it's what you want to know
Hillary White Jean wafted into Wayne on a cloud of luxury perfume, designer heels, extravagant cars and personal charm.
Sixteen months later, her splashy store, JWH Boutique, departed in the December darkness, leaving a string of angry landlords, fashion vendors and small business owners in her wake.
The winter sun is setting at 600 Lancaster Ave. but the lights are still on at Berwyn’s “Riding Boot and Shoe Service.”
Third-generation cobbler Joe Quici putters around, spit-shining a boot here, ringing up a customer there.
No longer a young man, he’d been working even longer hours since word got around that he’d be closing up shop at year’s end. “People are trying to get their stuff done,” Joe explains. “I’m the only one in the area. I never want to disappoint anyone.”
He’s animated this late December day – even more chatty than usual – as he talks about his family’s 102-year-old business, his dying craft and his decision to retire.
Well, we logged a lot of miles last year.
We sniffed out new spots, introduced you to some fascinating folks and brought you news (we hope) you actually cared about.
We also welcomed thousands of new readers.
On Thursday, October 27, Jan Marc Dorfman left his Wynnewood home at 1:45 a.m. – the usual time – and set off on foot for his business. There were bagels to bake and orders to fill.
Legally blind from Stargardt’s Disease, Dorfman, 70, walked carefully through the early-morning darkness though it was a route he knew well – he’d walked it for decades.
What he didn’t know: that starlit one-mile trek to Delancey St. Bagels, his 32-year café in Wynnewood Shopping Center, would be his last.
The chorus to save Oakwell – Stoneleigh’s Villanova “sister” – from school district buzzsaws is practically deafening.
And we’re not just talking about cars honking for picketers outside Lower Merion School District’s Ardmore offices each Friday.
Some of our brightest minds aren’t wowing their “Challenge” teachers in T/E, skipping grades in Lower Merion, or acing their APs at Agnes Irwin.
They’ve left our vaunted public and private schools to enroll in a largely unknown startup: The Grayson School, the only independent, non-profit school in PA created specifically for gifted learners in grades Pre-K through 12.
“All Gifted, All Day” is the school’s tagline.
And surprise, surprise: It’s right in Radnor.
Hope you’re hungry, Main Line.
A rush of new restaurants has graced our shores or will soon set sail.
Interestingly, most are in Bryn Mawr – that split-personality hamlet that serves well-heeled homeowners and cash-strapped college kids.
First, intel on what’s coming:
By George, he’s everywhere!
Dishing on Ladies Day hats at the horse show on Fox 29! Opening a new Louella boutique at the shore! Pulling clothes at Posh for private clients in LA! Recapping red-carpet fashions on “Extra”! Chatting it up on QVC!
Talk about a man about town.
Devon Horse Show has filed suit against its own township, accusing it, in effect, of price-gouging the equestrian nonprofit to benefit its own bottom line.
We just received Easttown’s response and let’s just say, the township sees things a bit differently.
Signed, sealed and NOT delivered.
Like stocked shelves and affordable gas, the Main Line can no longer take reliable mail delivery for granted.
Too many letters are taking too long to reach their destinations, or worse, are poached by thieves and never arrive at all.
Ongoing staff shortages often mean longer lines at post offices but blue boxes aren’t a safe answer, either.
