Around Town

New Canaan Merchants Launch ‘Shop Summer Nights’ Every Thursday Through Labor Day

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The Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. A group of downtown New Canaan merchants is keeping their doors open late every Thursday this summer, hoping to draw shoppers into town during the evening hours under a new initiative. “Shop Summer Nights” is organized through the newly formed Shop New Canaan Association, more than one dozen independent retailers that began meeting in late May. Participating stores stay open from 5 to 7 p.m. each Thursday, with a different theme each week. Parking is free after 5 p.m.

Carl Franco, owner of Franco’s Wine Merchants on Elm Street and one of the participants, said the idea came from a recurring conversation with customers.

Business

NCHS Grad Launches ‘We Have a Guy,’ Connecting Families with Local Help

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The Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. Mills Legge, a 2024 New Canaan High School graduate, has launched a website that connects local families with college students home for the summer for help with myriad odd jobs such as yard work, dog walking, moving and party help. We Have a Guy went live in late May. A Villanova University rising junior, Legge said the idea for the business came from watching posts pile up on a New Canaan babysitter swap Facebook group. 

“People miss posts and all sorts of things like that,” Legge said. “I knew my parents were always looking for help with odd jobs, and I knew it was the same with a lot of family friends around town.

Business

‘We’re So Thankful’: The Adirondack Store on Elm Street To Close Friday

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The Adirondack Store, a beloved retail shop and café that opened on Elm Street seven years ago, is closing its doors this week, the business’s owners say. Christopher English and Stephen Shin said they’re deeply thankful to the New Canaan community for making their store a unique and special place. 

“We’re so thankful that a community like New Canaan really supports its brick-and-mortar,” Shin said. “They come into town, they shop, and we truly have appreciated that, especially in the holidays, from Labor Day to Christmas Day.”

English said that when they opened the Elm Street location, he and Shin “never really imagined that it would turn into a social hub for the community.”

“That’s something we never expected,” English said. “But the people that have worked for us the seven years that we’ve basically been here are just loving and incredible.”

Shin added that those valued workers are “exceptional” and “a reflection of the community.”

“Every single person that’s ever worked for us has been incredible,” he added. English and Shin said that expenses have made the store too difficult to work financially, with $24,000 in monthly rent and bills that have risen steeply in recent years (for example, electric up from $1,200 to $4,000 per month, and health insurance up from $1,600 to $3,900).

Business

‘Serving with Dignity’: New Canaan Woman Launches ‘God’s Acre Concierge’

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A longtime New Canaan resident has launched a new business designed to help local families in need of home healthcare services. Katarina Tchakorov, a registered nurse and private-duty and post-surgical care specialist, said she launched God’s Acre Concierge to cover “care for seniors, end-of-life responsibilities and also recovery after aesthetic surgeries.” 

“So many times people don’t want to go or stay in the hospitals when they are recovering after aesthetic surgeries—they go home, but they need the support of a registered nurse,” she said. “We provide the support and match the client with a registered nurse.”

Known to scores of local families as the former director at The Inn assisted living facility, Tchakarov said that care “is not just about physical assistance to people, but it’s also about serving with dignity.”

“We try to make people independent and bring peace of mind for loved ones,” she said. The company offers several levels of service, including daily care, memory care, hospital-to-home recovery and end-of-life care. One service, called “Total Care,” is for clients who are “bedbound or significantly mobility-limited,” according to the God’s Acre Concierge website.

Business

Shopping Local and the Health of Downtown New Canaan [Q&A]

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With happenings in downtown New Canaan top of mind for many these days, we decided to put some questions about the local business community to Laura Budd, executive director of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce. 

Here’s our exchange. ***

New Canaanite: We’ve reported on one Main Street business closing in the past month, as well as another Main Street business opening across the street, and the launch of a new business on Vitti Street. What is the Chamber’s take on the state/health of downtown New Canaan today? Laura Budd: Downtown New Canaan is healthy — and the activity you’re describing is actually proof of that. Openings and closings are a normal part of any living, breathing commercial district.