Business

Hair Salon Owner Feeling at Home in Watertown

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Three years ago Meghan Moran decided to open her own business and moved from Newbury Street to Watertown, where she transformed a motorcycle store into a hair salon. Moran opened Alainn, 1 Louise St., and she said her business has been going strong since. She named it for the Gallic word for beautiful, in honor of her Irish heritage. “My goal is for everyone to leave here feeling beautiful,” Moran said. She cuts and colors hair, and also does some bridal services.

Business

Watertown Nutrition Outlet Offers Supplements at Affordable Prices

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For just over a year, the AMP Nutrition Outlet has been selling health and sports supplements on Arsenal Street. 

The store opened in the space where another supplement section of the UFood Grill that closed. The store offers sports drinks, energy bars, protein and vitamin powders and more, said Store Manager and Watertown resident Connor Grimes. “We are a lot cheaper (than the nutrition chains) and much more knowledgable,” Grimes said. “We order everything in the store and I don’t sell things that I wouldn’t use.” The store is just down the street from a few gyms and one of Watertown’s biggest employers.

Business

New ‘Vape’ Store Opens in Watertown

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Users of e-cigarettes now have a local spot to get the equipment and supplies. 

New England Vaping Company opened at 100 Main St. in Watertown in mid-April. The small storefront has a about 60 flavors from three suppliers to use with e-cigarettes, said Heleen Venter, who co-owns the store with her husband Jamie Richard. “Some people come in with very particular tastes and others come in and try them all,” Venter said. While e-liquids are easy to find on the internet, Venter said that people get more information coming into the store.

Around Town

See How to Get Free Comic Books in Watertown

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Comic book fans, or those interested in taking a look, head down to your local comic book store Saturday to get some free books. The Comic Stop, 134 Main Street in Watertown, will host Free Comic Book Day on May 3 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and there will be a special guest, according to store owner David Philbrick. “There will be an appearance by Spiderman from 10 to 2,” Philbrick said. Watertown artist and Popeye historian Fred Grandinetti will also be at the event drawing sketches for children. Philbrick hopes to set up a tent in back of the store for more activities if the weather is good.

Business

See Which Watertown Business Will Be Closing

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The Staples in Watertown Square will be closing, an official from the company has confirmed. The store, located at 11 Mt. Auburn St., will close next month, according to Staple’s Kaitlyn Reardon. “I can confirm the Watertown location is closing in May,” Reardon said. The company is looking at the retail location and the shift toward online sales, Reardon said in an email.

Business

Watertown Company Helps Keep the Lights On

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The electricity keeps running smoothly through your power lines, and more than 90 percent of power lines in the United States, thanks to the help of Watertown’s Doble Engineering. The Boston Globe featured the company, located on Walnut Street, in Thursday’s edition. The company was founded nearly a century ago and now provides technology, analysis and expertise to power providers, including NStar and National Grid, according to the Globe article. The report also includes details about the company’s history and some of it’s major inventions. Click here to read the Globe article.

Around Town

Town Council Turns Down Request from Watertown Small Business Group

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A group representing local, independent groups spoke to the Town Council on Tuesday and asked them to consider adopting measures to support local businesses, but their request was denied. Members of Watertown-Belmont Local First include locally-owned businesses and while the group is modeled on other similar groups, spokeswoman Rena Baskin said the group is independent. Members must be located in town, owned locally (headquartered in Massachusetts), must not be publicly traded and must be independent – not franchised, Baskin said. Supporting locally-owned businesses can have benefits, Baskin said. “They are the largest employer and provide the most employment to town residents,” Baskin said.

Around Town

Council Opens Way for Multi-Story Hotel in Watertown’s East End

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The Town Council opened the way for a multi-story hotel to be built in town, but only in a small area on the east side of town on Arsenal Street by unanimously voting to change a town zoning ordinance. The change of the zoning ordinance allows a hotel of up to 79 feet and seven stories tall, and it will be limited to the Industrial 1 (I-1) Zone. The Council also considered extending the changes in the zoning to I-2 and I-3 zones. One such hotel  has been proposed at the former Charles River Saab site which is in the I-1 zone. Other changes to the zoning include a reduction of parking requirements to .75 cars per room and one for each employee at peak times, and allowing employees to park one behind another blocking them in.