West Hartford Business Buzz: May 23, 2016

A round-up of openings, closings, and other news about West Hartford businesses.

By Ronni Newton

It’s Monday, and we’re about to switch into summer mode, which is certainly cause for celebration. School ends in less than three weeks, which to many is also cause for celebration. Spring sports are winding down with many teams heading for state tournaments, and graduations ceremonies are looming.

Today is the day of the annual Conard vs. Hall Mayor’s Cup baseball game. It begins at 4:30 p.m. at the University of Hartford’s Fiondella Field. This is the fifth annual Mayor’s Cup contest between Hall and Conard in baseball (the football trophy has been passed back and forth for decades), and Conard won it for the first time last year, and in dramatic fashion. (Click here for that story.) It’s an honor for the teams to play in a college stadium, and the game is even being broadcast both by WHC-TV and CPTV.

It’s also my son’s last high school baseball game. His last high school game ever. My last high school game as a parent. Four years of three high school sports for my daughter and four years of two high school sports for my son. Eleven pasta parties at my house.

It seems like just yesterday when I was bringing my daughter (now entering her senior year of college) to her first day of kindergarten. Flash forward 16 years, and my official time as a West Hartford Public Schools parent is about to end.

The days may be long but the years are short. Trust me, it’s true. And please pardon my sentimentality which will most likely continue through graduation and resurface on Aug. 26 when the Newton nest will be empty.

One more thing before getting down to business … Just in case you missed some of the major non-business stories this week, West Hartford officially has a new mayor. Mayor Shari Cantor officially took over on Monday night. She’s been a member of the Town Council for more than a decade, and served as deputy mayor since 2011, but in case you don’t feel like you know her (for example she’s a CPA, a magna cum laude graduate of UConn where she is also now a member of the Board of Trustees, and she has been a strong advocate for the elderly), click here for an in depth profile. An overflow crowd that included the governor and other officials came out to bid farewell to Scott Slifka on Monday night. Click here for the recap of those tributes.

If you have tips about businesses opening or closing, or doing something worth sharing, please provide that information in the comments or email Ronni Newton at [email protected].

Here’s this week’s Buzz:

Upgrades are beginning to be made to the interior of the LaSalle Road building now owned by LaSalle Road Partners, and facade changes will soon follow. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

• There has been a lot of chatter on Facebook recently about LaSalle Road, with many residents expressing concern and dismay about the empty storefronts in the former Sinatro building. There have also been rumors flying around about plans for a teardown. On Friday I spoke with Hagan Brown, one of the principals of LaSalle Road Partners, the company that purchased the 52-84 LaSalle Road building in December 2015, about the status of the leasing and renovation efforts. “There’s not a lot of shareable news, but there’s a lot going on,” Brown said. “There are active discussions on letters of intent and leases right now,” he said, both for the LaSalle Road building as well as for 989-991 Farmington Avenue, the former Plimpton’s space. “We’re trying to make sure that we get the right tenant profile,” Brown said, and he said he would have news to share in the next few weeks. Brown said the owners are working with different types of concepts and are considering comments made by residents on social media about the types of businesses they would like to see in the area, while at the same time ensuring that any business that comes in will be economically viable. Discussions are also ongoing with existing tenants – both office and retail – about expanding, said Brown. What’s happening right now that may not be visible, Brown said, is that interior upgrades are currently in progress on the upper floors of the LaSalle Road building. Plans for façade upgrades are also in the works, but Brown said those will need to be tied to plans for eventual first-floor tenants. “We need to fit their brand into our brand,” he said. In the meantime, Brown said that the building owners are working with the town to create a better visual impact by creatively addressing the windows of the empty spots. As for the rumor that the new owners plan to do something drastic, Brown said, “We have no plans to knock the buildings down.” Although future plans may include working with the open space that’s now tenant parking behind the LaSalle Road building, that’s way down the road as Phase III, said Brown. “We are very positive, very excited about what’s going on. We don’t want to rush and we want to keep the Center’s and our vision in mind.” The third building that LaSalle Road Partners purchased from the Sinatro family is 977 Farmington Avenue, which is fully occupied on the ground level by Grant’s and Cookshop Plus.
  

  Avert Brasserie has a new sign and retractable awnings to protect outdoor diners from the weather. Photo credit: Ronni Newton
• Right across the street, the façade of Ávert Brasserie, on the west side of LaSalle Road, has just had a bit of a facelift. New bright red retractable awnings were installed a week or two ago, shielding outdoor diners from the sun as well as well as raindrops. Late last week a brand new sign was installed as well.
• There’s a free business expo this Thursday – focused on women but open to men as well. Click here for information about the West Hartford Women in Networking Expo on Thursday, May 26, beginning at 7:30 a.m. at Raymour and Flanagan.
• Journeys is the newest store to open at Westfarms. Located on the lower level near Macy’s (on the way to the Macy’s mens store where I successfully proved to my son that nearly an entire senior prom outfit can, indeed, be purchased in just an hour), Journeys, according to the Westfarms website, “is a destination retailer of shoes and accessories for diverse, young, 13-22 year old guys and girls in search of footwear that expresses their unique attitudes and lifestyles. Journeys offers a wide variety of trendy, relevant brands such as Vans, Converse, TOMS, Sperry, Ugg, DC, adidas, Polo and many more.”
• We’re going to continue shouting this from the rooftops for another week, because we don’t want anyone to say they didn’t know about “Best of West Hartford” nominations! The nomination phase of the contest runs through May 30, and that’s next week. You have seven more days. Some businesses are doing a great job encouraging their customers to nominate them, and those businesses with the greatest number of nominations move on to the finalist stage. Click here for details, and included is a sample “Nominate Us” sign as well as an example of a great social media post.

Remember, if you have any business news to share, remember to add it in the comments section below or email Ronni Newton at [email protected].

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