Beacon Hill and Back Bay business group leaders and merchants are predicting increased sales in area stores for Massachusetts’ upcoming tax-free weekend.
The two-day sales tax holiday is being held on Saturday, August 16 and Sunday, August 17, and applies to items costing $2,500 or less. It is the fifth consecutive year for a summer tax holiday in the state.
Susan Kelley, chief administrator of the Newbury Street League, which has 230 businesses that belong to the organization, said business owners and store managers are excited about the coming weekend and the anticipated influx of visitors to their stores.
“The businesses are really looking forward to it,” said Kelley. “Some of the merchants have told me that they intend to be open additional hours, and some of the businesses that aren’t usually open on Sundays will be [open] this weekend.”
Mary-Ellen Delaney, manager of the Longchamp store at 139 Newbury Street, a French company that sells handbags, luggage, and fine leather goods, expects an increase in sales and said her business will be open on Sunday, from 12 noon to 5 p.m. in addition to Saturday’s regular store hours, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“The tax-free holidays have been successful,” said Delaney. “This is the first year that we’ll also be open on Sunday. There should be increased traffic on Newbury Street on Sunday and I would surmise that we would get a good flow of people. With the way the economy is, I think the tax-free holiday is certainly a way to drive business for the retailers.”
Delaney said an increased number of foreign tourists have visited Longchamp. “We’re seeing a lot more Europeans than we have in the past. I think it’s because of the strong Euro, and that our brand is very well-known in Europe. They can come over here to the states, and it’s one big sale for them.”
Ellen Rooney, executive director of the Beacon Hill Business Association that has approximately 120 members, said the tax-free weekend affords consumers a great opportunity to buy items they may have been considering purchasing in the past.
“We think in general that this is the perfect time for people to buy an item that they may have had their eye on, and it’s a perfect time to shop local as well,” said Rooney.
Rooney said the BHBA has taken out advertisements in newspapers to remind people about the tax-free weekend and that it is a good time to shop on Beacon Hill. She is a strong supporter of tax-free holidays.
“I think tax-free holidays are a terrific idea to get people out and shopping and buying things that they may have been meaning to buy – and with an opportunity to buy the items tax free, it’s a great opportunity,” said Rooney. “
Mark Duffield, co-owner with Jennifer Hill of Blackstone’s on Charles Street, a multi-dimensional gift store that has been in operation for 27 years, said if past years are an indication, sales should soar this weekend.
“Last year we had a huge day during the tax holiday,” said Duffield. “We look forward to it, and our customers look forward to it. We’ve already had people in our store asking about it. The weekend is usually busy for us anyway, but we anticipate that we’ll be busier than normal. We’ll have signs in the window saying, ‘Tax-Free Holiday,’ so that will drive the tourists who may not be aware of it to come on in.”
The hottest selling items at Blackstone’s have been Vera Bradley [“always Vera Bradley,” said Duffield] and sea bags, which are recycled tote bags made out of recycled sails.
“We were the first store to sell the sea bags outside of Portland [Maine], but now sea bags have been featured on the Today Show, Oprah, and in every magazine, so that’s really been the hottest summer item,” said Duffield.
Sea bags range in price from $95 to $145, and they’re selling like hotcakes, according to Duffield.
“We can’t keep them in the store, and they’ve come up with two new designs – one is a duffel bag, the other is a baby bag, and we also have a wine tote,” said Duffield.
Duffield now sells a popular line of jewelry that is made by his twin sister, Sharon, who runs Sea Breeze Designs. The jewelry is made from sea glass and rocks found on the beaches of Maine. “Sharon started making the jewelry for her friends as a hobby, and we started selling the jewelry at the store and they just sold out. We’re on our fourth consignment now,” he said.

CAPTION: Beacon Hill Village provides seniors with a healthy mix of services and programs and independent city living.

About eight years ago, Susan McWhinney-Morse and some of her friends and neighbors were looking forward into their futures, but they weren’t entirely thrilled with some of their options. McWhinney-Morse, in her mid-60s at the time, was a 40-plus year resident of Beacon Hill who loved her home, loved the city, and like her friends, was loving life. But they didn’t love the traditional retirement living options that were laid out in front of them: moving to a community in Florida or investigating assisted living options, for example.
“Why do we corral the elderly, clumping us together when we’re old?” McWhinney-Morse says. “We found this very unattractive.”
So, she and 11 others began looking into creating an alternative retirement lifestyle, one that would provide basic health services, cultural and social activities – but allow people to stay in their own homes.
“It was such a common sense solution, and it just worked,” she says.
It does seem to be a common sense solution – and yet it was revolutionary. In 2002, Beacon Hill Village was officially founded to help people who are 50 or older and live in Beacon Hill, the Back Bay, the West End, and nearby neighborhoods. Members live in their own homes but have the support of a well-connected community.
Beacon Hill Village was founded with between 50 and 70 members, and today it is 460 members strong. Its members range in age from 51 to 99.
The non-profit group collects an annual membership fee of $600 for an individual or $850 for a household, and reduced rates are available for those of moderate means. These dues go toward providing access to services such as home health care, wellness programs, home repair, cleaning, transportation, shopping, meals, a concierge service, and social activities.
“Electricians, plumbers – you name it. We have everything you can imagine on our list,” says Beacon Hill Village Director Judy Willett. “We’re total one-stop shopping. Call us for anything you need.”
Beacon Hill Village carefully vets all of the service providers on their referral list, and members receive discounts of 10 to 50 percent off of their fees. The number one request members have is for transportation, says Willett. Beacon Hill Village’s active members want to go to everywhere from the Cape to the mountains to go skiing. The second most requested service is computer help.

For many visitors, Beacon Hill is a “special-occasion” type of neighborhood when it comes to dining out. After all, not everyone can spring for a $45 rib-eye at Moo or the six-course degustation at No. 9 Park on a regular basis.
Even for residents, frequent dining out in the neighborhood can stretch the budget, leaving many to seek out more wallet friendly options in other neighborhoods. However, this week will present an unbeatable opportunity to experience many of the Hill’s best restaurants for a small portion of the usual cost.
Restaurant Week, the annual celebration of Boston’s dining scene, meant to bring the experience of fine dining to as wide an audience as possible, began on Monday and runs until August 22. During that 12-day period, diners can enjoy three-course prix-fixe lunches at many of the city’s best restaurants for just $20.08. Three-course dinner menus, meanwhile, will go for just $33.08. That’s not bad in a neighborhood where $33 often doesn’t cover the cost of a single entrée.
Choices can be limited, so diners should check out menus if available to make sure there is an option that suits their tastes.
Some highlights:
Pierrot Bistrot Francais on Cambridge Street is offering far more than the obligatory two or three choices per course, giving the Restaurant Week diner no less than five options for appetizers and entrees, most of them straightforward French classics. Start with a warm goat cheese salad or salmon terrine, before moving on to a classic brasserie entrée like duck confit l’orange, beef burgundy, or veal arlesienne.
Grotto is renowned in dining circles (particularly on sites like Yelp and Chowhound) for putting its all into restaurant week, and this year appears to be no exception. Rather than a simple two or three choice prix fixe, Grotto has assembled an entire menu of restaurant week specials, with eight appetizers and as many entrees, followed by no less than five dessert options. Most of the items come directly from Grotto’s regular menu, making the Restaurant Week experience almost identical to what is generally served at full price. Entrees range from the classic Grotto spaghetti and meatballs to inventive fare, like crab ravioli with saffron and asparagus or an apple stuffed duck breast with prosciutto and dried cherries.
For a complete listing of participating restaurants and menus, visit http://www.bostonusa.com/rw08/.

The weather

We are not meteorologists; however, there can be no mistaking the change of the weather this summer, compared to most recent summers past.
For much of July and now into August, the rains have been pervasive, at least 25 days washed out by the rain.
The rain hasn’t been the kind that falls gently or in a drizzle.
The rains have been, at times, torrential and even somewhat worse, as they were on Sunday.
During this summer which is turning into the wettest in years, the rain has been accompanied by thunder and lightning.
We in Boston, are familiar with thunder and lightning, the type described so beautifully in the early works by the great American author Washington Irving. He likened it to God is bowling and then to God is crying; ergo, the noise followed by the tears.
However, this summer’s lightning and thunderstorms have been more intense, and noticeably so than what most of us recall coming before.
The thunder has seemed much lower to the ground, with blood-curdling claps exploding like bombs just above us, and lightning bolts so bright and so powerful, we are instilled with awe.
There has been so much torrential rain and so much brilliant lightning and onerous thunder, it causes the inevitable question to be raised: is it climate change or are we heading for the end of the world?
We’ll take climate change.
Again, we are not meteorologists, but we know that something has changed about the weather during this stormy summer.
With the summer but three weeks to an anti-climactic end, we wonder whether the torrential rains and the brilliant thunder and lightning storms are going to abate.
We wonder if the sun is going to shine enough for us to catch a tan and to jump into the Atlantic or into our pools – or even if we’ll be forced to put on the air conditioning.
Which brings to mind the classic words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who had this to say about the elements in the poem, “Hiawatha”:
“Into each life some rain must fall. Some days will be dark and dreary.” Indeed.

The Olympics

It sometimes takes something like the Olympics to awaken us out of a summer slumber in order to take a closer look at the host nation.
Such is the case this summer with China, causing many of us to wonder where have we been while this sleeping giant has become one of the earth’s most powerful economic juggernauts?
The United States economy still dwarfs China’s – but not forever.
The most interesting observation to be made is that China, still calling itself communist, is, in actuality, a capitalist state.
How’s that for a perfect example of thesis and antithesis?