By James Lomuscio

Opening a franchise can be risky, even riskier if you are the first franchisee — riskier yet if your business is doughnuts and Dunkin’ Donuts seems to be everywhere, three in Westport alone.

Joan Tuckman with a customer at the Westport Donut Crazy. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) James Lomuscio for WestportNow.com

Not to mention that Coffee An’ Donut Shop at 343 Main St. has the storied history of its doughnuts going to the White House during the Clinton Administration.

Call them crazy, and Joan and Joe Tuckman of Fairfield would probably take it as a compliment. They decided last month to literally put their money where their mouths were, becoming the first franchise owner of Donut Crazy at 1 Ferry Lane in the New Haven-bound side station house.

The trackside location was opened in April 2017 by entrepreneur Jason Wojnarowski. He owns three in Stratford, Shelton and Hew Haven, and plans to open another in West Hartford in the coming months, the second to put on the franchise block.

Just in time for back-to-school clothes shopping, Connecticut’s 18th Annual Sales Tax Free Week, during which retail purchases of most clothing and footwear items priced under $100 are exempt from sales and use tax, runs this year from Sunday, Aug. 19 through Saturday, Aug. 25.

Connecticut shoppers are expected to benefit from approximately $4.8 million in sales and use tax savings during the state’s annual sales tax holiday, according to the Department of Revenue Services (DRS).

“Sales Tax Free Week has become an anticipated tradition in Connecticut, offering savings on a variety of clothing and footwear purchases at a time of year when families do their back-to-school shopping,” said DRS Commissioner Scott Jackson.

“Sales Tax Free Week is a great platform to promote Connecticut’s retail sector, and an opportunity for shoppers to take advantage of savings and incentives.”