Workers crush cardboard boxes today as inventory is moved in for the new Anthropologie store opening March 31 in the new Bedford Square development. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
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First Look: Anthropologie, Amis Trattoria, Opening March 31
Gallery: A look inside Bedford Square’s Anthropologie and Amis Trattoria, which will open March 31. The current Anthropologie at 1365 Post Road East will close March 11, according to Lauren Minor, Anthropologie general manager. Anthropologie and Amis Trattoria are owned by Urban Outfitters. Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
BOF Chair: State ‘Ineptitude’ Likely to Cause ‘Modest’ Tax Hike
By James Lomuscio
Westport Board of Finance Chairman Brian Stern said tonight that a “modest” tax increase is likely despite the fiscally responsible proposed town and school budgets.
There was a full house for tonight’s Board of Finance meeting with some town employees and others forced to watch on TV in the Town Hall lobby. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
“I do think we will have a modest tax increase in the fall,” he said after hearing details of the budgets tonight.
The reason? Stern only had to point to Hartford, and harsh words flowed.
“Hartford should quit asking us to fill the gap for their own ineptitude,” Stern said about Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s plan for towns to pay one-third of teacher pensions.
Finance Board Gives Nod to Land Swap Deal
Having won a $750,000 one-time upfront payment, the Westport Board of Finance tonight gave its approval to a land swap with developer David Waldman on Elm Street.
Selectman Avi Kaner outlined the deal to the board, calling it a “triple win” for the town.
In addition to the one-time payment, the town will receive approximately $38,000 in annual taxes and gain nine parking spaces, he said.
More importantly, Kaner said, the town will benefit by the beautification of Elm Street as part of its overall downtown renewal.
Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio to Step Down as Co-CEO
Ray Dalio, the Greenwich billionaire founder of Westport-based Bridgewater Associates, is stepping down as interim co-chief executive officer by April, according to a post on his LinkedIn. 
Ray Dalio: changes effective April 15. Forbes.com photo
Dalio, 67, will remain the hedge fund’s co-chief investment officer.
David McCormick will move into the co-CEO role with Eileen Murray, replacing Dalio and Jon Rubinstein, who will be leaving the firm, according to the post.
“I’m excited about this change and expect to remain a professional investor at Bridgewater until I die or until those running Bridgewater don’t want me anymore,” Dalio said in the post.
Comings & Goings: Vespa Restaurant Shuttered
Westport’s Vespa Restaurant, 2A Post Road West in the National Hall Building, has not been open for business since mid-February, and there is no sign on the door. Its voicemail message says reservations are still being accepted, but calls to the number and building owner Greenfield Partners were not returned. The 120-seat Italian casual dining restaurant opened two years ago in the long vacant ground floor space. After the building converted to a 15-room luxury hotel in 1993, there were several restaurants on the ground floor, but they gave way to office space in 2005 before Vespa opened. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Comings & Goings: Design Within Reach Opens
After months of work, furniture retailer Design Within Reach opened its doors today at Westport’s 154 Post Road East. Area Manager Kristine Langevin (l) conferred in one area of the 9,000-square foot space on two floors with Rob Goughary, Westport proprietor. An opening party is planned for Thursday, April 13. The space, occupied since the 1930s by the U.S. Post Office, most recently housed the Post 154 Restaurant, which opened in August 2013 and closed in January 2016. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo
Gallery: Design Within Reach Opens
Scenes from the new Design Within Reach store, which opened today at 154 Post Road East in the former longtime home of the U.S. Post Office. One of the store officials said as recently as Saturday someone entered the store with arms full of mail, asking what happened to the post office. The store includes a large patio area, which will open in the warm weather to display patio furniture. Design Within Reach, which formerly had a store on Elm Street, replaced the Post 154 Restaurant, which closed in January 2016. WestportNow.com photos
Expert Warns of Cybersecurity Threats
In a Westport talk, Gary Tiger of Brookfield-based Southridge Technology today warned about cybersecurity threats to laptops and desktops. He told the weekly meeting of the Westport Rotary Club that 90 percent of passwords can be broken into in seven seconds. He urged attendees to create 8-to-10 character passwords that include at least one capital letter, numbers and at least one symbol. “Such complex passwords can take 20 years, rather than seven seconds, to decipher,” he said. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Malloy Proposes Bill Reducing Liquor Prices
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy today announced that he has submitted a legislative proposal to the Connecticut General Assembly that will update an antiquated state law that currently forces the owners of certain retail stores to sell their products at artificial prices set by liquor wholesalers, resulting in unnecessarily high prices for consumers.
Connecticut is the only state in the country that has a law mandating that the retailers of alcoholic beverages sell their products at a minimum price above wholesale cost determined by the wholesaler industry, Malloy said in an announcement.
This means that – unlike everywhere else in the nation – these retailers cannot set the prices of the products that they put on the shelves in their own stores. he said.
As a result of this law, which the state adopted in 1981, the artificially determined prices typically end up being higher than the prices that these products sell for in nearly every other state in the country, forcing Connecticut residents to either pay more money or travel to a bordering state where the identical products are sold at a lower price.
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