Recent Stories

new business

June 28, 2021

New Day Care Center To Open In Ellwood

With COVID restrictions beginning to be lifted, more and more people are starting to head back to in person work. A lot of working class people have children at home to worry about and some don’t always have people to rely on for child care. This problem is something that Mary O’Connor Bailey thought about when she decided to bring O’Connor’s Day Care to Ellwood City. Bailey currently has five other locations in the New Castle area but wanted to bring her business to Ellwood City to help the working community here. Bailey graduated college with her business degree and…

August 17, 2020

Fryer Excavating Expanding Their Services

Fryer Excavating has been a family owned, locally run business for 15 years and is expanding their services. The business is owned and ran by Kurt and Jaime Fryer. Serving the Beaver, Lawrence, Butler, Mercer, and Allegheny County areas for both commercial and residential needs, the company offers excavation, demolition, and hauling services and now with this additional location, they will be able to offer a range of landscaping/outdoor project supplies. The recent months have allowed Fryer Excavating time to evaluate their process and become more efficient with rolling out the supply yard for their own crews and the public….

May 18, 2020

Ellwood City Native Opens Dentistry in Ewing Park

Although Nikki Jo Magnifico DDM was successfully practicing as an associate dentist in New Hampshire for the last decade, the Lincoln High School graduate felt a need to move back to her hometown of Ellwood City. So Magnifico did just that. She bought her new 620 Jefferson Ave practice from Dr. James Oberfeitinger on February 1, 2020. “I decided it was time to move home to be closer to my family,” she said. Her immediate family includes her husband, Eric, who she said is supportive of her business goals as well as two sons Tyler, 5, and Anthony, 2.5. A Gannon…

February 14, 2020

A Hometown Dream: Barber Opens 5th Street Fades, Accepting New Clients

A hairstyle and a haven. Two things Shawn Johnson can offer you at his barbershop 5th Street Fades. Johnson said his doors are open for those who want a cut or some conversation. “Anybody is welcome to stop in, get a cut, enjoy some TV and AC,” Johnson said with a laugh. “I like to entertain a room.” Johnson, a 2008 Riverside graduate grew up in Fombell and then North Sewickley Township. “Riverside is my family,” Johnson said. The new entrepreneur has been cutting hair since high school, but it all began a little before that. He said it was…

January 28, 2020

Art on Skin: The Tattoo Shop Open for Business in Ellwood City

Life stories sketched in skin. Love, loss, tributes, symbols, statements, art. Mike Kwaczala of The Tattoo Shop has done them all. His love of body art began a long time ago, but he recalls the true beginning 15 years ago when he started working in a shop. He stayed there for 8 years before getting out of it to try something new. But something inside told him he’d probably return to tattooing. “I knew if I ever tattooed again,” Kwaczala said, “it would have to be me doing it in my own shop.” Fast forward to 2016. Kwaczala found himself…

January 9, 2020

New Business Chive Brings A Fresh Choice To Eating Out

In November, Chive opened its doors on Lawrence Avenue. With its first month over, people have either eaten there, heard of it, or are among those of us that are wondering what exactly this new restaurant is. We sat down with owner Eric Houk to get the scoop on the new, clean-eating restaurant. Chive is owned by Erik and Shannon Houk. Eric works full time in project management for commercial construction. He also buys and sells houses. His wife, Shannon, works at Bridgewater Microblading. Between the two, Chive is just a fun side project. Following a bout of illness, Eric…

September 6, 2019

Ellwood Elderberry Essentials Opens Doors to Healing Powers

Enthusiastic over elderberry. That’s Shauna Cucunato, owner of newly opened Ellwood Elderberry Essentials. Cucunato will share her enthusiasm and all she knows about elderberry tomorrow September 7 during her Grand Opening event at 429 Lawrence Ave with Katy’s – Homestyle Bakery & More where her products will have a permanent home. “I am so excited to be opening,” Cucunato said. Although she is a nursing student and has a strong belief in modern medicine, plenty of research has led her to believe that elderberry is a magical fruit. “Medicines are convenient,” she said. “But there are sometimes terrible side effects that…

July 18, 2019

Coming Soon To Main Street

Ellwood City has its fair share of good places to sit down and eat on days where no one feels like cooking. There’s something for everyone and the list just got a tad bigger. What was previously known as Main Street Bar and Grill is now under new management as Mike’s Main Street Bar and Grill. New owner Mike Ward purchased the Main Street building from Greg Ottaviani earlier this year and already has changes underway. Ward is not an Ellwood City native, but from the Philidelphia area. He, however, does have friends from this area from his college days…

June 10, 2019

Unchained K9 Links Up To Ellwood City

Unchained K9 is a new, underground dog fence company local to Ellwood City. Dogs will wear a collar with radio frequency that alerts them when they try to approach/cross the underground wire. Owners Jim and Geri Lynn Cummings had come into this business on a whim. They had an underground dog fence for 11 years prior, and when they got a new puppy, it needed to be serviced. They reached out to what was then PetSafe of Cranberry. When the owner came to service the fence, he had approached them asking if they were interested in purchasing the business. After meeting…

June 7, 2019

Big Shot Bobs Flying Into Town

Big Shot Bobs (BSBs) has made its debut in Ellwood City. The ‘House Of Wings’ held their opening night on Monday, June 3 hoping for a decent turnout, and they got more than just that. With over 100 orders, a 90-minute long wait, and when their phone lines became completely unavailable, people started coming into the 2nd Street location, it’s safe to assume Big Shot Bobs will become a town favorite in no time. BSBs started back in 2007 with a location in Avalon, Pa. Once business began to pick up speed, the founders decided to branch out, opening the…