Share Your Small Business Saturday Deals with Patch

Natick Patch is compiling a list of Small Business Saturday deals. Share yours here.

Small Business Saturday is on Nov. 24 this year, two days after Thanksgiving. It is a day for everyone to support the small businesses their community thrives on. This year, Newport Patch is putting together a list of local Small Business Saturday deals. If you are a small business owner, leave your deal in the comments section below, and it will be added to the list. You can also email your deal to justin.saglio@patch.com. American Express founded the day in 2010 to help small businesses get exposure during the holiday season, when they might be otherwise overlooked. With retailers buzzing around the holidays, it is important to support local small businesses that rely on their neighbors in order to continue prospering and building the …

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Scott Brown Meets Small Business Owners

The U.S. senator spoke at a MetroWest Chamber of Commerce event at the Crowne Plaza in Natick on Thursday.

U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-MA, addressed the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce and other members of the community at the Natick Crowne Plaza hotel Thursday morning. Brown shared his appreciation for small business owners, saying that they are a key part of turning the country's economy aroud. "I understand certainly many of the challenges that you all have. Many of you are business owners; you're the leaders of this community, providing jobs for those who want to work and have the pride of working," said Brown. "I thank you because I know many of you have woken up in the middle of the night and said 'my goodness, can I pay that bill? Can I open the doors tomorrow?' And I know that's a real challenge for all of you." Brown said the MetroWest …

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Little Bits Toys Open for Small Business Saturday

The downtown Natick toy store is offering incentives for shoppers on Small Business Saturday.

It's the time of year again when parents flock to the toy stores to find gifts from Santa that will be the envy of all their children's friends. While many will stuff their carts with games, dolls and gadgets from Toys "R" Us, the treasures that will be a sure-fire hit these holidays just may be at the tiny Little Bits Toys in right in downtown Natick. Owner Billie Thelander, who is in her ninth holiday season, said the shop does between 20 and 25 percent of it's business between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The store sells all the most popular toys this season including the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association favorites for 2011. Little Bits keeps an updated blog of deals, favorite toys and also toys to avoid. One of the latest …

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Thrift Shop Gives Treasures and Greyhounds a Second Chance

Second Chances thrift store donates all sales to save abused greyhounds.

Everyone deserves a second chance and at a West Central Street thrift shop, it's not only donated treasures that are given a second go, but the greyhounds the shop helps save as well. Since it opened in Natick's downtown area nearly three years ago, volunteer-run Second Chances has been collecting old jewelry, books, dishes, cookware, clothing and more from locals looking to give their once-treasures a new home. All of the money made from the sales at Second Chances are in turn given to Hopkinton-based Greyhound Friends, a charity dedicated to help save greyhounds, a largely abused breed of dog. "We were always looking for different sorts of ways to connect with people about greyhouds and what's happening to them," said Louise Coleman, who…

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POLL: Where Will You Shop on Small Business Saturday?

The day after Thanksgiving is one of the most popular of the year—Black Friday. But it's the day after, Small Business Saturday, that is really growing local stores' revenue.

As soon as the clock turns midnight on the Friday after Thanksgiving, shoppers will frantically rush to the larger stores holding sales for the holidays, including the Natick Mall when it opens at 6 a.m. But in recent years, there has been a push to take part in Small Business Saturday, the day after Black Friday, to increase sales a local shops. In today's poll question, we're wondering, where will you be shopping for your holiday gifts the weekend after Thanksgiving? Take our poll and let us know in the comments section about any specific small businesses in Natick that you enjoy.

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Wasabi Restaurant Will Now Serve Alcohol

Wasabi received permission from the Board of Selectmen to sell wine and malt beverages.

Since it opened outside the Apple Store in the Natick Mall in August, Wasabi restaurant has served only Japanese food. On Monday, owner Clyde Davis and manager Jeffrey Miller went before the Board of Selectmen for approval for a wine and malt beverage license, but were confronted because alcohol had already been listed on the menu. Selectmen chairman Charlie Hughes said he was recently a customer at Wasabi and was unamused to see alcohol listed, despite the fact that the restaurant had not yet been approved for a license to serve. Davis said that the menus were printed in mass and it was assumed that at one point they would be approved and said that alcohol has never been served on the premises and has never even been purchased for sale. …

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Business Offers Horse and Carriage Trips Back in Time [VIDEO]

Capital Whips Hack & Livery, located in South Natick, offers horse and carriage rides around the area on their wagonettes, one of which is from 1875.

Driving through Natick in your car, you may have at one time or another been surprised to come across a beautiful white horse gracefully stomping down the street, pulling an antique carriage behind it. And if you've ever come across this carriage with oil lanterns on either side, you may have admired it and waved, but never stopped to wonder about the drivers in traditional attire behind the reigns. Last Spring, Mary Murphy and her partner Shawn Beck decided to start Capital Whips Hack & Livery, a carriage company based in South Natick, to give customers in the area authentic carriage tours. They purchased B.B., a 12-year-old white horse and two wagons—one, a modern interpretation of a traditional wagonette, and the other, a restored …

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Irene Affects Local Business

Irene knocked the power out at the Charles River Coffee House in South Natick overnight yesterday.

It was business as usual at the Charles River Coffee House in South Natick this morning and owner Stephen Cote was breathing a sigh of relief. Like much of South Natick, part of which remains without electricity, the shop lost power around 11 a.m. on Sunday. The outage forced Cote to close the doors of his business and send his employees home. Every hour during the early morning, Cote said he drove to his store from his home on Union Street to see if the power had returned. At 4 a.m., he spotted NSTAR trucks working to repair lines damaged by a fallen tree on his road, which is nearby the coffee house. Power was back on by 7 a.m., only a half an hour after the shop was normally scheduled to open. Despite having no electricity for 20 hours…

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Sushi Rolls Roll to Your Table at Wasabi

Wasabi conveyor belt sushi restaurant is now open in the Natick Mall.

If a unique eating experience is what you’d like, check out the new-age sushi restaurant Wasabi at the Natick Mall. Wasabi Modern Japanese Cuisine is a chain restaurant that hails from Washington D.C. The chain has two locations in D.C., one in Virginia, and now one in Natick. Dining is made easy with an attentive staff that takes drink and side orders. However, waiting for main entrees is not something that one has to deal with as the sushi is literally at your fingertips. Served on a conveyor belt, the sushi is freshly prepared before being placed on plates of various colors that represent the different costs of the sushi. You grab what your palate so desires from the belt as it passes by you on the belt. It is easy to track the cost of …

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By the Numbers

By the Numbers: Natick Community Organic Farm

See this week's facts about Natick.

It's all about the numbers. Each week on Natick Patch, we will feature numbers you should know about your town, from costs of construction projects, to town employee salaries to high school sports team statistics. This week, we're featuring Natick Community Organic Farm: 27 acres of farm land 37 years the farm has been in existence 31 years executive director Lynda Simkins has worked on the farm 5 pigs on the farm 2 cows on the farm 500 youths participated in the summer program 11 weeks of summer programs 1 composting toilet on site

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