Category: Business - Page 183

Sunday, October 18, 2026

Comings and Goings: J.Crew Closed for Renovations

Westport’s J.Crew store at 145 Main St,. is the latest merchant to shut down for renovations. A sign in the window reads, “We’re getting a facelift (but don’t worry…we’ll be back before summer is over). While we’re temporarily closed for renovations, we’re always open at jcrew.com.” The Pottery Barn, 27 Main St., recently renovated its facility while Gap and Gap Kids are preparing to move to their new location at 125 Main St. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Sunday, July 3rd, 2011

Comings and Goings: Jack Wills Shop to Main Street

The Jack Wills shop, “Famously British clothing, university outfitters,” is coming to 139 Main St., next to the J. Crew store. The sign on the store window lists the following locations: London, Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Boston, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and New Haven The website reads, “Jack Wills creates fabulously British goods for the university crowd. Taking its influence from Britain’s rich history and culture, juxtaposed with a heavy dose of the hedonistic college lifestyle, we create authentic and relevant clothing for today.” The site was previously occupied by Life is Good apparel shop which replaced Swezey Jewelry. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Saturday, July 2nd, 2011

Comings and Goings: Suzie CreamCheese to Downtown

Suzie CreamCheese, the women’s apparel shop at 1330 Post Road East, is closing and relocating to 68 Church Lane in downtown Westport where it will share the store space with Love and Company, the interior design shop. Owner Westporter Robin Singer said that her shop has been in the Post Road East location for six and a half years and hopes to close by the end of next week. Singer said that she plans to open at the new location in mid-August. “We’ll share the same entrance (at 68 Church Lane) but will then occupy separate sides of the store space,” she said. Singer said that the downtown location offers the advantage of more foot traffic. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

Investment Banker: Financial Terrorism Not Just Fiction

Investment banker and first time thriller author H.T. Narea told the Westport Rotary Club today that financial terrorism – the subject of his new novel “The Fund”—is a possibility. The Greenwich resident, addressing the group’s weekly meeting at the VFW Post, said that in spite of the financial collapse of 2008 and the rhetoric about fixing the financial system, market fundamentals today have the same risk as in 2007. Speaking about the current financial fragility in Greece, Narea said, “They don’t know who holds the debt—that’s the plot of my novel.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Shake Shack Nearing Completion

Westport’s newest burger entry, Shake Shack at 1849 Post Road East on the Fairfield line, is nearing completion. Restaurant officials told the Planning and Zoning Commission they aimed to open in July, but the exact date is not known. A worker at the site would not be more specific saying, “I can’t leak any information.” Serving hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries and milkshakes, Shake Shack has six locations, five in New York and one in Miami. The first Shake Shack opened in July 2004 in New York City’s Madison Square Park. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Friday, June 24th, 2011

Comings and Goings: Printemps Closing on Saturday

Printemps custom stationers at 18 Avery Place across from the Westport Historical Society is closing its doors on Saturday after 34 years. “The whole industry has changed,” said owner Sandy Rosenberg. “People use less stationery. Today it’s email.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Writing the Business Finale After 34 Years

After 34 years, Printemps custom stationers at 18 Avery Place in Westport is closing its doors on Saturday. Pictured (l-r) are staffers Diana Bell, owner Sandy Rosenberg, and Heli Stagg. Bell and Rosenberg, Easton residents, said they worked alongside each other for 34 years. Rosenberg said the business has fallen victim to the times, especially the use of electronic communication. Bell said that they have served families “through the life cycle – birth announcements, bar mitzvah invitations, engagements and weddings.” Stagg has worked there for the past four years. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Copper Theft Delays Mario Batali Restaurant Opening

Mario Batali fans will have to wait a bit longer for opening of the famed chef’s Westport restaurant Tarry Lodge thanks to a copper thief. The contractor working on the new restaurant at 30 Charles St. said someone vandalized an air conditioning unit on the roof on Sunday night and made off with copper tubes. The thief or thieves “ruined $30,000 of equipment so they could steal a few hundred dollars worth of copper,” said the contractor, who did not want to be identified. The restaurant had been scheduled to open next week but will now be delayed to around July 4, he said. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Union Rejects Concessions, Making Ratification Unlikely

By Mark Pazniokas

www.ctmirror.org

Chances of state employees ratifying their tentative concession agreement all but disappeared Tuesday night as a major AFSCME bargaining unit rejected the deal, leaving the last, slim hope for passage in the hands of a constituency hostile to givebacks: correction officers.

The last chance for ratification by AFSCME, whose rejection would doom the concessions, now rests with AFSCME Local 391, representing 1,850 employees of a half-dozen prisons. They would have to ratify the tentative agreement by a landslide, making up a deficit estimated at 850 votes.

In a vote confirmed late Tuesday night by a union spokesman, AFSCME’s P-2 bargaining unit, representing about 4,000 employees of social service agencies, rejected a tentative agreement with the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to cut the costs of health and retirement benefits.

In a separate vote, the same unit accepted a two-year wage freeze, a vote that is meaningless if the overall concession deal is rejected, as now appears certain. Two other correction locals already have voted against ratification by a margin of more than 2-1.

Click here for more of story

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

Comings and Goings: Pane Bene to Post Road East

Westport has a new Italian food restaurant, Pane Bene, co-owned by Angelo Capponi and Henry Lopez. The restaurant at 1620 Post Road Road East specializes in seafood and pasta. Capponi said the restaurant “allows people in Westport to stay in Westport and not need to go to Fairfield to dine out.” A resident of Fairfield, Capponi said he emigrated from Italy 23 years ago. Stamford-based Lopez said he relocated from Guatemala to the United States 18 years ago. “It’s the American dream for us,” said Capponi. The space was formerly occupied by Pho Garden, a Vietnamese restaurant which opened in the summer 2010 and closed in March. (See WestportNow March 7, 2011) (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com