Business

Success Story: New Canaan Olive Oil Owner To Open Second Shop in Westchester

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Though it’s not yet been one year since Heidi Burrows opened her specialty olive oil and vinegar tasting shop on Elm Street, the business has gained enough traction here in town that she and husband Travis are expanding to a second location. “The First Press” will open in a few weeks (exact date not finalized) in The Westchester, an upscale shopping mall in White Plains, N.Y.

“This town has received us very well and I’m hoping that the same thing happens at the other one,” Heidi Burrows, a Stamford resident, said on a recent afternoon. “People there have already seen our ‘Coming Soon’ signs and they’ve contacted us, so they seem to be excited.”

New Canaan Olive Oil opened last September in the former Dunkin Donut’s space at 98 Elm St. A New Canaan Chamber of Commerce member, the shop required a heavy renovation to transform from its former look and feel—creating shelving, wall paneling, new flooring, painting and other work that the Burrowses did themselves. Heidi Burrows said that since word has started to spread about the second shop, she finds herself assuring her loyal local customers that she intends to be on site here in town.

Around Town

Sidewalk Sale Sneak Preview: What to Expect This Saturday

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The NewCanaanite.com Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Baskin-Robbins, Connecticut Sandwich Co., Joe’s Pizza and Mackenzie’s. In advance of Saturday’s annual Village Fair & Sidewalk Sale (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), NewCanaanite.com ventured to different shops throughout downtown New Canaan to get some insights into what to expect to see at the different booths this year. One such store is New Canaan Olive Oil located on Elm Street across from the New Canaan Playhouse. The store’s owner, Heidi Burrows, told us that her store will be giving out samples of a variety of products and will offer deals on certain items. “We’ll be doing sales on all of our local jams, all of our sea salts will be on sale for $5, we’re doing gift boxes like a bread-dipper gift box, a salad dressing gift box for $15, and then we’re also doing a buy one get 25 percent off any oil or vinegar,” Ms. Burrows said. New Canaan Olive Oil is not the only local store that will be joining in on the festivities.

Around Town

Caffeine & Carburetors To Be Held in April, September Only

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The creators of a hugely popular, grassroots gathering of classic and specialty car enthusiasts in downtown New Canaan will cut back from four planned events to just one more in 2014, and thereafter will seek to host just two per year rather than six. Pending approval from a special events committee, the final Caffeine & Carburetors of 2014 will be held Sept. 7 on Pine and Elm Streets, following a decision made Tuesday by the Police Commission. Following concerns that the Caffeine & Carburetors had gotten so large that it couldn’t be held in the center of New Canaan as frequently as planned (an estimated 5,000-plus spectators came to the one in April), town officials had suggested holding two events downtown and the rest off-site, such as at Waveny or the high school. Doug Zumbach, a creator and organizer of the event that has always centered around his eponymous gourmet coffee shop on Pine and Grove Streets, said it’s not worth holding Caffeine & Carburetors anywhere else.

Business

Expanded Caffeine & Carburetors Launches Sunday

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New Canaan residents, business owners, traffic police and volunteers are eagerly awaiting the arrival of an estimated 2,000 classic car enthusiasts downtown Sunday morning for the 2014 debut of “Caffeine & Carburetors.”

A grassroots event launched four years ago by town resident Doug Zumbach—owner of the eponymous, gourmet coffee shop on the corner of Grove and Pine Streets—Caffeine & Carburetors has become popular enough that, under its founder’s direction and with support from town officials and the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, it’s grown into an inclusive community occasion. Zumbach—owner of a 64 Plymouth Fury, ‘72 Porsche 911T and ‘77 Porsche 930 Turbo—told NewCanaanite.com that he’s parking one of his own cars in front of the iconic clock midway up the main drag of Elm Street, a spot that will bookend a line of cars that will run the length of Pine and then, for the first time, jag up Park and then down Elm. “I want a certain continuity, a flow for the show,” Zumbach said. “I want a visual continuity as well as physical cars to be down there [on Elm]. Mine is going to be there.

Business

Elm Street Businesses Gear Up for Sunday’s ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ 2014 Debut

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Saying they’re eager to support and participate in a hugely popular local event that’s expected to draw 2,000 people to New Canaan, independent business owners on Elm Street are revving up for Caffeine & Carburetors on Sunday, the 2014 debut. Businesses such as design solutions at 146 Elm and New Canaan Music across the street are opening their doors on a day they’d normally be closed. Chef Luis is opening earlier than usual and setting up outside so that the classic car enthusiasts expected to gather in New Canaan—coming from as far away as Maine and North Carolina—can grab a quick bite as they walk around. This is the first year that the 8 to 11:30 a.m. event—brainchild of Zumbach’s Gourmet Coffee owner Doug Zumbach, a New Canaan resident—will see the overflow from Pine Street come to Elm Street. When Pine hits about 75 percent full, police and volunteers will start directing the vintage and specialty automobiles to the top of Elm Street (at Brotherhood & Higley) and then they’ll start filling in spots down from there.