With the town recovering from a turbulent few years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, two stores fly back into business. Beloved local businesses, Wild Goose Chase and Eureka Puzzles, are swapping locations and trying to build their vision for the future.

In Coolidge Corner, the Wild Goose Chase is moving to 1349 Beacon Street, a smaller location just a few stores down from their previous location. Eureka Puzzles is taking their place in 1355 Beacon Street, a larger physical space.

Wild Goose Chase Account Executive Lisa Wisel said although Wild Goose Chase will be in a smaller location now, they are planning to sell everything customers love.

“Because it’s half the space, we won’t have as much product but what we [will] have is amazing. We have a great clothing selection, jewelry selection, fun gifts; lots and lots of fun things,” Wisel said.

Maria O’Meara, a former resident in the town, said the last time she’d been to Wild Goose Chase was before the COVID-19 pandemic. O’Meara said the shop caught her attention with their displays on a recent visit.

“They have a nice display in the window, nice lighting, attractive products. It’s a nice shop,” O’Meara said.

After being closed since this June because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wisel said they are looking to make a big return to in-store purchases.

“We’re assuming people are going to be out and about and we are gearing up for the holiday season and hopefully looking forward to a really great season,” Wisel said.

Eureka Puzzles, founded and operated by David Leschinsky, hopes to use the new space to make a create-your-own puzzle maker. They offered this service before the expansion but sourced the custom puzzles from a New Hampshire puzzle store.

“We’re going to be able to have both more space for retail and, at the same time, offer the ability to have you come in and we can make a jigsaw puzzle based on an image that you supply us with,” Leschinsky said.

With both of their recent reopenings, Wild Goose Chase and Eureka Puzzles are hoping to host events for the community. Wisel said Wild Goose Chase plans to start these events in January with a book and arts corner for local businesses.

“We’re interested in having local artists sell their books and then have them come in. We also want to have local artists come in, sit at a table with their [crafts] and talk to customers about how they make their product,” Wisel said.

At Eureka Puzzles, Leschinsky said they are planning for events at First Light, an annual community event, including having an acapella group come perform for it.

With the supply chain crisis, Leschinsky said Eureka Puzzles is working through a lack of shipments and supplies while opening. Leschinsky said some of the pieces and boards that Eureka sells come from various craftsmen in India, Greece, Germany and China.

“I’ve got things on backorder that have been on backorder for a year. The issue is that it’s very complicated. So I’m finding other places where I can get things from,” Leschinsky said.

Wisel said the supply crisis stalled Wild Goose Chase during their reopening but because of their dependence on local sources, they still have everything they need to reopen.

“We did have one clothing order that got delayed because of shipping and shortage of help. But the majority of our items are all within the U.S., and majority of those are New England, and more specifically Brookline,” Wisel said.

Leschinsky said getting the products their customers demand will take longer and many businesses are trying their best to deal with this.

“We’re still dealing with an economy and a world that is in transition,” Leschinsky said. “We’re all trying to navigate it as best we can given all the uncertainties.”