New Canaan Holiday Shopping: Stewart’s Wine & Spirits [Q&A]

For today’s installment in our local holiday shopping series, we spoke to Larry Klem, manager at Stewart’s Wine & Spirits, 215 Elm St. Here’s a transcription of our conversation. ***

New Canaanite: Tell me a little bit about how the shopping season’s gone here at the wine shop

Larry Klem: It’s going pretty well. We had a really good November. It started out a little slow, but things by mid-November were ramping up and we had a great holiday week.

‘We Want Them To Feel Really Good’: LaSource Opens on Elm Street 

[For this installment of our local holiday shopping series, we interviewed Jessica Johnson, who last month opened LaSource at 44 Elm St.]

Jessica Johnson opened her first LaSource store in Darien a little over one year ago. A successful commercial real estate agent who used to work as a professional ballet dancer, Johnson had the idea in creating the shop to “try and reinvent a lingerie store.”

“I grew up a Victoria’s Secret customer in my 20s and everybody knows how Victoria’s Secret sells to women and what that looks like,” Johnson said Thursday afternoon from the floor of her warm, inviting new location in downtown New Canaan. “It is very much about seduction, whereas we’ve kind of taken seduction out of the store and tried to just create a beautiful space for women to feel comfortable in and supported. And we offer everything from bra fitting to resort wear and swimwear. And for all ages, really.