NewCanaanite.com (https://newcanaanite.com/category/new-canaan-business-2/page/10)
New Canaan businesses are the lifeblood not just of the “Magic Circle” downtown and other hubs of arts and commerce, but also are critical drivers and supporters of community events, human services and preserving the character of “The Next Station to Heaven.” In this section, we spotlight New Canaan businesses and profile their owners, in long-form interviews and spot features, celebrating our anchor businesses and welcoming those new to town.
For today’s installment of our local holiday shopping series, we met up with Larry Klem, store manager at Stewart’s Wine & Spirits. Here’s our conversation. ***
New Canaanite: Tell me about Stewart’s Wine & Spirits and its customers. Larry Klem: We have a really, I would say, vibrant customer base. Pretty wine savvy customers.
A luxury leather goods store is coming to downtown New Canaan. Norwalk-based Dooney & Bourke, maker of bags and accessories, is moving into the vacant space at the corner of South Avenue and Elm Street, according to signs going up on the building.
The company has “fostered a relationship with premier European craftsmen, refining techniques to create high performance materials with enduring quality,” according to its website. “The entrepreneurial spirit of Dooney & Bourke remains. We are privately run, independent, and dedicated to the exceptional artisanal craftsmanship that has separated our brand from its competitors.”
The space at 66 Elm St. has been vacant since Heather Gaudio Fine Art moved to Greenwich in September.
Dooney & Bourke was founded in Norwalk in 1975 by Peter Dooney as a purveyor of belts, suspenders and small leather goods, according to its website.
For this installment of our local holiday shopping series, we talked to Ann Cheney, store manager at Walter Stewart’s Market.
Here’s a transcription of our conversation. ***
New Canaanite: Talk to me a little bit about Walter Stewart’s and what the store likes to do during the holidays.
Ann Cheney: Walter Stewart’s is the New Canaan community market and we like to have everything for our many customers, whether it’s an easy dinner preparation or an extravagant pull-out-all-the-stops holiday meal, meal ingredient or catering. We do that all throughout December.
What kind of things are people coming in to look for, specifically, during the holidays? Our customers are looking for special gifts, treats for the grandchildren, treats for themselves. We offer a wide variety of candy and floral items, in terms of gifts.
For today’s installment of our local holiday shopping series, we stopped into the home and gift shop No. 299 on Main Street.
Here’s a transcription of our conversation with owner Jackie Fucigna. ***
New Canaanite: Please give us some background on No. 299 and a general idea of what people can find here. Jackie Fucigna: The business started about 12 years ago in my garage and just grew organically from there.
For this new installment of our local holiday shopping series, we visited The Glass House Design Store at 199 Elm St. There, we spoke to Dominica Baharian, manager of the Design Store and the Visitor Center, and Christa Carr, communications director for The Glass House. Here’s a transcript of our conversation. ***
New Canaanite: Could you please give us an overview of the Design Store? What can people find here and how does it fit into The Glass House program?