Business

‘The Ball Is in Your Court’: New Canaan High School Seniors Begin Internships

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Starting May 16, scores of New Canaan High School seniors have flooded local businesses and organizations in New Canaan and throughout Fairfield County to teach kindergarten, shuck oysters, plant onions and otherwise gain what for many has been first-time, first-hand real world work experience. The Senior Internship Program is seeing 269 students participating this year—that’s 83 percent of the senior class and a 23 percent increase from 2016. The program offers a wide range of internships, from law offices and local government to nature and environmental science agencies. NCHS Senior Internship Coordinator Heather Bianco said she believes the program helps students learn concepts that cannot be taught in a traditional school environment. “I think the [the program] not only provides a hands-on learning experience for students that they can’t get from school, but also helps them decide on their career path,” Bianco said.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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We got a heads-up on Twitter from New Canaanite Peter “The Bushman” Bush of The FOX 95.9 FM about a recently redecorated roof of The Veggie Barn on Cross Street. Looks like town resident and Veggie Barn owner Santo Silvestro supports Donald Trump in ’16. Silvestro wasn’t immediately available for comment. The rooftop likely will be visible to any planes passing overhead. As Bush later Tweeted: “A little something for the Donald to see from 10K.”

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While Peachwave on Forest Street did close last weekend as planned (though the team there decided last-minute to extend by one day, through Sunday), company officials tell us now that a reopening is possible.

Business

‘Time Is of the Essence’: Severed Ties on Cherry Street Launches E-Commerce Channel

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A New Canaan business for 40 years, Severed Ties Antiques & Quality Consignments on Cherry Street carries some 10,000 individual items at any given time—many of those on-site, and otherwise fetch-able by truck for customers who want to “touch, see and feel” what they’re buying, according to owner Ginger Craft. Yet for Craft, that once essential shopping experience—touching, seeing and feeling a purchase—has taken a backseat for a new generation of consumers, for whom convenience and speed are higher priorities. Weeks ago, just three years after launching a website of any kind, Craft opened up an ecommerce channel on Severed Ties—which now sells its high-end products directly through the website (packaging included). “The young kids’ time is of the essence, so you don’t see as much walk-through traffic,” Craft said on a recent afternoon as a pair of first-time customers entered her brightly lit shop, a colorful and busy collection of furniture, jewelry, antiques, rugs, china, crystal, art, silver and accessories. “So we are trying to make it as convenient as possible.”

Opening up an online portion to her store also has allowed Craft to boost the reach of her inventory (“We’re trying to increase the volume by going online”), appealing to a wider range of buyer and by creating an Internet channel, meeting prospective customers where they are.