Hospitality

The White Room has made a post-COVID comeback over the past year and is a nexus of cultural and social life in Worcester.

The Worcester Railers HC signed a five-year lease, with an option for five additional years, with the DCU Center in Worcester to continue playing hockey at the venue.

The first few months of 2023 has seen new restaurants and bars open after several closings came in Worcester’s Canal District in the second half of 2022.

After ramping up since opening its doors in September, Sub Zero Nitrogen Ice Cream is holding its grand opening ceremony at its Front Street store at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Atlas Event Group is moving from its two current Shrewsbury locations to a larger combined space at 910 Boston Turnpike in Shrewsbury.

A half dozen craft breweries in Framingham, Marlborough, Worcester, and throughout Central Massachusetts are creating and selling female-driven beers in March in support of Women’s History Month and the nonprofit The Pink Boots Society.

TidePool Bookshop opened in September 2020 after months of delays thanks to COVID-19. Now, two years later, they have a busy store with a growing number of events and an expanding catalog of books.

Although the growth slowed last year, 2022 still showed Central Massachusetts has become a destination for new businesses. Another 2,772 new businesses incorporated in the region in 2022, a 1.5% increase over the eye-popping 2021 figures.

Locally sourced food seller Maker to Main will close its store on Worcester’s Main Street in March and open a larger, more complete grocery store in the Canal District.

Aero Coffee Roasters was supposed to open in February of 2020, but, like everything that happened in 2020, the COVID pandemic had other plans