Business
‘The Fabric of the Community’: Francos Marks 90 Years on Elm Street
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Francos Wine Merchants, a family-owned wine and spirits store on Elm Street, marks its 90th anniversary.
Around Town
‘A Gift That the Residents Give To Each Other’: Support Needed for Holiday Lights Downtown
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One of New Canaan’s best-loved holiday traditions needs a boost to get over the hump this year, officials say.
The holiday lights—thousands of white lights that are strung through some 60 trees throughout the heart of the business district—are supported solely through tax-deductible donations.
The head of the organization that leads the effort, the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, Laura Budd, said this year the Foundation is about 65% toward its approximately $26,000 goal. “The municipality does not pay for it—it’s really a gift that the residents give to each other,” Budd said. The lights go up in October—thanks to a reduced rate from Rob Hutchinson (NCHS ‘69, was at Woodstock) and his local business, Hutchinson Tree Care Specialists Inc.—and are turned on two days before Thanksgiving, Budd said. “So they are there to greet all the friends and family who come into town,” she said. “I think it is just a really iconic New Canaan feeling to drive into town, either up Main Street or down South Avenue, and to see the lights in the trees.
Business
‘It’s Just Been Amazing’: Barvida Marks One Year on Elm Street
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Asked what his first year in business in downtown New Canaan has been like, Barvida owner Brennan Branca says “it’s been overwhelmingly positive.”
The organic vegan juice bar and café he opened last November at 137 Elm St. has seen a steady stream of customers, according to the Darien native, and his business is integrating into the community in ways he couldn’t anticipate.
The New Canaan location is Branca’s second, after his native Darien, though even there he had patrons coming down from the “Next Station To Heaven” to sample cold-pressed juices, smoothies and organic foods including bowls, wraps, salads and toasts. “When we were in Darien, we had a bunch of people from New Canaan come over and ask us to open,” Branca recalled. “And as soon as we opened, we had a bunch of people come in that kind of knew the name and honestly, everyone in New Canaan has been extremely nice, more so than I could ever imagine. They were extremely welcoming.
Business
New Canaan Woman Launches ‘Posh,’ a High-End Consignment Shop Downtown
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The idea for a high-end consignment shop had been percolating in recent years for New Canaan’s Christine Knox.
She’d always liked beautiful things and—after earning a bachelor’s degree in art history at Skidmore College and a master’s in art history from Williams College—she went to work for about six years in the field of art, through museums and at Christie’s Auction House. “I’ve always been interested in the art field—everywhere I traveled, I could always go to museums and look at everything,” Knox told NewCanaanite.com on Tuesday morning from a desk at the rear of Posh Home Décor Consignment at 33 East Ave. “I have everything here from—right over my shoulder is a 16th century Italian etching, which is very famous—everything from antiques to contemporary things. I vet things extremely carefully when they come in so that everything is sort of unique, different and good prices. Very marketable prices.
Around Town
‘Project Pink New Canaan’: Local Breast Cancer Survivor Launches Initiative with Community Support
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During a regular mammogram appointment at a Manhattan clinic five years ago, Julie Stein wound up stuck with a radiologist for about five hours undergoing tests and scans, including on a 3D machine. Stein was told that “something just is looking off,” she recalled. “He said, ‘Something doesn’t look right. You’ll hear from a doctor tomorrow.’ They never told me what it was,” Stein said. “I didn’t feel a lump.