‘Club Sandwich’ Closed for Two Weeks After Employee Tests Positive for COVID-19

A locally owned and hugely popular sandwich shop in downtown New Canaan is closing for two weeks after an employee there tested positive for COVID-19 virus, its owners say.

Club Sandwich will reopen after the Thanksgiving holiday, according to town resident Jennifer Gaspar, who owns the Cherry Street mainstay with her husband, Leo.

A July 2018 photo of Jennifer Gaspar behind the deli counter at Club Sandwich New Canaan, husband Leo Gaspar working through the lunch rush in back. Credit: Catherine Gorey.

“We are really sad to say it but we just found out west that someone who works for us tested positive and so we decided we had to follow the CDC guidelines and close down for two weeks,” Jennifer Gaspar told NewCanaanite.com. 

Asked what is her message to customers, she said, “We are really sad to disappoint them and not be available for them but we want to keep our community healthy and safe, and our customers—they are our friends, too—and our employees and ourselves, so we are doing the right thing to keep everyone healthy and safe.”

The temporary closure comes amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said during a Board of Selectmen meeting Tuesday morning that “we are seeing an uptick if not a spike now in terms of the number of cases for New Canaan residents.”

Businesses such as Club Sandwich have worked under a series of public health-related restrictions since the onset of coronavirus disease here in March.

Even taking precautions and following Connecticut Department of Public Health guidelines, “it can still happen,” Jennifer Gaspar said, referring to having an employee test positive.

Club Sandwich has posted a sign on its storefront notifying customers of the temporary closure, she said.

“We want to do our part, we have to close to protect everyone,” she said. “We live in the community and we work, we own a business and we are part of this community. Our neighbors and the people we see every day, they are friends.”