For this new installment of our holiday shopping series, we talked on Wednesday afternoon to Judi Anders, store manager at Groove at 115 Elm St.
Here’s our interview.
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Judi Anders: “These are Christmas fuzzy PJs lounge wear, but kids wear them out as well. They wear them in the summer over bathing suits, too. We have tons of regular patterns, too.” Priced at $40. Photo credit: Michael Dinan
New Canaanite: How’s it going so far this holiday shopping season at Groove New Canaan?
Judi Anders: We’re having a slow start, but we had a good weekend with the Holiday Stroll as the kickoff.
What kinds of items are people most interested in?
A lot of people are looking for the fuzzy PJs. That’s one of our most popular items. They come in pants, shorts, hoodies, onesies. Christmas patterns, regular patterns—those are probably our best-selling items.
Judi Anders: “This it’s a digital safe. So you can store your money in it. And it has a code that you put in so no one else can get in without the code.” Priced at $40. Photo credit: Michael Dinan
The demographic you serve seems to wear them all the time.
Oh, they wear them out. They don’t just wear them at home. It’s like lounge wear, but they don’t necessarily just wear them in the house to lounge.
We’ve had some changes to parking in recent months on Elm Street. What are you hearing? What are you seeing?
I think that it’s affecting us a little. People are definitely complaining, but what’s made it worse is the fact that the stairs down by Solé are not working. I think if they were up and running, it would be much better. And I think in the future going forward, it’ll be better when they are open. People just aren’t used to it. They don’t really know and they’re getting warnings and tickets.
“This is a new line for us: FlowArt by Lifelines. It’s guided art and it’s supposed to give you a calming state. Every high school girl I employ five to six that works here has bought this, and they love it.” Priced at $15. Photo credit: Michael Dinan
What would you say to someone who’s maybe newer to town or whose kids are just coming into this age where Groove is the right store for them. How do you describe it and what you offer?
Probably our biggest age attraction are the preteen girls—10, 11, 12, 13—love the store. They walk to town from school. They hang out in here. We get to know them. They follow my little rules of putting their drinks in their backpacks up front. They hang out on the couch, they buy the candy. We’re a young teen store. We have women’s things for teens, too, but they like specific brands these days.