdi, recorded live at the Florence May Festival in 1957]. But my favorite of all time is Manon Lescaut, by Puccini.

Jun

4

Boston’s Oldest Thrift Shop Celebrates 85 Years

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It’s hard to believe that it was the Roaring 20s when the Thrift Shop of Boston first opened its doors in 1926. Boston’s oldest Thrift Shop is celebrating 85 years and a tradition of giving back to the community on June 8, 2011. During extended hours (9:30 a.m. – 7 p.m.), The Thrift Shop will offer a storewide discount of 50 percent off in honor of the anniversary throughout the day followed by afternoon refreshments and a check presentation at 4 p.m.

As a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the children and families served by The Home for Little Wanderers, The Thrift Shop of Boston has provided generous financial support by raising more than $550,000 since the collaboration began — $50,000 in just the past year — for the nation’s oldest child and family service agency. Proceeds from sales at The Thrift Shop have helped The Home to provide annual services to more than 7,000 children and families living in at-risk circumstances throughout Boston and Eastern Massachusetts

Today, The Thrift Shop is operated by one dedicated full-time staff member, five part-time staff, and a wonderful group of volunteers, some of whom have been working there for many years. Located in the heart of Roslindale Square, The Thrift Shop is conveniently located between Belgrade Avenue and Washington Street and is accessible by Commuter Rail and many bus routes. Street parking is also available. The Thrift Shop offers a variety of antique goods including furniture, artwork, books, bric-a-brac, jewelry and designer clothing (Coach, Ann Taylor, Lily Pulitzer) for bargain-hunters and retro-chic style-seekers. For more information and store hours, visit www.thehome.org/thriftshop or call 617-325-5300.


About The Home for Little Wanderers

The Home for Little Wanderers is the nation’s oldest and one of New England’s largest, non-profit child and family service agencies. The mission of The Home for Little Wanderers is to ensure the healthy behavioral, emotional, social and educational development and physical well-being of children and families living in at-risk circumstances. We do this through a series of integrated programs that include early childhood services, special education, therapeutic residential treatment, adoption, intensive foster care, clinical and family support in homes, schools, hospitals and clinics, and college and independent living preparation for youth who have aged out of state care. For more information, visit www.thehome.org.

Submitted by Heather MacFarlene, Home for Little Wanderers