Business

‘A Great Journey’: Salon Anastassia Opens on Main Street

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It has been a lifelong dream of Anastassia Aida to own a salon. The Estonia native has spent her entire career working in the beauty industry—from obtaining her license in Europe to working at Greg and Tony Salon in Westport, Aida never stopped working toward her ultimate goal. Two months ago, those dreams became reality. Aida opened Salon Anastassia at 80 Main St. in April. 

Now, she said she’s learning how to be a business owner. 

“I love what I’m doing,” Aida told NewCanaanite.com Tuesday during an interview in the sleek, modern second-floor salon.

Business

New Canaan Couple Launches Breast Protection Insert for Female Athletes

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Christian Murphy had no idea that sending a message of support to his close childhood friend from Australia would lead to a new passion in his life. The former A+E Global Media employee was looking through LinkedIn one day in 2023 when he came across the inspiring story of Suzie Betts, Christian Murphy recalled. “I hadn’t been in touch with [Betts] for a very long time, but saw that she had recently undergone multiple surgeries and biopsies to address what were non-cancerous but extremely painful lumps in her breasts,” Christian Murphy told NewCanaanite.com Monday during an interview at New Canaan Library. “Based on this experience, she had developed a product to protect other female athletes so they wouldn’t have to go through the same experiences that she did.”

He continued: “I really admired what [Betts] was trying to do. She was trying to address a major problem in our society: a lack of funding and support for the proper equipment in female sports.”

Betts had her first surgery in 2018 and then, after conversations with her own daughters that showed a need for additional breast protection in youth sports, founded her product as ‘Boob Armour’ (later ‘Boob Protect’) in 2021.

Business

Town To Focus on Ridding Elm Street of Double-Parking Trucks

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Once the oversized dumpsters in the parking lot behind The Playhouse are moved to a better area, and there’s also a new ramp connecting that lot with the alley that runs alongside Le Pain Quotidien, enforcement officers will focus on getting double-parking delivery trucks off New Canaan’s main drag downtown. As it is, delivery trucks exacerbate congestion on the one-way stretch of Elm Street throughout the day. That segment of Elm and the commercial block of South Avenue both will change to paid parking later this summer, reversing a decades-old system. (When that happens, the town will convert the paid spots in the Park Street Lot to free.)

“We are going to be trying to push them, and we do that now,” Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg said Tuesday during a regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

She continued: “We try to move them. We try to direct them where we can.

Business

‘It’s Going To Hurt Merchants’: Parking Commission Pushes Back on Elimination of 15-Minute Spots on Elm Street

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Members of the appointed body that oversees New Canaan’s parking department this month pushed back on part of a larger plan that will see the one-way stretch of Elm Street converted to paid spots. Specifically, members of the Parking Commission during their May 7 meeting objected to plans to eliminate—rather than increase—the number of free 15-minute parking spaces on Elm Street while the town converts those free spots to paid. “If we are not interested in revenue, what is the argument against short-term parking?” Commissioner Katie O’Neill said during the regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “Because as I see it, we are adding a surcharge on coffee shops, on sandwich shops. All the sudden now if you are picking up a $15 sandwich it’s going to be $15.50 or whatever.

Business

New Canaan Resident’s ‘Mayflower Home Organizing’ Marks One Year in Business

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The process of home organization is considered a chore by many, but for Stephanie Radman, it has become a nationwide business. A serial entrepreneur, Radman is no stranger to running a business, but Mayflower Home Organizing may be her most successful venture to date. Formerly known to New Canaan residents as the Town Greeter, and prior to that, founder of The Sweet Baker, Radman says it was during her time as Town Greeter that she was inspired to start her organization business. 

“A lot of my newcomers were telling me, ‘Stephanie, I have two young children, the dog’s barking, the baby’s crying, boxes are up to the ceiling,’ in their homes in New Canaan, and they would ask me, ‘Do you have someone who could help me get organized?’ ” Radman told the New Canaanite. “I thought this is something I could definitely do. I’m a very meticulous person myself, and it just really happened organically.