Business & Tech

Biz Buzz From Around the North Shore

Here's what's happening around the North Shore area with businesses large and small.

Have you noticed a new store while driving around the North Shore recently? Patch loves small business and we try to cover every new opening. Here is a look at some recent business openings and happenings on the North Shore.

Have you noticed a new shop and have been wondering what it is? Leave us a note in the comment section and we will check it out.

SALEM

5 Salem Spots Serving Pumpkin Beer

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Just like a pumpkin-flavored latte or a fresh pumpkin muffin, enjoying your first pumpkin-flavored beer is fast becoming one of the sure signs that fall has arrived in New England.

Downtown Salem is once-again swarmed with tourists, many of whom have pumpkin brews on the brain.

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Henry Derby Bed and Breakfast Serves Stories Too

Red and yellow mums in four window boxes at the Henry Derby House Bed and Breakfast welcome visitors.

But to really feel at home in the circa 1840 house on the Summer Street corner is to sit in its dining room. 

Blue and white China await breakfast in a vintage cabinet. A marble fireplace that blazes in winter rests on the opposite side of the room.

Licensing Board Has Handle On Bangkok Paradise Issue

Anyone that reads message boards or newspaper comment threads is familiar with the "hang 'em high" mentality that comes with the territory.

No matter the subject matter, hard-liners will insist that any and all infractions must be met with quick and severe discipline. Any other approach is seen as lily-livered or weak-kneed. Take the malefactor out back and tan his hide with a leather strap.

The actions the Salem Licensing Board took against Bangkok Paradise last night will not come close to appeasing some of those homebound "knights of the keyboard" (thank you Ted Williams). That is because we do not govern by the QWERTY method.

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PEABODY

DSW Opens for Business at the Mall

If you're in the market for designer shoeware, you're in luck, DSW (Designer Shoes Warehouse) opens its Peabody location at the Northshore Mall today (Oct. 25).

The store is located in the lower level of the mall by the Food Court.

City Liquor Board Denies New License for Martino's

Peabody liquor licensing authorities sent Frank Martino away empty-handed last month, questioning his sincerity to operate a package store in the city.

The main reason for the Licensing Board's reticence to grant Martino a license was because he just sold his full liquor license for a tidy profit less than a year after receiving it from the city (at a fraction of the cost), and was now asking for a new license to replace that one.

Container Store 'Super Fan' Gets VIP Treatment on Opening Day

Opening day has finally arrived for The Container Store, and no one is probably more excited than one local fan who will receive the VIP treatment.

A company spokesperson said "North Shore Super Fan" Leslie Aznoian of North Andover was identified in a Facebook contest and on Saturday will get the first place in line, a special Super Fan shopping cart, a package of organization necessities and an actual receiving line by 60 store employees.

What Would You Like to See on Foster Street?

The focal point of attention on Peabody's downtown inevitably centers on Main Street, as a major thoroughfare to and from Salem and points east, as much for its traffic safety issues and vacant storefronts.

Rebirth of the downtown seems synonymous with a vibrant Main Street. But what about one of the other roads to and from the downtown -- Foster Street?

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BEVERLY

Local Artists Kick Off First 'Art Walk' This Week

A number of artistic and cultural assets call downtown Beverly home.

Montserrat College of Art, LPF Studio, Cabot Cinema, Clay Dreaming, Porter Mill, Wallpusher Guitars, Blue Box, Mingo Gallery and Frame Shop, the Atomic Cafe, Sea Change Theater and 17 Cox are a handful, not to mention the hundreds of professional and student artists working in the city, maintaining both public and private studios.

Former Bell Market Gets 'Revitalized'

Have you noticed the windows at Bell Market have a colorful new look?

The “Revitalization Mural” was sponsored by Beverly Main Streets as a way to beautify the windows while the space is vacant. The art showcases the vibrancy that a thriving business will bring to the area.

Beverly Native Mazzaglia Has Passion For Hair (And Lack Of!)

Lifelong Beverly resident Amanda Mazzaglia knows how devastating hair loss can be. 

When she began noticing clumps of her hair falling out at an alarming rate, she said "medical doctors, dermatologists, endocrinologists, all presented various forms of hopelessness that sent me into a depression."

But after six years of research and finding a successful treatment, Mazzaglia is now bringing her expertise to the North Shore, opening Rejuvenate Hair Loss Recovery Laser Therapy Clinic at the Cummings Center in Beverly.

The plan for a six-story hotel at the Cummings Center was suspended last week, and we want to know what you'd like to see in the space. 

The proposed space for the 140-room hotel at the corner of McKay and Elliott Street is currently zoned for commercial/industrial buildings.

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DANVERS

21 Winters Of Warm Traditions for Local Stove Business

Warm Traditions Stove Shoppe has been keeping folks toasty with alternative heat sources for over two decades.

Tucked alongside the Danvers Rail Trail on Pine Street next to the building that houses Pete’s-A-Place, the specialty stove business owned by Bob Raucci is celebrating its 21st winter this year.

Deborah McDermott is a self described fitness nut.

Folks around Danvers may know the McDermott family from town sports like baseball and flag football, where dad and Danvers native Jeff helps coach his boys; or they may recognize wife Debbie, originally from Topsfield, as the Fitness Instructor at the Danvers YMCA has taught for many years, and can be seen warming up small groups during walks as part of her personal trainer vocation. 

The new co-owner of The Gym Downtown in Hamilton, reflected on the path that brought her to the fitness industry.

When Lorraine Roy Women's Appearel leaves Danvers Square at the end of the year, it won’t be going far.

Across town, Bella Sera Bridal has bought Lorraine Roy and part of its inventory and plans to keep the name, merging the two stores that will mean a portion of Bella Sera on Route 114 will be called “Lorraine Roy at Bella Sera.”

People's United Bank Doubles Market Share Since Danversbank Buyout

The Connecticut-based bank that took over Danversbank last year has doubled its share of the greater Boston consumer banking market since the purchase, according to Boston Business Journal.

People’s United Bank announced in January 2011 it was buying out Danversbank. The deal was completed in June 2011.

The hotel known to many as the Ferncroft has a new name – DoubleTree by Hilton Boston North Shore.

The conversion from CoCo Key Hotel Water Resort to DoubleTree by Hilton Boston North Shore was completed last month, according to Sage Hospitality, the hotel operator for the past five years.

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MARBLEHEAD

Selectmen Preparing to Vote on BYOB

Town Administrator Jeff Chelgren asked that theBoard of Selectmen "do their homework" when it came to reviewing recently crafted BYOB regulations in the hopes of bringing the matter to a vote at their meeting Wednesday night.

Board members have been working with Town Counsel Lisa Mead to put together local regulations ever since Marblehead's new Mexican restaurant, Casa Corona, filed a request last month for permission to allow their patrons the option of bringing along their own alcohol beverages.

Warwick Place Facade Taking Shape

As each day passes, the exterior of Warwick Place is looking more and more like this computer rendering of what the finished product is expected to look like.

Over the last two weeks, workers have installed the windows along the Pleasant Street side of the 38,000-square-foot office and retail building and have wrapped up the majority of the brick-work.

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SWAMPSCOTT

Proposed Vaughan Place Condos Shouldn't Make Flooding Worse

The Zoning Board of Appeals continued to Dec. 19, its permitting hearing for the Villas at Vaughan Place, 15 condos for people 55 and older in the Foster Pond area.

First, though, on Wednesday, ZBA members heard from an engineer who reviewed the applicant's drainage study, and from residents who live near the site and attested to the hardship they have endured due to frequent flooding.


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