Regional Business Roundup: A Model Business, Sandwiches and Walter's Barbershop

Norton

Harry’s Hobby Shop in Norton: Success By Specialization

Harry Martin has had a love for models and building since he was a kid, but these days he’s built a business around it at Harry's Hobby Shop.

“I’ve built a couple hundred models when I was building,” he said.

Martin said he’s been in the collectables business since around 1990.

“We set up at yard sales and flea markets,” he said. “Opening our own store was the next thing to do. We’ve accumulated a lot of inventory over the years.”

Martin bought the shop in Norton after the old owner of the previous hobby shop was retiring.

Seekonk-Swansea

Micheletti's in Seekonk a Family Tradition

Micheletti’s in Seekonk was started in 1976, and current owner John Whitelaw said he’s felt blessed to be a part of it.

“It was my first restaurant,” he said. “I wasn’t a cook and I had a lot of hands on training.”

Whitelaw said he had worked ten years in the food service department at the Providence Civic Center, but it was nothing like Micheletti’s.

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Easton

Walter’s Barbershop Makes the Cut in Downtown Easton

Walter's Barbershop in downtown Easton has been providing cuts since 2001.

Owner Walter Reis opened the Main Street shop after transitioning from his career as a bartender and has been loving it ever since.

“I was actually looking for a career change and then I was getting a haircut one day and I thought ‘Wow, this isn’t a bad thing to get into.’ and I thought it would be right up my alley,” Reis said. “So, I remembered a friend of mine was a barber that I hadn’t seen in some time and I went and talked to him about it and he gave me the lowdown on the pluses and minuses of being a barber.”

Wrentham

 Dance and Beyond the Culmination of a Childtime Dream

Meaghan McHale started dancing at the age of 7, but she said she never dreamed of opening her own studio then.

McHale said she opened Dance and Beyond in 2009, and though she said it was a rocky start, she’s made it a success.

“I started from the bottom,” she said. “When I opened my doors I had zero students.” 

McHale said she started dancing herself when she was 7 years old.

“I wanted to start when I was 4, but my mom made me wait to make sure I was serious,” she said. “I started like any other kid, with ballet and tap dancing. I did that for two years. I kind of went to a few different dance studios and found one I liked.”

Mansfield

Le Studio Danse in Mansfield Making Waves

Valerie Brunetti-Spear, owner of Le Studio Danse in Mansfield, said she’s been dancing since she was a small child, and has seen some things throughout the years.

“I was always attracted to dance, I just love it,” she said. “I got serious about it in high school.”

Brunetti-Spear said she did ballet in high school as well as cheerleading, and studied dance at the Boston Conservatory of Music. Since then, she said she’s danced at the San Fransico Ballet Company. She said she’s worked with many instructors, including Mchael Jackson’s former teacher JoJo, as well as Baryshnikov, who instructed the U.S. Olympians.

“I’ve performed at all the local night clubs in New England, including the Wang Theater,” she said. “I also worked with the Cirque du Soleil.”

She added she has performed in two feature films, a movie called Witchboard, a horror movie about the Ouija Board and a Bruce Lee film.

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Foxborough

What’s the Most Popular Sandwich at Primo’s?

Summary: For those who like to try something new Gunns said that they are always adding new items and specials to the menu.

Primo's on Mechanic Street is known best in town for its delicious sandwiches.

Here at Patch, we got to thinking, what is the most popular sandwich at the restaurant. So we asked owner Chris Gunns and he told us ...

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Attleboro

Summary: David Bliss comes from a long line of history in Attleboro. He said he can trace his family back to English immigrants in 1636.

"I have a genealogy that carries a bit of history," he said.

Bliss owns and operates Bliss Bros. Dairy on Park Street in Attleboro, which has had a few changes over the years. The business began years ago as a dairy farm in Rehoboth, with milk deliveries taking place all around the region. Bliss said the family moved to Park Street in the 1920s and started a milk plant to expand the operation.

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