Business

Elm Street Designer Shoe Store ‘Walin & Wolff’ To Close

By |

Walin & Wolff, a designer shoes, handbags and accessories shop that opened more than five years ago on Elm Street, is closing, officials confirmed. A store employee told NewCanaanite.com that all three of the company’s locations—they’re also in Southport and Rye, N.Y.—are to be closed. Walin & Wolff also is shutting down its ecommerce channel, according to a message posted to its website. “Thank you for your support & patronage,” the message says. It isn’t clear why or just when the shop is closing.

Business

‘Jaafar Tazi’: New Salon To Open on Main Street

By |

The owner of a well-established, full-service hair salon in Greenwich is eyeing a midsummer opening for a new location in downtown New Canaan. Jaafar Tazi’s eponymous salon will open July 15 on the second floor at 80 Main St., in the space formerly occupied by Li-Ann’s. “Where there is demand, there is supply,” Tazi told NewCanaanite.com when asked why he chose New Canaan for the new salon. “We have a lot of organizations, a lot of clients coming inside [the Greenwich location] from the New Canaan area and they always say there is nothing like our salon in Greenwich in their beautiful little town, so we are trying to brig that up here and we have a lot of people calling us to try and make appointments already.”

Known to scores of locals for preparing “models” for the Young Women’s League’s popular “Couture for a Cause” fundraiser, Jaafar Tazi Salon distinguishes itself for the “high-quality service we provide to clients,” Tazi said. “We are always current with what we do and we have a very, very talented team that really meets the needs of those clients.”

Melissa Lindsay, a co-owner of Pimlico on Elm Street (which officially opens for retail on Tuesday) said she “won’t let anyone else touch” her hair.

Business

Parking Bureau Now Taking ‘Request Forms’ for New Downtown Parking Permits; Trial Initiative To Serve Employees of Local Businesses

By |

In a widely anticipated trial effort that’s designed to help ease the parking crunch on Main and Elm Streets, officials this week are starting to take in “request forms” for a new type of permit specifically for employees of downtown businesses. The Parking Bureau will take in “Downtown Parking Permit Request Forms”—available for download here—through May 26, making 20 permits available each in Morse Court and Park Street lots during an initial trial year. The new permits—in reality, no physical “permit” will be issued (rather, the license plates of those selected will be registered with the bureau)—will cost $429 and will be valid for a 12-month period ending June 30, 2018. The Parking Bureau is located on the second floor of the New Canaan Police Department. Assuming there will be more request forms submitted than permits available, they’ll be awarded through a lottery system, according to Parking Superintendent Stacy Miltenberg, and how the bureau handles the issuance of the new permits after this year—for example, whether an entirely new lottery will take place for next summer or whether the program is expanded in any way—will depend on demand.

Business

Subway on Main Street Closes After More Than 25 Years

By |

Subway, the national made-to-order sandwich shop that’s operated out of its Main Street location opposite Town Hall for more than 25 years, has closed its New Canaan store. A sign has appeared in its front window saying “Store closed. Reopening under new leadership.”

It isn’t clear whether or when a Subway would reopen at 64 Main St.—company officials could not be reached for comment. Subway has closed hundreds of stores nationwide, faced with a slowdown in sales. Laura Budd of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce said the organization is “certainly sorry to see Subway leave.”

“We know that it’s popular with the younger kids in town,” Budd told NewCanaanite.com.

Around Town

New Canaan Promotes ‘Tech-Free Family Time’ through ’30 Days of Family’

By |

Town and local nonprofit officials are urging New Canaan families this month to unplug their mobile devices and spend more time communicating directly with each other. The Department of Human Services-led “30 Days of Family” initiative this year has taken up “tech-free family time” as its motto. Unplugging forces family members to talk to each other “with their voices and spend quality time making eye contact and practicing listening skills,” according to Jacqueline D’Louhy, the department’s coordinator of youth and family services. “Think about how much teens ‘talk’ to each other electronically,” D’Louhy said. “Sometimes they’ll be sitting in the same room but never utter a word to one another.