Calling All Collingswood Artists, Crafters and Home Business Owners

Do you have a home-based business in town? Send us your top gift, item or service of the holiday season, and we'll feature it this week.

Collingswood, we know lots and lots of you have side businesses that you operate from your home. We want to help you get the word out in these final days of the month about any last-minute opportunities for your friends and neighbors to patronize them. Are you a crafter, jeweler or fine or performing artist? Do you cook, clean or offer handyman work? Do you have an Etsy store, Tumblr page, or other website where people can find your work? We'll help you get the word out. Here's what you do. 1. Identify the best gift, item or service that you offer.  2. Write up a very brief description of it. (What's it do? What's it cost? Is it on sale? Do you take Collingswood Cash?) 3. Take a picture of it. 4. Email all that stuff to matt.skoufalos@…

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Tricia Burrough

12:02 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Great idea. Too late for my business though.   more ›

I Am Collingswood

I Am Collingswood: Andrew Faupel

Kenkojuku Karate owner Andrew Faupel explains how his practice embraces non-violence, discipline, and self-respect.

Collingswood's resident sensei, Andrew Faupel, discovered karate as a teen.  As owner and head instructor at Kenkojuku Karate on Haddon Avenue, he's been sharing his gift for martial arts for over 10 years. This week he tells Patch about how the philosophy he teaches his students extends beyond the doors of the dojo, fills us in on a new program for the littlest karate buffs, and gives us some tips on keeping ourselves safe when we're out and about. Collingswood Patch: What style of martial arts are you trained in and where did that style originate? Andrew Faupel: Primarily Shotokan karate. Shotokan came from Okinawa, Japan. Prior to that it came from China and if you go far enough back, from India. Patch: When and why did you start your …

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Homes Are Where the Heart Is for Collingswood Native

After training at Main Street Realty, Collingswood graduate Ed Barski is setting up shop on Haddon Avenue with his partner, Michele Katinsky. This is the first independent business for both partners.

After college, Collingswood graduate Ed Barski returned to the area to put his business degree to work, and founded the Oaklyn pizza shop Philly’s Phatties. Although he built the pizzeria into a successful restaurant, Barski found that flipping a duplex investment property on the side had given him a taste for the real estate game. “For an average person, it’s probably the most stressful, exciting thing they’re going to do in their lives,” Barski said. “It’s one of the most rewarding things to experience.” The food industry started to seem less and less like it was for him, and, in 2007, he sold the business to begin working full-time at Main Street Realty in Haddon Heights. “A lot of agents are in real estate so they can moonlight,” …

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Brad's Toy Room Closes, Internet Sales Continue

Collingswood's favorite toy shop closed this past weekend, due to slow foot traffic.

Just six days after Christmas, the Haddon Avenue-based Brad's Toy Room closed its doors on Dec. 31, 2011—but maybe not for good. Brad's Toy Room left its downtown storefront one year and three months after its original opening, on Oct. 1, 2010. "For foot traffic, (the 807 Haddon Ave. shop) just didn't do for us what we needed it to do," said Mandi Bricker, who co-owned the shop with her husband, Brad. Before opening the shop in 2010, the Brickers were in the same line of business—but sold toys online only. "Internet sales were always better (than in-house sales)," said Bricker. "They've always been more regular, more reliable." But amid the news of its closing, there is good news for Brad's Toy Room fans. "We've already begun uploading the…

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PlantLife Music Puts Bizarre Twist on Christmas Bazaar

Collingswood-based music production company PlantLife Music will host an oddly special holiday bazaar this Saturday.

For four hours on Saturday, Dec. 17, Christmas will get a little bit weirder. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., borough-based music production company PlantLife Music will occupy the outdoor garden bar at Grooveground coffee shop—located at the intersection of Haddon and Woodlawn avenues—to host a Bizarre Bazaar. It's your not-so-average holiday bazaar. Meaning—according to PlantLife Music founder and Collingswood resident Nick Cain—you'll actually have fun. "Expect good music emanating from (an outdoor) sound system—most likely pumping indie versions of holiday-themed classics—and a coalition of friends, neighbors and acquaintances selling their merchandise at flea market prices," said Cain of the event. Grooveground's garden bar will be cleared …

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Lauren Burgoon

5:33 pm on Wednesday, December 14, 2011

I just updated the start time to 11 a.m. Thanks Nick!   more ›

Jubili Beads Teams up with Tortilla Press for a Good Cause

Those who have dinner at The Tortilla Press Dec. 12 will help support Jubilation Creations, an organization supporting the arts for disabled individuals.

Jubilation Creations, an organization operated by Haddon Avenue shop Jubili Beads & Yarns, has teamed up with local restaurant The Tortilla Press to support arts initiatives for special needs individuals. On Monday, Dec. 12, those who dine at The Tortilla Press from 4 to 9 p.m. will have a percentage of their bill donated to Jubilation Creations initiatives. Jubilation Creations is a nonprofit organization headed by Jubili Beads & Yarns Owner Dr. Judith K. Weinstein, 58, of Mount Laurel. Weinstein created the outreach to afford disabled individuals the opportunity to experience healing through the arts—something she knows about personally. After practicing invasive-procedure radiology for 10 years, the heavy doctor's equipment Weinstein …

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Support Your Favorite Small Business With a Patch Shout-Out

Small Business Saturday is here. You can help drive feet—and wallets—to your favorite independent business.

You might be the type who finds sleeping on a freezing sidewalk for the best Black Friday deals exciting. Or perhaps you've already started working out your mouse-clicking finger for Cyber Monday. But if neither scenario appeals to you, there is an alternative—Small Business Saturday. Small Business Saturday, conceived by American Express to help spotlight the efforts of local small businesses, comes at the beginning of the big holiday shopping sprint—this Saturday—and encourages shoppers not to bypass the mom and pop shops for the mega-mall. Collingswood Patch would love to hear which small businesses you can't live without in town or nearby. Tell us in the comments which independently owned business is a must for shoppers this Saturday …

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Borough Beeswax

Borough Beeswax: Buzzing About the Farmers Market

With Collingswood Farmers Market's season over, wehat were the final thoughts on the season from shoppers?

With the Collingswood Farmers' Market season coming to its annual end, Collingswood Patch got a recap from attendees. “I love the farmers market!” said 8-year-old Nicolas Schwam of Collingswood. Nicolas comes every week for the cheese quesadillas and the kettle corn, and has been a regular attendee of the Saturday morning marketplace “almost every Saturday since I was 4.” “You’ve been coming here for eight years,” corrected his father, Chris, who says he enjoys "the camaraderie and community" that the farmers market provides. Nicolas’ sister, Alexa, 2, is a big fan of the egg sandwiches she gets from the Tortilla Press stand at the farmer’s market, but Chris says the best buy for his money is the littleneck clams from Clam Daddy’s. Laura …

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Another Collingswood Farmers' Market Season in the (Reusable) Bag

Merchants old and new give the thumbs up on the season as Collingswood Farmers' Market wraps up its 10th year.

Every Saturday for six months, shoppers in search of fresh produce, meat, cheese and local baked goods crowd the Collingswood Farmers’ Market. Customers turned out for one last day on Saturday before the farmers market packed up for the season. Collingswood Farmers’ Market closed up shop at noon Saturday, not to reopen until the first Saturday in May. And while the crowd wasn’t as dense as a typical summer weekend, when nearby parking is at a premium and people pack the market stalls, plenty of shoppers came out for the 2011 swan song. Many stalls saw brisk business on Saturday as customers picked over bushels of fall produce. Merchants reported a strong farmers market season in general, as berries and shorts and flip-flops gave way to …

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For Dress Shop, Grass Is Greener Across Haddon Ave.

Directly across the street from its former location on Haddon Ave., Marlene's Dress Shop is busier than ever at its new location.

For her store, Marlene's Dress Shop, Marlene Gagliardi said the grass has proved greener on the other side. After 23 years of business at 710 Haddon Ave., Gagliardi and her formal wear shop set out for greener pastures, which they found directly across the street—at new storefront spaces 705 through 707 Haddon Ave. Last she spoke to Patch, Gagliardi was preparing her new space for the big move, and hoping the relocation proved beneficial. But now that Marlene's Dress Shop has been in its new home for 13 days, Gagliardi said the move has yielded abundantly positive results. "Customers are just raving about the (new) place," said Gagliardi. "So far, no one's had any trouble finding our new spot across the street. In fact, business is even …

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