Kate Spade at 103 Main St. is the newest addition to Westport’s downtown. The location was previously occupied by Sigrid Olsen. Kate Spade is one of 38 stores internationally that sells women’s apparel, shoes, handbags, perfumes, jewelry and leather goods.“We’re all about ‘girly-girls,’” said Pamela Friedman, assistant manager. She said Kate Spade was founded in 1993 as a handbag shop, was sold to Neiman Marcus in 2006, and was bought by Liz Claiborne Inc. in 2007. Other Kate Spade shops are in Greenwich, White Plains and Manhasset, N.Y. Both Kate Spade and Sigrid Olsen are owned by Liz Claiborne Inc. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

J. Crew Group Inc. today confirmed plans to be taken private for $3 billion as the clothing retailer reported fiscal third-quarter earnings fell 14 percent on weaker margins and it slashed its earnings view for the year. An investor group made up of private-equity firms TPG Capital, a former owner of J. Crew, and Leonard Green & Partners plus Chairman and Chief Executive Millard Drexler will pay $43.50 a share. Shares closed today at $43.99. Under the terms of the deal, Drexler, former CEO of San Francisco-based Gap, would keep his posts and maintain a “significant equity investment” in the company. The Westport store is located at 145 Main St. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

By James Lomuscio

Despite its time-honored reputation and a more than 50-year presence in Westport, Goodwill Industries of Western Connecticut, Inc. was not received with complete goodwill Thursday night at the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z).
Goodwill wants to move to the site of the former Peppermill Restaurant at at 1700 Post Road East in Westport from its present location at 1572 Post Road East. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Goodwill representatives went before the P&Z to request a site plan approval for a bigger facility at the site of the old Peppermill Restaurant on Post Road East.

At the public hearing, commission members questioned David Turner, Goodwill’s president, and John Fallon, counsel for the local representatives of the 108-year-old nonprofit, on everything from parking spaces to reworking the driveway entrance to the times trucks would drop off and remove goods.

The applicants also took heat for trying to reconfigure the lot despite an easement it shares with the Westport Tennis Club.

J. McLaughlin, an apparel retailer formerly at 91 Main St., has opened at 1026 Post Road East in the space formerly occupied by Leonards antique furniture which moved across the street to 1045 Post Road East. Samantha Holmes, the general manager of the McLaughlin store, described the shop as “high end, upscale men’s and women’s apparel leaning toward preppy sophistication.” According to its website, the business is headquartered in Brooklyn and was founded by brothers Jay and Kevin McLaughlin who opened their first store 32 years ago at 74th Street and Third Avenue on New York’s Upper East Side. Holmes said that there are now 43 stores, all in the East Coast. The Westport shop is its fourth in Connecticut; the other three are in Washington Depot, New Canaan and Greenwich. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Westporter Jeffrey Mayer, CEO of MXenergy, addresses guests tonight at Aitoro’s in Norwalk as the Stamford-based energy company announced the launch of MXenergyTV for iO TV Cablevision customers with a digital set-top box. MXenergyTV, available across Cablevision’s service area on iO TVChannel 654, provides consumers with information they can use to conserve energy and money. “We have been at the forefront of the sustainability movement and are always looking for creative ways to get the message out to consumers,” said Mayer, former chair of the Westport Board of Finance. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Helen Klisser During for WestportNow.com

New York City-based Fairway Market opened its latest food store in Stamford’s new Harbor Point development today – an 85.000-square foot food emporium just off of Exit 7 of I-95 that created 500 jobs. With a slogan “Like No Other Market,” the parent company boasts of having the highest sales per-square-foot of any retailer – as well as a Westport connection. Chairman of the company is Charles W. Santoro (at microphone), managing partner in Westport-based Sterling Investment Partners. Santoro and Sterling were honored by the Town of Westport Beautification Committee later in the day for Sterling’s pledge to fund the upkeep of the American flags flying on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge in the town’s center. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

David Neeleman, chairman of Azul Airlines of Brazil and creator of four successful, independent airlines, including JetBlue and Canada’s WestJet, told the Westport Rotary Club today that he wants employees to feel “it’s the best job I’ve ever had.” Neeleman who prides himself in his eccentric commitment to employee and customer happiness, added, “if not, why not?”  Neeleman wants everyone to love the company because they feel it’s a “cause.”  Neeleman, who was born in Brazil and lived there until he was 5, said he is proud of the rapid growth of his 15-month old Brazilian airline (whose name means “blue” in Portuguese). He said it has a fleet of 26 airplanes and plans to expand to 48 next year. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Moody’s Investor Service said today it has assigned a triple-A (Aaa) rating to the Town of Westport’s $20.1 million general obligation refunding bond issue.

In an opinion released to clients, the rating agency said concurrently it has affirmed the outstanding Aaa rating on the town’s $162 million in parity debt, which is secured by the town’s general obligation unlimited tax pledge.

Finance Director John Kondub has told the town funding bodies that there could be as much as an $800,000 savings to taxpayers in the refinancing, expected to be offered on Thursday.

Moody’s said the highest quality rating “reflects the town’s sizable tax base, high wealth indices and modest debt levels.”