Worcester Business Journal

20 Worcester Business Journal | Fact Book 2017 | wbjournal.com B l a c k s t o n e V a l l e y R E G I O N S Nat King Cole "You must remember this, a kiss is still a kiss. " Standard Time weekdays 3:00 to 6:00 pm. The Great American Songbook and jazz standards. And great radio is still great radio. Herman Hupfield Nat King Cole "You must remember this, a kiss is still a kiss. " Standard Time weekdays 3:00 to 6:00 pm. The Great American Songbook and jazz standards. And great radio is still great radio. Herman Hupfield For businesses with a big vision... 28 Franklin Street • Worcester, MA 01608 (508) 890-9087 | (800) 244-8161 | www.baystatesavingsbank.com ® ...we're here to support you with local decision making and servicing. Downtown art in a textile town C hristine Guanipa had studied print-making at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, but, after graduating and get- ting married, she fell into teaching and stayed with that career for 11 years. Then she hit a turning point in her life. She was pregnant with her third daughter, her mother had just passed away, and something told her it was time for a change. Already, she'd been doing some printing as a side hustle, and she decided it was time to take on her art full time, selling beautiful purs- es, handbags, and other printed fabric pieces. So she took a drawing her car- toonist husband had made and chris- tened her new business Little Man. "I just thought that would be a great logo," she said. Coincidentally, not long after starting the company, she ended up moving from Waltham to the Blackstone Valley. At first, it was a tough transition to be so far from the bustling lifestyle and arts scene of Metro Boston. "That was an adjustment," Guanipa said. "Then I thought how interesting that we moved to a mill town whose history was in the textile business." Slowly, Guanipa noticed there were little artisanal businesses scattered around the region. And, over the decade that followed, more arrived. Guanipa discovered that Alternatives – the Whitinsville service provider for people with disabilities – had a great reputation for the community art events it offers in its refurbished mill space. "They're always doing a theater pro- duction, a gallery opening," she said. "I've met people in Boston who say they regularly come out to see what the new play is. It's a beautiful building. It's all green energy, and just a gorgeous space." Three years ago, Guanipa organized Whitinsville's first Shop Small Saturday, encouraging local shopping on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Each year, 20 to 30 businesses offer prizes, special treats and activities. Today, Little Man is mostly a whole- sale business, selling to more than 100 retailers in 27 states. It even does busi- ness with the White House, making bibs decorated with donkeys or ele- phants. But Guanipa said its local shop in the center of Whitinsville is increas- ingly popular. "Slowly, it's like people have started BY LIVIA GERSHON Special to the Worcester Business Journal to come up," he said. "It's like they're very appreciative of having this shop. They want commerce on our little street, especially little shops." The goods offered through Little Man are usually wholesaled off, but the shop has a retail presence in the Whitinsville section of Northbridge. W

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