8 The Courier sun • OCTOBER 23, 2014 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com ARTISTIC STITCH SAVED BY CNBC’S ‘THE PROFIT’ BY SALVATORE LICATA TV show “The Profit,” decided to sew a deal with slicata@queenscourier.com/@sal_licata1 Artistic Stitch to make them become a profitable business again — though it came at a price. They were hanging by their last thread. For 50 percent of the ownership, Lemonis came up Artistic Stitch, a Glendale business for 18 years, was with a new business plan. close to shutting its doors for good in 2014 as it ran into He changed the name of the business from Artistic some financial hardships. Stitch to Queens Vibe and started a brand-new clothing Owner Sal Loretta could see that his business was line to complement the embroidery business, which has going down, racking up $1.5 million in debt, so he always been the most profitable portion of the company. decided to seek some help in a man known to save He also changed the name of the business’s pizzeria from dying businesses, Marcus Lemonis. Saverio’s to 7 Pizzeria. “It’s tough when the banks are tight on their loans, “He helped to improve business drastically already,” said even when business is good,” said Loretta. “I weighed Loretta. “I am truly blessed to have partnered with Marcus.” my options and decided to see if Marcus could help me Loretta added that Lemonis has helped the business amend my business with his expertise.” become “financially positive” again, something that it Lemonis, a serial entrepreneur and host of the CNBC hasn’t been since it moved to its current site. Three years ago Loretta decided to expand his business. He moved his then-small business of custom embroidery and sign-making to a massive 28,000-square-foot warehouse, located at 79-08 Cooper Ave., where he added some new business ideas. To fill up the space of the warehouse, Loretta started the first city store featuring embroidery, sign-making, a sports complex and pizzeria. Since then, with the debt from business loans and other expenses, Loretta was in the red. But now with the new name and style, business is booming, according to Loretta. “Now there’s not a day that we don’t have an order,” he said. “Since we partnered, Marcus has offered tremendous support. He is extremely intelligent and a great person to be associated with. It’s been an amazing ride.” Photo courtesy CNBC Residents clean up graffiti-stricken bridge BY SALVATORE LICATA slicata@queenscourier.com/@sal_licata1 Graffiti has been a problem in Hamilton Beach for decades, creating eyesores all around the neighborhood. And the bridge that connects Hamilton Beach to Old Howard Beach over Hawtree Creek, known to residents as the “blue bridge,” is one of the most notorious spots for defacement. But some residents, who are fed up with the look it gives the neighborhood, took clean-up matters into their own hands. “One day, while hanging on my boat with some friends, we all started talking about how the bridge made the neighborhood look degrading,” said Laura Weiser, a resident of Hamilton Beach for 12 years. “So, I decided to do something about it.” And she did. In the beginning of October, Weiser, along with her friend and fellow resident of Hamilton Beach, Traci Scotto, bought some green paint, and started painting over the graffiti on the concrete footing of the bridge. Within three hours, the pair fully painted the northern portion of the footing on the Hamilton Beach side but soon after ran into some trouble. As Weiser was starting to paint the southern portion, on her second day of painting, she slipped, fell and tore tendons and ligaments in her left wrist. Because of this injury, she could not finish painting the side and has left it a quarter of the way done. She is now hoping that some residents will follow her good deed and help finish painting the concrete THE COURIER/Photo by Sal Licata as she will not be able to do so for another six weeks. “I would love to have finished painting the bridge,” Weiser said. “I still have plenty of paint and new rollers and brushes. Now, I just need someone to continue on what I have started.”
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