The Storefront E.A. Davis Left Over Foot Traffic Now Gives Its Front Room to New Shops, Rent-Free

"Despite a complete renovation and reenergized brand mix, we faced the same issue as the previous owner—lack of foot traffic." Becky Voelkel sent that line to The Swellesley Report in March 2025 when her family closed E.A. Davis at 579 Washington St. The Voelkels had owned the store since 2022. Emma A. Davis founded it in 1904, and it had sold clothing in Church Square for about 120 years.

Voelkel's statement included a request to Wellesley. Many businesses along the main street "rely solely on the revenue from their singular Wellesley store," she wrote, and asked the town to shop local.

Eighteen months later, the building has a new answer to the same problem. When a lack of walk-in shoppers sinks a long retail lease, take away the lease. The tenant at 579 Washington St. is now a bank, and it has set aside part of its floor for small retailers who pay no rent.

What is inside 579 Washington Street now

The Village Bank opened its first Wellesley branch here on September 16. The bank is a Newton-based mutual that has been around since 1910, with branches across Newton plus Waltham and Wayland. The branch fills 4,300 square feet and has a 24-hour ATM. The bank also kept a few things from the old store. The E.A. Davis sign is on display, the antique cash register sits in the storefront, and historical photos hang on the walls. The register was still sitting in the empty store when Swellesley photographed it after the closing in March 2025.

The main difference from a typical branch is a shop inside the shop. The bank calls it the Village Shop. Here is how it works, based on the bank's February plans and Swellesley's September preview:

• Size: 725 square feet of retail space inside the 4,300-square-foot branch.
• Who picks the tenants: UpNext, a company that pairs small businesses with pop-up space, chooses the shops with the bank.
• Terms: each business stays four to six months and pays no rent.
• Demand so far: more than 45 applications, from nonprofits, apothecary brands, home goods sellers and candy makers.
• What comes next: the bank plans more Village Shops in its Needham and Newtonville branches.

The bank also plans to open a room to residents after banking hours for civic meetings and similar uses. Wicked Local described the same plan in February: a branch paired with pop-up retail in the old E.A. Davis building. The bank will mark the opening with a ribbon cutting and open house on October 7 from 9 to 11 a.m. Swellesley says RSVPs go to Amy Werner by October 5.

Why rent-free changes who can open on Washington Street

Voelkel said her family's business had income from other stores and online sales. She pointed out that many Wellesley shops do not. A business with one store has the most to lose from a long lease in a spot where walk-in traffic is uncertain. UpNext's Allison Yee told Swellesley the pop-up model is meant for exactly that business.

"There's a lot that goes into launching a retail shop, and if you have to make long-term commitments and major dollar investments up front before you really get proof of concept, it's not the best way to go about it. That's where pop-ups come in," Yee said.

The first tenant shows the kind of business this opens the door to. Piper&Cloth is a children's clothing line run by Yvonne Piper, and it will stay through the holiday season. Piper has sold her natural and sustainable clothing online since 2022, and the Church Square space is her first physical shop. She told Swellesley she did not know what a pop-up was when she first heard about the opportunity. She taught herself to sew, never went to fashion school, and plans an archive section of her early designs. She calls her style "a bit season-less," which suits a pop-up that opens in September and runs into winter.

UpNext has worked in Wellesley before. In 2022 it ran a pop-up collection at 91 Central St. in Wellesley Square. The difference this time is a permanent home. A bank with a long-term lease holds the building, and the rotating shops share its front window. One tenant every four to six months adds up to a new shop roughly two or three times a year at the same address. E.A. Davis had the same name over that door for 120 years.

The same turnover, a few doors away

Other storefronts near Church Square are changing hands this year as well, and several of the replacements are businesses that already have a following somewhere else.

The Starbucks at 68A Central St. closed in late September 2025 after 30 years in the spot. MassLive listed its final day as a Saturday in its September 26, 2025 roundup of closures, which drew on hours posted in the Starbucks app. SALT Patisserie of Newton Centre filed paperwork in June to open its second location there. In August the owners said they expected to open in October. Chef and business partner Thiago Silva combines his Brazilian roots with French pastry training. The ownership group says it has turned down private equity buyout offers so it can grow on its own, and it is also talking about locations in downtown Boston and Harvard Square. As of late September, no report had confirmed an opening day.

Farther along Washington Street, Flyte.70 closed in mid-June at 555 Washington St. Middlesex Savings plans to move from 278 Washington St. to the former Citizens Bank at 390 Washington St. It filed building papers in June and has not announced a move date. Liliko, an Asian convenience shop, had a soft opening in late July at 268 Washington St. Rani Mahal, at 27 Grove St. in the former Amarin space, was open for takeout and delivery by late July.

Next year may bring more of the same. Wonder, the virtual food hall, filed to open in Wellesley Square with a 2027 target, although its site was still not settled. Pvolve is preparing a fitness studio at 251 Washington St. in Wellesley Hills and is aiming for winter.

A fall calendar built around the sidewalks

The foot traffic Voelkel described is what this season's events are designed to bring in. Discover Wellesley opens the stretch on October 2 and 3. It is a two-day invitation to explore the town's shops and restaurants, and each participating business runs its own version. Newer businesses are using it to introduce themselves. My Gym is hosting a Parents' Night Out on October 2 from 5 to 8 p.m. Clarendon Fine Art has a gallery show on October 3 from 5 to 7 p.m. with a talk on the greatest art heists. Two longtime shops are joining in. Isabel Harvey is offering 15 percent off cards printed with fun facts about the store, and A.M. DePrisco is handing out 20 welcome gift bags, with fine jewelry hidden in one of them.

The rest of the season, in date order:

The Davis Museum at Wellesley College offers free drop-in tours on Saturdays from September 26 through December 5, except October 10 and November 28. The Wellesley Hills Junior Women's Club's Marketplace on November 21 closes out the season and brings more than 200 local businesses into one building the weekend before Thanksgiving. Piper&Cloth's pop-up runs through that holiday stretch. The town calendar and college listings change, so check times and registration before you head out.

At Batya & Alex Team, we follow how storefronts like 579 Washington St. turn over because shop windows on a village street are part of the town people live in. If you'd like to talk about how changes in the Square fit your own plans in Wellesley, start your home search with us.