– Old Northside resident Gwen Chastain has opened Goodies & Giggles, a toy store located at 811 Mass Ave in a historic bank building.
Goodies & Giggles opened Dec. 7 in the building which for over a decade housed the Art Bank, which provided studio space to about 20 artists and was a popular First Friday attraction as the East End of Mass Ave grew in activity.
Store hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.
The building dates to the early 1920s, and was last operated as a bank through the late 1960s. According to various news reports, in 1933 notorious gangster John Dillinger robbed what was then the Massachusetts Avenue State Bank, making off with $24,800, believed to have been the largest bank heist in the nation at that time.
Before Dan Haynes redeveloped the historic building as the Art Bank, it housed a computer programming company.
– The Kennedy-King neighborhood has a new coffeehouse – The Alchemist – which opened Dec. 2 at 1660 Bellefontaine Ave., the former home of West Fork Whiskey.
The coffeehouse is open 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. seven days a week. The space will double as a cocktail bar, expected to open soon. Hours have yet to be determined.
The venture is operated by Cody Neville, owner of Red Lion Grog House in Fountain Square. Tiana Garrett is manager of the café.
She said the café’s focus is limited to the more traditional coffee drinks, along with a variety of quality syrups. The beans come from Prophecy Coffee.
The Alchemist serves a variety of pastries including muffins, banana bread and donuts, and on Sundays plans to offer donuts from Pana. There are also plans to add sandwiches in the near future.
When the cocktail lounge opens, pans are for small bites including charcuterie boards, flatbreads and pizzas.
– Global Gifts, located in the 400 block of Mass Ave since 2005, will move to 873 Mass Ave the first week of January. The store will be located in the Trail Side on Mass Ave building, which also houses such businesses as Gordon’s Milk Shakes, Love Handle, Yats and the recently opened Vintage Kulture.
Global Gifts is a Fair Trade store which features products handcrafted by disadvantaged artisans from around the world who benefit from using their skills to earn a sustainable and fair income.
– Also, NINE IRISH BROTHERS has closed at 575 Mass Ave. The Lafayette-based pub was the first commercial tenant in the Millikan on Mass building in 2014. The mixed-use development anchors the southeast corner of Mass Ave and East Street.
