Business

Nail Salon Planned for Former ‘Milestones’ Space on Forest Street

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A new nail salon is planned for a commercial space on Forest Street that’s been vacant since Milestones closed at the end of 2016. An inspection and Health Department license are required in order for “Belle Visage” to open at 32 Forest St., according to documents on file at Town Hall. The interior fit-out at the salon will cost about $60,000, according to a building permit application filed by Chi Ae Na, the business’s owner. The contractor on the job is Wayne Dimm Enterprises of Ridgefield, the architect is New Canaan-based RADMANarchitects LLC, according to the application, filed June 22. Normally under the Building Code, a 1,535-square-foot space would mean that separate facilities are required.

Business

‘They Have Done So Much for This Community’: Milestones on Forest Street To Close After 12 Years

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Milestones, the locally owned specialty gift shop that’s operated in downtown New Canaan for 12 years, will close at year’s end, its owners said. Elisabeth Mulhern said she and husband Dan Mulhern are “incredibly grateful to this community,” where they’ve lived for nearly 20 years. With her husband taking a job 18 months ago with Vineyard Vines, Elisabeth Mulhern said she is focusing on family needs and “a new beginning.” The community has “given us a ton and we have given back a ton,” she said. “It has been a tremendous 12 years and in the end it comes down to having time to do more for us, and to be able to create our next chapter.”

Parents to two daughters who came up through New Canaan Public Schools (South, Saxe, NCHS)—Ashley graduated from the Miami University-Ohio and now works in Connecticut, while Madison is a senior at Penn State University, and is eyeing a career in teaching—the Mulherns both came from corporate retail backgrounds.

Business

SLIDESHOW: 20 Things You Only Know If You Shop and Dine in New Canaan

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New Canaanites have plenty of reasons to shop and dine locally, and those reasons go far beyond the fact that the village center has scores of independent businesspeople—retailers, restaurateurs, service providers—who work here and have had a tough go with the weather these past few weeks. Our owners-on-site specialize in their fields and offer a wide range of expertise. They support most every community event that locals associate with the town—fishing derby, Waveny summer concerts, Santa’s visit, little league, Holiday Stroll, ice cream social, Halloween Parade. It’s hard to find two important community events in a row in New Canaan that aren’t sponsored in some way by Walter Stewart’s, Karl Chevy or both. Because familiarity breeds conversation and rapport, we can come to know our local small business owners and workers better than we may at, say, out-of-town chains. The slideshow above is a testament to that strong connection—click through to learn more about some of those who make up the economic lifeblood of the business district.