For this installment of our holiday shopping series, we dropped into Found & Design at 36 Elm St. on Saturday afternoon and spoke to owner Christine Keane.
Here’s our interview.
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Bone resin box brass stripes at Found & Design on Elm Street, $185. Photo credit: Michael Dinan
New Canaanite: How is it going so far this holiday shopping season?
Christine Keane: It’s been really good.
What kinds of things are people interested in?
People always come to see and purchase our ornaments early in the season because we sell out quite fast. And I try to buy very interesting, different ones. That’s always been a popular thing. I would say then it’s probably handbags and home decor are popular, too.
You’re right about the ornaments. Even just while I was here, I saw a lot of people picking up a little red wine glass ornament that like there’s actual wine in it.
Yes, we’re getting low.
Blue-and-white garden stool at Found & Design on Elm Street, $325. Photo credit: Michael Dinan
For people who haven’t had a chance to stop into your shop, or maybe they’re newer to town, how do you describe Found?
We’re a mix of vintage and new, which is nice-to-have things that have a history or a past. A lot of people come to the store to decorate their home or buy something that evokes a memory or a place that they’ve been. I try to seek merchandise for the store that’s different and not going to be seen everywhere else. And I love just mixing things that are classic from the past with new items.
We’ve had some changes to parking downtown, especially on your street, on Elm, and part of South Avenue. What are you seeing from your customers here with the changes?
Custom pillow at Found & Design on Elm Street, $385. Photo credit: Michael Dinan
I would say that a lot of the customers that talk about it are very stressed about getting a parking ticket. A lot of them come in and say, ‘I only have 10 minutes and then I’ve got to go. I don’t want to get a ticket.’ I think the problem is now—and it was tough, anyway, before it was metered—two hours doesn’t give you a lot of time to have a nice lunch or brunch at a restaurant, and then shop the street. It gives you no time to do much of anything. And I find that, in a store like mine, it’s not really a ‘run in, grab something and go.’ You want to have a shopping experience and that’s not really allowing it. I know a lot of people are upset. People who are not from this town didn’t realize on Elm that there are no meters in front of each spot. So they’re having trouble figuring out how to do that. The other comment I hear is they don’t want to download another app and put their credit card on it. Some people are older and they don’t understand the app system. So it’s been a mix of everything. It has not been positive, I can tell you that. A lot of people say to me, ‘I went around the block three times and then I called it a day.’ Meaning, ‘I’m not going to come shopping.’
For people who want to shop at Found, where do you tell them to park?
I do tell them to park in the parking lot behind the store [Morse Court] because at least there’s a lot of spots. It’s nice to have them go out my back door. Bigger items—we do sell mirrors and furniture and benches—you can’t walk down Elm Street with that. So that’s usually where I suggest.