News

Letter: New Canaan’s Holiday Stroll—What Is It All About?

By |

The weekend after Thanksgiving is dedicated to putting the spotlight on New Canaan’s downtown. The Holiday Stroll was started by a group of local merchants 18 years ago and has evolved to be one of New Canaan’s most beloved traditions.  The Chamber invites you to head downtown 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2 to walk under the lights, browse in the stores, watch a show performed by young local talent, eat delicious food, and take a selfie with Santa and Mrs. Claus. The Stroll functions as New Canaan’s answer to “Small Business Saturday”, reminding all of us to “think local first” when shopping for friends and family this Holiday season! For young families we encourage you to come back to town 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday to catch up with Santa who will be at Houlihan Lawrence at 161 Elm St.

Business

‘Barvida’ Organic Vegan Juice Bar and Café Opens on Elm Street

By |

A new organic vegan juice bar and café has opened in the heart of downtown New Canaan. Darien’s Brennan Branca opened his second location of Barvida on Nov. 12 at 137 Elm St., next to the alley by Chef Luis. The business’s first store opened in Darien in 2020. Serving cold-pressed juices, smoothies and organic foods including bowls, wraps, salads and toasts, Barvida is focused on “providing the absolute highest-quality ingredients that we can possibly source,” Branca told NewCanaanite.com on a recent afternoon.

Business

Retail Butcher Shop Planned for Downtown New Canaan

By |

A new butcher shop is planned for a vacant commercial space on Burtis Avenue. A $40,000 interior fit-out is planned for 12 Burtis Ave., future home of a single-room retail butcher shop, according to a permit application filed Tuesday with the New Canaan Building Department. The space, located at the rear of a Burtis Avenue-facing building and easily accessible from East Avenue, used to house The Red Grape wine shop (now at Forest Street and Locust Avenue). Asked about the prospective new butcher shop, New Canaan Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Laura Budd said, “The Chamber was happy to see that the space was taken quickly, it speaks to the resurgence in demand for commercial space in downtown New Canaan. We look forward to working with this new business.”

It’s unclear what the new shop will be called or when it’s expected to open—the applicant could not immediately be reached for comment.

Against The Grain

‘A Partner to the Community’: Bankwell Works with Local Businesses in Designing, Outfitting New Elm Street Headquarters

By |

Laura Waitz, executive vice president and COO at Bankwell, had a vision when the company decided to move its headquarters to New Canaan two years ago. 

The largest private employer in New Canaan at 100-plus workers is “a relationship bank,” Waitz, a New Canaan resident, said on a recent morning from the second-floor conference room of Bankwell, located at the corner of Elm and Grove Streets. “It’s all about building relationships in business and for our employees and for the community we work in,” she said. “So when we expanded and brought so many more people to New Canaan it was about being a partner to the community, as well. And that was critically important and I wanted a workplace that was peaceful and serene and didn’t look ‘corporate banking’ but that would provide a welcoming, collaborative environment.”

In designing it, Bankwell—which already donates to more than 200 organizations per year, with focus on children, education, food insecurity, homelessness and financial literacy—hired, contracted and otherwise worked with dozens of New Canaan businesses. The bank’s placid and functional workspace includes conference room pieces handcrafted by New Canaan’s gifted furniture designer maker, Tom Throop of Black Creek Designs, a custom-made 300-gallon aquarium from Randy Jahier of Life Aquatic on Park Street, walls lined with the work of local artist Elena McCoy and photography from CAS Gallery on Elm Street, gardens planted by Gregg’s Garden Center and Landscaping on Grove Street, with year-round outdoor furniture from Against the Grain on Main Street.

Around Town

PHOTOS: Bargain-Hunters Hit Sidewalk Sale on Saturday

By |

Hundreds of bargain-hunters visited the downtown Saturday for the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce’s annual sidewalk sale. Held on pedestrian-only stretches of Elm and Forest Streets, shoppers hit the downtown early as temperatures were expected to soar into the mid-90s amid a sustained heat wave in the region. “The street is full of all sorts of great merchants and organizations,” Chamber Executive Director Laura Budd said amid the crowds near Elm and Park Streets where two food trucks kept visitors fed. “It feels like a classic New Canaan summer day and we’re really excited to see all the people down here despite the heat. There’s a nice breeze coming down Elm Street so we feel pretty lucky.”

Nonprofit organizations, including Wildlife In Crisis, Staying Put in New Canaan and local party committees, set up booths alongside retailers and service businesses in curbside tents, many of them passing out water to downtown visitors.