Business

‘I’m Going To Miss Coming Here’: Longtime Customers Visit Baskin Robbins on Final Night

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After more than a half-century in business, Baskin Robbins closed Saturday night after a New Canaan woman put in for a last paid order—a small peanut-butter-and-chocolate milkshake. Gretchen Russell had entered the Main Street ice cream store with husband Stephen moments before 10 p.m., when beloved longtime owner Anna Valente-Krolikowski locked the door for the final time. “It’s sad,” said Russell, née Gretchen Meyer, a 1978 New Canaan High School graduate who has patronized Baskin Robbins all her life. “It’s sad to see Anna go. It’s sad to see something we’ve known for so long go.

Anna Valente-Krolikowski

Baskin-Robbins To Close; Longtime Owner Retiring

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Baskin-Robbins, a mainstay of downtown New Canaan for more than a half-century, will close Dec. 28, its owner said. A lease renewal on the Main Street commercial space has triggered a franchise agreement-required remodel that’s cost-prohibitive, according to Anna Valente-Krolikowski, owner of the popular ice cream shop since 1992. It’s a bittersweet moment for the town native, who said she’s looking forward to retiring (“I’m hanging up the scoop”) and starting a new chapter, though she’s “loved” forging lifelong relationships with workers and customers at Baskin-Robbins. “Listen, am I excited because I think I need a break?

Around Town

‘So Many Ways To Stay Connected’: New Canaan Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony [PHOTOS]

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New Canaan’s Jim Talbot arrived in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive, a major campaign of the war that launched in early 1968 and involved a series surprise attacks. A Maine native who had gone on to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, U.S. Army Capt. Talbot by that time had undergone airborne and Ranger training, and spent one year stationed in West Germany. In six months as battery commander, Talbot saw four killed and 40 wounded in his towed artillery unit. “When you ask a veteran about Memorial Day, faces flash in front of us,” Talbot said from a podium outside the north entrance of Town Hall following a re-routed Memorial Day parade. “Memories of relatives in more distant wars arise from the fog of time.

Business

‘The Impact Is Staggering’: Downtown Merchants Make Case for Controlled Sandwich Board Allowance

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Chris Kilbane, owner of downtown mainstay New Canaan Toy Store, first placed a sandwich board outside his Park Street shop after earning “Best Toy Store” honors from Moffly Media. The main idea, Kilbane told town planning officials Tuesday night, was to promote the Best of the Gold Coast designation. What he quickly discovered, however, was that the sandwich board helped steer foot traffic into New Canaan Toy Store—something that’s become increasingly important and more difficult for mom-and-pop retailers. “It seems so small, but the impact is staggering,” Kilbane told the Planning & Zoning Commission at the group’s regular meeting, held in the Douglass Room at Lapham Community Center. “You have to understand how it is to run a business in New Canaan at this point, or any brick and mortar store.

News

New Canaan, a ‘20,000-Member Family’: Classmates, Community To Honor Mikey Czech on Friday

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“My mom sped to the Emergency Room of Norwalk Hospital to see what a brain tumor was. The doctors did many thorough tests to determine what was wrong with me. I was worried and frustrated to be at the hospital on my birthday. When the tests were over, my dad came into the building from church. When he entered the room, I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him to death. Later that morning I called my sister to break the news to her.