City Feed and Supply offers essential items that urban JP dwellers need just like the Feed and Supply stores do in rural areas. But instead of hay or sacks of cow food, City Feed and Supply has coffee, sandwiches, pastries, groceries, magazines, candles and toilet paper and many, many other things crammed into this little space on Boylston Street. Fair Trade coffee is to JP as --what?-- is to Podunk, Kansas.
Soon City Feed and Supply plans to expand to Centre Street and offer essential materials to even more of JP.

Mass Energy is a non-profit organization that both advocates and acts in the marketplace on behalf of consumers and the environment. They offer discount heating oil since 1982 and now serve 10,000 households. We also offer green electricity options and solar energy services. Consumer United has partnered with Mass Energy where our members can save $150-$300 per year. Last heating season, Mass Energy members saved an average of 24 cents per gallon on heating oil compared to the state norm--averaging $175 savings per household. Click here to start saving through Consumer United.

Boomerangs is the re-sale store run by the AIDS Action Committee. You can find clothing, furniture, home goods, CDS, movies, and lots of other stuff all gently used and available "new to you." The stock changes all the time, so you need to stop in often. The store windows on Centre Street change often too - and are really public art pieces more than retail tools. They cleverly feature items on sale but in unusual tableaus. Proceeds from the store support the work of the AIDS Action Committee. You can make donations of goods around at the back of the store - but please only during the set hours (otherwise you are subject to a fine for illegal dumping). Donations are also taken at the Boomerangs Donation Center at the Brewery Complex. And they will come and pick-up furniture -- call to discuss details.

TIPS FOR THE BOOMERANGS NOVICE:

• To find the truly fabulous deals, you need to scour the racks on a regular basis (at least once a week).
• Boomerangs staffers showcase seasonal goods--ranging from Halloween trinkets to Christmas snow globes--located at a table in the front of the store.
• The die-hard Boomerangs junkie knows that the shop also has brand-new clothing from top-tier shops like Brooks Brothers and Filene's Basement. The only catch? Staffers mark the collar with a black marker to prevent returns to the original location.
• Common brands found at Boomerangs include Banana Republic, Kenneth Cole and even Armani.
• Boomerangs has a strict "no returns" policy. So, don't even try.
• The store offers daily specials on clothing marked with a color-coded tag. So, if a specific shirt you like has a red tag, wait until it's "red tag day" to get additional savings.
• The staff is generally very knowledgeable so if you're looking for a hidden gem buried within the racks of clothing, they're always willing to help out.
• Centre Street regulars have come to expect funny, usually elaborate, window displays (their recent "Circus Freaks" sideshow-themed window, for example, is stunning) that creatively uses goods found within the store.
• Interested in purchasing items showcased in their elaborate window displays? Boomerangs now auctions of the goods in a raffle at the front desk.
• The staff's taste in music is impeccable--with indie-rock gems like Guided By Voice's "Bee Thousand" and Matador lo-fi classics like Yo La Tengo--seranading customers as they browse the racks.

Slotted to open Monday, Aug. 11 2008. City Feed and Supply, the popular local convenience store and café, is taking over the former Videosmith storefront on Centre Street as a second location. This will be a much larger second site for the company (with their first location on Boylston Street). This Centre Street location (in the 3,000-square foot space on the corner of Seaverns Ave.) includes tables for enjoying a sandwich and plenty of windows for people watching. City Feed targets the "Ped Set" or the pedestrian traffic strolling up and down Centre Street. Their business is focused on locally grwon and organic and fair trade foods with an emphasis on vegetarian items like tofurkey. They are, admittedly, not a place to shop for everything, though they are a food store in addition to being a cafe.

Harvest is a cooperative market - so you can become a member and get back some of the money you spend. But you have to pitch in a couple times a year, stocking or providing other services. But you don't have to be a member to shop here. Emphasis tends to be on organic, eco-friendly items - this isn't Stop n Shop after all. There is a great bulk food section as well as a wine shop (go back to the left and up the stairs) which also where the cheese case is! Recycle your used portable rechargeable batteries and old cell phones. Rechargeable batteries are commonly found in cordless power tools, cellular and cordless phones, laptop computers, camcorders, digital cameras, and remote control toys. This location is a Call2Recycle™ drop-off site.

This garden is run by neighborhood residents/volunteers. It has forty plots of various sizes, natural and landscaped communal areas, and an informal atmosphere. The property is owned by the Boston Natural Areas Fund. Membership/Dues: $20 per year + 6 hours of community work.