Survival Stories From Wayland Center
PHOTO/EILEEN KENNEDY
Elizabeth Russell-Skehan helps run the family-owned Russell's Garden Center in Wayland.
PHOTO/EILEEN KENNEDY
David D'Orlando, president of the Wayland Business Association.
Editor's Note: This is the first in an occasional series for MetroWest495 Biz where we take a look at town centers in the region.
Wayland's town center may not be that big, but its businesses are stable and surviving the recession.
"Some businesses may be down but they're not out," said David D'Orlando, president of the Wayland Business Association, which represents about 100 businesses in town. "I don't hear people saying the sky is falling, and in fact there are bright spots." D'Orlando is also a principal at Baldwin Insurance Agency in Wayland and Welsh & Parker Insurance Agency in Hudson.
The Baldwin Insurance Agency is located at 260 Boston Post Road overlooking most of the several blocks or so of the town center's business district. In this town of 13,100 residents, there isa mix of former homes that are now businesses and some new construction. There is a gas station and a dry cleaner, tucked in among a nursery and a very small shopping center. But as soon as drivers pass through the intersection of routes 20, 27 and 126, it becomes the countryside.
With a view from his converted saltbox, D'Orlando has watched businesses come and go. For the last five years, businesses have remained fairly stable, he said.
One of the local bright spots is Russell's Garden Center at 397 Boston Post Road, which was started in 1876 by Samuel Russell. Now the fourth generation of the Russell family, Elizabeth Russell-Skehan and her husband Tim Skehan, help her parents, Lew and Charlotte Russell, and other family members run the business located on a 50-acre parcel. About seven acres of the parcel are used for the business.
"We're in the right place and the right industry," said Russell-Skehan. "When the economy is bad, people may not eat out or travel. They're staying home and they want it to look good."
On a recent cloudy weekday, there were about 20 cars in the parking lot and customers were busy pushing carts full of plants along the rows.
Sales so far this year have been roughly equal to the same time last year, she said.
A number of years ago, the nursery decided it would diversify beyond plants. It now has gifts, toys, cut flowers and candles, a bird feeding department as well as all the tools, fertilizers and other garden supplies. It also has a water garden department and a custom planting department where large planters or window boxes are dropped off so Russell's designers can replant them for later pick up or delivery.
"I had one customer tell me recently that if I just sold sneakers, then she wouldn't have to go to any other store," Russell-Skehan said.
A newcomer to Wayland's town center is also doing well. Benson's, a small diner, has reopened at 236 Boston Post Road. The spot has seen a number of restaurants over the years including Finnerty's Country Squire, Corner Stone Café and a former Benson's.
About a year ago, Melissa Martinez opened up the new Benson's.
"I've spent my entire life in the restaurant business," she said. Martinez gutted the existing restaurant and completely redid it. It's open six days a week, has a beer and wine license and is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
"We've only recently opened for dinner and that's doing well," said Andy Nolan, one of the diner's crew. "It really helped when we got our beer and wine license."
And there are plenty of other shops and businesses in the center, ranging from a Whole Foods store to several doctors and dentists to a spa. There is also a nonprofit craft consignment store, The Wayland Depot, which gives its proceeds to the town, and a women's clothing boutique, Elizabeth Lee's.
D'Orlando said the association hopes to make progress this year on reminding residents how important it is to buy locally.
"It not only saves on money and time, but it's a greener alternative to driving farther to shop," he said. "You're also supporting the businesses in your own village, which support the town."
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