Farewell to Charms

After today, an iconic downtown business, Concord Hand Designs, will close its doors after 28 years – 26 of them in the Center.

  Come tomorrow, they’ll be gone. But not forgotten. And not really gone, either, if we’re being honest. The fact is, Toni Sawyer and Marie Foley, who most everybody knows as the sisters who filled Concord Hand Designs with products eclectic as their personalities, will close the shop tomorrow, May 15, after 28 years. The past 26 of those have been spent establishing an anchor business in Concord Center and nurturing the kind of deep roots from which a vibrant independent business community could grow and thrive. In that time, Sawyer and Foley have been frequent, colorful participants in fundraisers, holiday shopping nights, town events and informal conversations with customers who’ve become friends. “It’s always kind of been store first, …

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In the Kitchen with ...

The Sweet Science of Grapefruit Sauvignon Sorbet

We're ‘In the Kitchen’ with Reasons to be Cheerful, the popular West Concord ice cream shop.

Every so often, Patch will venture ‘In the Kitchen’ to bring you the story behind popular, outrageous and original dishes, snacks and drinks from our local restaurants, sweet spots and coffee shops. This week, we dropped by Reasons to be Cheerful, the popular ice cream shop in West Concord. R2BC, as it's known to locals, has made more than 150 differet flavors of ice creams and sorbets, and at any time has between 30 and 40 flavors in rotation. That combines the standards -- vanillas, chocolates and strawberries -- with seasonal selections like berry-based sorbet and egg nog ice cream around Christmas. Earlier this week, Reasons to be Cheerful let Patch in their kitchen while they whipped up a batch of Grapefruit Sauvignon Sorbet. WARNING…

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Fairbanks Joins MilldamPR as Executive VP

Firm also announces name change from Milldam Public Affairs to Milldam Public Relations, or MilldamPR.

The following was provided on behalf of MilldamPR. MilldamPR also announced today that Adam Fairbanks has joined the firm as Executive Vice President, managing business development and client relations.  In his role, Mr. Fairbanks will assist clients with nuanced messaging of technical products and services to media, end-users and product stakeholders, and will work with MilldamPR’s Director of Content on white papers and case studies. Fairbanks will also oversee MilldamPR’s continued expansion in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Prior to joining MilldamPR, Fairbanks was Vice President of Engineering and Business Development at Bluestone Energy Services, a leader in energy conservation engineering and project development services. While at …

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Do You Agree With Yelp's Top 10 Concord Restaurants?

Check out the top 10 rated restaurants in based on Yelp! reviews. Did your neighbors get it right?

  Websites like Yelp! have empowered the everyday eater to become amatuer food critics, praising and damning local restaurants behind the anonymity of a computer screen. So what do your neighbors have to say on Yelp? Based on Yelp!'s highest-rated star rankings as of Tuesday afternoon, here are the top 10 restaurants in Concord. Do you agree or disagree with the Yelp! top 10 list for Concord? Was your favorite restaurant left out? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Local Woman Launches Business Betting on Bathing Suit Solution (Video)

Coastal Dog Apparel: Chafing your troubles away, and donating the proceeds to charity.

Stephanie Magee, like millions of mothers before her, was stumped. Her son was uncomfortable in his swimsuit, at age 8, and was old enough to let her know it. "Every year, every vacation, every summer it would come up," said Magee. "It didn't matter if it was the beach or the pool, he was chafing and it was a problem for all of us." And like millions of mothers, Magee tried every quick fix she could dream up: Various styles of suits, snipping out the lining, underwear under the bathing suit; you name it, she tried it. And then she tried something else -- designing a suit of her own. The resulting design -- a suit with a longer interior liner made of a soft nylon blend that fits almost like athletic compression shorts -- has become the …

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Sierra's in Sudbury is Closed; Reports Say Serafina in Concord Also Shuttered

Sierra's Mexican restaurant in Sudbury is shuttered; reports are that Serafina in Concord is also closed.

UPDATE 6:21 p.m. Following up on a tip from a reader, Patch has confirmed that Sierra's, the popular Mexican restaurant in Sudbury, is closed. The shutters were closed and the front door papered over when a Patch reporter stopped by Friday evening. Owner and Acton resident Sam Cannarozzi, who also is said to have closed Serafina Ristorante in Concord, did not return a call seeking comment. Both the Sudbury Police Department and the Sudbury Board of Selectmen were unaware of the closing of Sierra's. “Sam is a nice guy,” said Mary McCormack of the Sudbury Selectmen’s office. “It’s sad.” According to business-bankruptcies.com, Sierra's filed a Chapter 7 Voluntary Petition on April 4. A meeting of creditors is scheduled on May 14 at Worcester …

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Checkout Time: West Concord Supermarket to Close

The longtime Junction staple--opening for the final time this Saturday, April 6--will shutter after just shy of a century in business.

  After nearly a century, it’s checkout time for Mandrioli family, as brothers Peter and Paul plan to close their West Concord supermarket this weekend. A feisty, "shop local" spirit has taken root in Concord over the past several years, giving rise to a new generation of independent merchants. But even that was not enough of a lifeline for one of the town’s great stalwarts, the beloved West Concord Supermarket, closing April 6 after more than 93 years in business. “It’s been wonderful,” said Paul Mandrioli, whose father and grandfather ran the business before he and his brother took it over. “We wouldn’t have been here all this time if it wasn’t for our customers. The customers have been just amazing, and they’re our friends.” The Past, …

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Concord’s Verrill Farm to Introduce CSA

Of course, doing it their own way.

  After years as a conscientious objector, Verrill Farm is introducing a CSA option that adapts the popular community-supported agriculture model in ways Steve Verrill says should work for both the farm and the customer. “There seem to be quite a few people who are interested in a CSA,” said Verrill. “If somebody really wants one, they would buy it someplace else and we don’t really see them for the summer.” That should change this year, as Verrill Farm unveils its “Farmer’s Market CSA.” Where the “Farmer’s Market” aspect comes from is that the Verrill Farm CSA won’t force seasonal vegetables upon customers, but will put all the week’s offerings out in bins and let customers fill their basket with whatever they wish. Verrill said this …

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Local Business Celebrating Fifth Anniversary

Happy Birthday to Blue.

  On April 5, a one-of-a-kind Concord Center shop will celebrate a benchmark birthday. Blue Dry Goods, the lone mens clothing store among the downtown retailers, is coming up on its fifth anniversary and plans to mark the occasion with a celebratory event and sale this Friday. The times were uncertain when Jeff Blue brought his style to Walden Street, but the shop seems to have made it through the economic downturn looking now worse for the wear. And says the reason he opened is the reason he survived. “I think it’s just responding to the customers and trying to fill a need,” said Blue, a Carlisle resident. A former marking executive for big-brand footwear and apparel companies, Blue and his wife Marty decided to open Blue Dry Goods in …

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Cash Mob To Descend On West Concord 5 & 10

Taking shopping local to a whole ‘nother level.

Perhaps the most vintage of all the shops in West Concord Village will be the site of a decidedly modern mob scene this weekend as a “cash mob” is preparing to descend on the West Concord 5 & 10 this Saturday, March 2. According to the event description, a cash mob is a grassroots, community-led movement to support a local business. For this mob, members of the community, all of them with $20 in hand, will come together to shop at the West Concord 5&10. The upcoming cash mob was organized by West Concord resident Polly Stadt and her daughter, Emma Hill, as a way to show their appreciation for the iconic local five-and-dime store. “It is a staple to our community and we want it to be there another 80 years,” Stadt wrote in an email to …

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