Around Town

New Canaan Merchants on Keeping Up Summer Business

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As we enter the end of July and August, many New Canaan residents will bear the beach, mountain, and city traffic for annual summer vacation trips. With the decreased foot traffic, many merchants routinely describe business as slow during this time. NewCanaanite went around town to some local businesses to see how they actively avoid the end of summer sales slump. Phil Williams, New Canaan Music

“How do we deal with the New Canaan Business Clear? We’re staying open our regular hours, a lot of businesses close for a week or reduce their hours, but we keep our lessons going year round.

Around Town

PHOTOS: Bargain-Hunters Hit New Canaan for Annual Sidewalk Sale

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Bargain-hunters descended on New Canaan in droves starting Saturday morning for the Village Fair & Sidewalk Sale, running through 4 p.m.

Parts of Forest, Main and Elm Streets were closed to pedestrian-only traffic for the major annual event, organized by the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce. “It’s going awesome,” the Chamber’s Laura Budd said as the Sidewalk Sale got into full swing. “It’s a beautiful day. The vendors are up and running and people are already shopping. We love to see it.

Business

New Canaan Music Earns ‘Business of the Year’ Honors

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Now more than ever, it takes both a special kind of business and business owner to succeed. New Canaan has seen many stores open and close their doors, and among those a special few have stayed up and running while being loved by our town’s residents. Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tucker Murphy said New Canaan Music owner and town resident Phil Williams may be seen as a model for other businesses. “For retail to survive in a town like New Canaan, it has to be about the experience,” Murphy said. “Phil has done just that.”

On June 27, Williams will be recognized as “Business of the Year” during the Chamber’s Annual Awards Luncheon.

Business

10 Great Last-Minute Christmas Gift Ideas from New Canaan Shops [GALLERY]

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We’re entering the home stretch of Christmas shopping in New Canaan, as most every holiday shipping date has past. For anyone looking for great last-minute gift and stocking-stuffer ideas, we’ve created the gallery above—covering everything from $5 squishies for the kids to a $3,600 six-liter bottle of wine for the grownups. Though it’s not meant to be exhaustive—for example, we left off favorites such as the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce’s gift cards, New Canaan Historical Society’s ornaments and Philip Johnson Glass House’s design store items—the gallery represents a good cross-section of downtown merchants. As Laura Budd from the Chamber’s offices above the Playhouse on Elm Street said: “From our office on the ’50-yard line’ and from our interactions with store owners and managers, we know that New Canaan shoppers have embraced the ‘Shop Local’ movement. We know this is in no small part due to the tremendous effort the local businesses put in to the ‘experience’ of shopping here in New Canaan.

Business

PHOTOS: New Canaan Music Settles in on Main Street

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As New Canaan families return to town for sports practices and the start of the school, musicians and those learning how to play instruments will have a brand-new hub for musical activities. New Canaan Music spent much of August moving into its newly renovated, expanded home at 90 Main St.—a brightly lit, inviting space that had served for a few years as the temporary Post Office. “We love the new space,” New Canaan Music owner Phil Williams said on a recent afternoon. “Just being on Main Street is wonderful, it’s awesome.”

The shop—a combination of retail in front with lesson rooms in the back—has a larger space to showcase its merchandise and has made use of it, in part, by offering the full line of Squier guitars, including their Classic Vibes from Fender for electric guitars. “We are adding more acoustic guitars—our acoustic guitars are going to be better—and we have twice as many lesson rooms as we had before with bigger, better soundproofing,” he said.