Business

‘Take It to the Next Level’: New Canaan Music Moving to Main Street

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New Canaan Music is poised to move this summer from its original location in “the alley” on Elm Street to a larger, more conspicuous space on Main Street, officials say—a great sign for the locally owned business as well as for a block that’s seen merchants vacate street-level storefronts in the past year. Owner Phil Williams said that after four years in the alley near Chef Luis, “we are ready to take it up to the next level” in moving to 90 Main St., most recently the temporary site of the New Canaan Post Office, near the corner of East Avenue. “We will have bigger and better lesson rooms, a bigger and better store and a more prominent location,” said Williams, a town resident with a son in public schools here and who serves on the Board of Directors of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce. “This really puts us more on the map. This [the original location] has been a good place that has really served us well for the past four years—I can’t believe it has already been that many years—but it has given us a good launching point to take it to the next level.”

New Canaan Music’s space will increase by more than half as much in the new space, from approximately 1,200 to 2,000 square feet, Williams said.

Around Town

‘Art in the Windows’ Kicks Off Downtown Thursday

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Dozens of New Canaan shops will stay open late Thursday, as live music, artist receptions, wine tastings and other special events are held throughout the business district to mark the launch of Art in the Windows. Residents are invited to stroll the streets of New Canaan from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. for the 10th annual Art in the Windows. A record-70 stores are participating in this year’s event, featuring photos, paintings, sculpture and mixed media pieces from as many artists, 31 of them New Canaanites (see gallery above), according to Hilary Witmann, executive director of the Carriage Barn Arts Center. The Waveny-based nonprofit organized the event, which is sponsored by Bankwell, New Canaan Board of Realtors and Hutchinson Tree Care Specialists, in partnership with the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce. “It’s great that we have more stores than ever and a lot of New Canaan artists, which is one of the things I really wanted to bring in this year, in addition to the great artists who are members of the Carriage Barn and exhibit in a lot of shows,” Witmann told NewCanaanite.com.

Business

Editorial: ‘Moral’ Shopping in New Canaan

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One lesson I learned in seven years of studying Latin in the New Canaan Public Schools involves the word ‘mos.’ It’s a noun and in the singular it means habit or custom. In the plural, ‘mores,’ it translates as character because, taken together, a person’s habits and customs form his or her character. It’s where we get our word ‘morals.’

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At the time I launched NewCanaanite.com, nearly three years ago, convenience and cost alone guided my own spending habits. I only asked ‘Can I find it here in New Canaan?’ if I were downtown already and needed something straightaway. Yet today, before purchasing or signing up for anything, I consciously seek out a local retailer or service provider—a habit so ingrained that it’s become second nature, part of my character.

Around Town

PHOTOS: Waveny Park Conservancy’s Inaugural ‘Tailgate’ Party and Fundraiser Draws Hundreds

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The Waveny Park Conservancy’s inaugural fundraiser came off in high style on Saturday night, as an estimated 400 to 500 locals enjoyed the cherished park’s first-ever tailgate party under a full “hunter’s moon.”

Town resident Joe Scarborough’s “Morning Joe Music” band played the balcony out back of Waveny House and had scores of the revelers dancing, while others warmed by a firepit and mingled about some 80 cars parked in four rows, before a massive inflatable TV broadcasting college football. Brock Saxe, who co-chaired the event with Scott Gress, said: “We were very lucky that Joe Scarborough and his band offered their services for the first annual Waveny Park Conservancy tailgate, and we are happy that everybody in the community turned out to support the conservancy.”

He added: “It all made for a great evening.”

New Canaan’s Bob Seelert, chairman of the conservancy’s board, called the first-ever tailgate party “a fantastic event, displaying New Canaan at its best, and demonstrating that Waveny indeed is the town’s ‘crown jewel,’ with the community displaying great support for everything the conservancy is trying to do.” What it’s trying to do includes redeveloping the disused “cornfields” area in the southeastern corner of Waveny and restoring the pond at the foot of the sledding hill, and evidence of the conservancy’s work already is evident in new trails that lead to the main house. The nonprofit organization also is focused on managing the park’s woodlands, improving the entrance from South Avenue and returning the gardens around Waveny House to what originally was envisioned by the Olmstead Brothers landscaping firm, hired by the Laphams more than 100 years ago. The organization is still tallying all ticket sales from the tailgate, and Saxe noted that several residents additionally gave money to the conservancy at “the giving tree.” The group also sold out of its branded blankets early into the event, he said.

Around Town

Pop Up Park To Launch Aug. 5, Run Continuously for Three Weeks; ‘Thursday Night Music’ New This Year

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With a successful Sidewalk Sales now in hand, downtown New Canaan is poised for its first extended installment of the Pop Up Park at South and Elm. This year, the Pop Up Park—to be in place continuously from Aug. 5 to 28, following town approval—will offer not only new umbrellas and seating but a new feature every Thursday evening: Live music. The ‘Thursday Night Music’ series, overseen by New Canaan Music owner Phil Williams, will run 6 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 11, 18 and 25 and feature “a good cross-section of our music community here,” he said.