Shoppers at Westport’s Stop & Shop will soon have a new coffee counter to get a quick caffeine hit while shopping. The Boston Globe reported that in the latest twist in New England’s coffee wars, Quincy, Mass.-based Stop & Shop is dropping Dunkin’ Donuts stores from inside 130 supermarkets and is replacing them with rival java giant Starbucks. It is an extension of an existing relationship. Starbucks has 93 coffee stands operating inside Stop & Shop and its sister grocery chain Giant Food, the newspaper said. A Westport Stop & Shop official said he expects the Starbucks to open in September. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

It’s been at least three weeks since the Tiburon Restaurant, successor since February to the landmark Three Bears Restaurant (See WestportNow Feb. 2, 2009), has been open for business. A message tells callers that the restaurant at the intersection of Newtown Turnpike and Wilton Road was closed “for renovations.” Those in the neighborhood said they had not seen any work under way and they assumed it was closed for good. Multiple signs posted on the door say there is dish washing and/or laundry equipment inside belonging to Auto-Chlor system with a phone number. The supplier said he cannot find the restaurant owner and fears his equipment might be seized. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Multiple signs on the door of the closed Tiburon Restaurant, the successor to the longtime Three Bears Restaurant on Westport’s Wilton Road and Newtown Turnpike, declare there is equipment inside belonging to someone else. The supplier of the dish washing and/or laundry equipment said he has been unable to contact the restaurant’s owner and fears his equipment might be seized. A voice message on the restaurant’s phone said it is “closed for renovations.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Amy Simon Fine Art, formerly at Westport’s Playhouse Square, has relocated to the Old Sasco Mill,1869 Post Road East. Phone (203)259-1500, e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), http://www.amysimonfineart.com. The gallery hours are 11 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Tuesday – Saturday and by appointment.  The gallery specializes in contemporary art by established and emerging artists in all mediums. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

The owner of a former Westport investment firm was sentenced to 20 months in prison today in federal court in New Haven after pleading guilty to interstate transportation of money obtained from fraud.

U.S. District Judge Mark R. Kravitz sentenced Anthony Iati, 48, of York, Pa., to 20 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for defrauding investors in his company of more than $500,000. 

He had pleaded guilty to the charge in February. (See WestportNow Feb. 26, 2009)

Iati was the owner of Great River Capital, LLC, formerly of 191 Post Road West in Westport. Court documents showed investors lost as much as $700,000 in connection with the company which sold jewelry to department stores. 

BodyQuest is scheduled to open its studio for “physical fitness inspired by dance” by mid-August at 580 Post Road East at the location formerly occupied for half a century by Beacon Electronics. Owner of Bodyquest is Laurie Glatzer, a former professional dancer with the National Ballet of Canada and a veteran instructor of the Lotte Berk exercise method. She opened BodyQuest in Westport in August 2005, sharing a studio with the Westport Academy of Dance at 345 Post Road West. “BodyQuest is not a dance class studio”, she said. “We’re a studio for physical fitness that is inspired by dance. The audience we most appeal to ranges everywhere from runners to moms and ages that range from 20 to 80.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Westport’s Smith & Hawken store at 1045 Post Road East will soon be shut down as the symbol of high-end gardening for more than 30 years is going out of business. Scotts Miracle-Gro, which purchased the business in 2004, has announced that it will shut down all of Smith & Hawken’s 56 U.S. stores by the end of the year and the Web site and call center will stop taking catalog orders immediately. The Westport store opened in November 2003. (See WestportNow Nov. 24, 2003) (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

A lawsuit was filed today against the owner of the Westport National Bank on behalf of retirement account holders who say they lost $60 million that the bank invested with convicted swindler Bernard Madoff.
Suit was filed against Westport National Bank today in Stamford Superior Court. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com/file

The lawsuit was filed in Stamford Superior Court against Connecticut Community Bank N.A., owner of Westport National Bank, 1495 Post Road East.

The lawsuit said that if Westport National Bank had not failed to perform its duties as custodians of the accounts, which would have required Madoff to deliver the securities he claimed to be buying, the plaintiffs would not have been victims.

“That was the protection the account holders had against fraud — you can’t run a Ponzi scheme if you have to deliver the securities you’re supposed to purchase,” David S. Golub, an attorney with Silver Golub & Teitell LLP representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement announcing the suit.