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

Business Buzz is sponsored by NBT Bank, and we are very thankful for their support!

By Ronni Newton

I want the next week to happen in slow motion – and not just because we have some great summer weather on tap after a few days of apocalyptic haze and storminess. After a nearly two-year engagement, my son Sam will be marrying Kate Novak on Saturday, and I want to savor, appreciate, and enjoy every moment.

Business Buzz will appear next Monday, but leading up to that I will be mostly offline from Thursday through Sunday. If I don’t get back to you right away, you’ll know why. We will have plenty of content thanks to our interns and reporters, and I’m hoping that things are quiet around town …

I finally had a chance to go to the Blue Back Farmers’ Market on Sunday. Attendance was great, and I enjoyed a cold brew while I walked around, chatted with some people, and bought some items for Sunday night’s dinner.

Ted and I like to have as many meals as possible al fresco, but outdoor dining was out of the question on Saturday night. Sichuan Alley Bistro was a great choice – cozy indoor atmosphere, and fantastic food and cocktails. We had not been there for a while (way too long!), and we loved our dinner. I’m looking forward to the leftovers of my Dan Dan Noodles, too.

We continue to have a steady stream of comments on articles, and last week only one was missing a last name, and I was happy that person immediately replied to my email request and provided a last name. Thank you to all who comment with your full names, and avoid making personal attacks! Please note that it has been our policy for several years that full names be used when commenting directly on the site – with the exception of those commenters who were grandfathered when they commented prior to the policy being updated. Please comply or your comment will not be published.

If you are a long term, regular advertiser on We-Ha.com and have a 60 to 75 word submission for a future Business Buzz please send to Bob Carr at [email protected]. You can also contact Bob if you are interested in becoming a sponsor of a section of the site.

If you have information to share about local businesses, please provide details in the comments or email Ronni Newton at [email protected].

**************************************************

Here’s this week’s Buzz:

• Back in March, Matt Rusconi shared the news that he would be opening a second location of his successful Hartford pizza place at 7 South Main Street in West Hartford Center this spring or summer, and I’m excited to report that The Brownstone will have a soft opening a week from Tuesday, on July 28! “It will be a soft opening, with limited hours and food only,” he said Friday afternoon during a sneak peek at the transformed former Sam’s Gyro restaurant. They’ve received their permits from the town and health district, and have hired employees who are being trained in the Hartford location, but are still awaiting the liquor license before opening fully with the complete menu and a full bar. Rusconi said they are planning to hold a grand opening celebration by the end of August. Once fully open, the menu at The Brownstone in West Hartford will be similar to the menu at the Hartford location, which is at 114 Asylum Avenue, across from PeoplesBank Arena. They will feature daily lunch specials and happy hour and late night dining – and Rusconi said their may be an elevated cocktail menu as part of the 9 p.m. to midnight late night “Smash and Slice” (smash burgers, pizza slices, and plain or loaded fries) menu. He’s planning to have the bar close at midnight, including on the weekends, but offer late night food until 2 a.m. on weekends. Otherwise the hours will be 11 a.m. to midnight – tracking with the Ben & Jerry’s which is two doors down in the same building. Rusconi has taken down some interior walls and opened up the former Sam’s Gyro space, but kept some of the elements, including a small stage where he said they may eventually have some live music or other entertainment. The overall menu for The Brownstone features New York-style slices with a selection that includes cheese, pepperoni, margherita, four-cheese, and their special Franklin Ave and spicy chicken bacon pizza. A large variety of whole pizzas are available – including the namesake, The Brownstone (garlic oil, cheeses, feta cheese, crumbled sausage, roasted red peppers, baby spinach) as 18-inch large pies and 12-inch personal pies, and the menu also includes smash burgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, and more. The Brownstone has inside seating for 68, plus at least 12 more seats on the patio that’s covered by an awning. They will be open seven days a week. For more information, follow The Brownstone on Instagram (@thebrownstone_hartford) or visit their website. We will include any updates to the opening plans in next week’s column.

• Congratulations to West Hartford resident Kathryn Hunt on the ribbon cutting and grand opening last week of Kathryn Hunt Studio in the Central Building, 970 Farmington Avenue. She’s had a design studio on the ground floor for several years, but that’s now been moved upstairs and they have added a retail showroom on the ground floor, where they showcase curated examples of their designs in a beautiful setting, and will also use the space to host events such as author talks, business seminars, workshops on topics like flower arranging or needlepoint, etc. “It’s designed to bring people together,” Hunt said. The studio on the second floor – where walls that once created separate offices have been removed – is accessible through an internal stairway that has been opened up from the old Central Theater. The retail showroom is open by appointment only. For more information, visit the Kathryn Hunt Studio website.

• Barnes & Noble announced on their social media, and I confirmed with a spokesperson from Westfarms, that the new store on the lower level near Macy’s (former Forever 21) will be opening on Wednesday, July 29, at 10 a.m. This is the relocation of the store that was previously down the road toward Route 9 – and technically it has moved from Farmington to West Hartford. I’ll have much more information after the opening!

• I’ve been regularly getting questions, and am excited to learn that Nana’s Dim Sum & Dumplings has now applied for permits for the build-out of the former Gran Gusto/Rizzuto’s space at 111 Memorial Road in Blue Back Square. No timeframe yet for the opening, but it’s good to know that things are moving forward.

• A small fire in a storage closet last weekend forced the closure of Blue Plate Kitchen, but luckily for the Bishops Corner restaurant they were able to reopen for breakfast by Monday morning. Float 41, which is directly below BPK, was not so lucky, and will be dealing with the impact of water damage for quite some time. I reached out to Float 41 owner Sarah LaTeano, who said, “This whole thing is beyond devastating but we’re safe so that’s what matters.” They are currently working with insurance adjusters and others as they deal with a complicated and messy situation, and she said the business will be closed for the foreseeable future and don’t yet have a timeline for reopening, and even though the fire wasn’t even in their space the destruction was devastating. “Our ask is that people come support us in Cromwell, that’s how they can help. Choose a solo self care day, mental health date night, or girls day. We have an entire team to support as well as 43 teens from our summer teen scholarship program which is over 250 free floats and a program worth over $35,000. It was a free initiative that Ryan and I launched to help teens within our local community all funded internally. Losing a center really puts strain on that program but we’re committed to our local youth even through this devastating situation,” LaTeano said. The Cromwell location is at 17 Shunpike Road, and you can find out more on their website.

• West Hartford-based MORE Italian Pasta Lab will be celebrating their expansion, and the opening of their second location in Glastonbury on July 27, in what was BAKE Market CT at 63 Hebron Avenue. “We will have everything we have here,” said owner Anna Landi, who moved with her husband, Davide Di Pietro and their young daughter from Rome to West Hartford to open the business at 54 LaSalle Road in 2022. MORE has offered cooking classes at people’s homes or for special events, but because the Glastonbury space is larger, they will be able to offer classes at that location as well, and may be adding some chef dinners. She confirmed that this is a second location, and the West Hartford store will remain open.

• Sad news this week from WeHa Brewing & Roasting, which announced on social media on Wednesday that they will be closing their location at 141 Shield Street for good at the end of July, or whenever the beer runs out. I’ve been covering WeHa Brewing & Roasting since long before they opened in 2021, and I’m personally very sad to lose this fun and casual place. The following is the post: “We’re saddened to announce that WeHa will be closing its doors at the end of this month. If you have been living under a rock, the craft beer industry has struggled mightily since 2020. We have faced increasing costs (property taxes in West Hartford have skyrocketed since we opened), unexpected litigation and stagnant sales, all of which in one way or another have contributed to the decision to close our doors. We are grateful for your support over the last five years. We wanted to thank our customers, our partners who believed in us, and our employees who always got it done despite less than ideal conditions. We also wanted to thank the insanely talented Magge and her company DRDC Studios as well as Frank, Liz and the entire team at Bigger Beast Records. Please join us for one last pint over the next two weekends. We will be open Thursday through Sunday for the next two weeks or until we run out of beer.” New England Coffee Guy has operated the coffee program at WeHa Brewing and Roasting since January 2025, and posted the following on their social media: “At the beginning of the month, I was notified that the brewery in which The New England Coffee Guy pop up cafe is housed will be closing its operations effective 7/26. Although I am currently In discussions with the landlord to temporarily extend our lease, I am not sure what our future holds. So for the next two weeks, we’ll be open normal hours (Wednesday- Sunday from 8-4). Our tentative last day of operation in West Hartford will be 7/31. If anything changes. I will make an announcement. Immediate Future Plans: I am in the early stages of building out a wellness cafe and co-working space in Newington that I am incredibly excited about. The mobile cart business also thriving and will continue to operate as scheduled.. There are also some other plans scheduled for 1/1/27 that are also being finalized. I truly enjoyed every minute of my time in West Hartford. Thank you to every customer: local family, community organization, content creator, and coffee enthusiast that has walked through our doors. It has been an absolute pleasure. Come join us for the next few weeks.”

• NBT Bank has announced that Sarah Heap-Crosby has been named Branch Manager at the bank’s 68 South Main Street location in West Hartford. In this role, Heap-Crosby is responsible for the profitability, growth and successful operation of the branch, leading a high-performing team that provides exceptional service for individual and business customers. Heap-Crosby joins NBT with 11 years of financial services experience. She previously held leadership roles at Torrington Savings Bank, including the development of its Customer Care Center. Heap-Crosby is a graduate of the Connecticut School of Finance & Management.

• Happy 95th anniversary to Dillon Mailing & Printing! We profiled Dillon (114 Shield Street) in 2021 when they celebrated their 90th, and congratulate them on another remarkable milestone!

• It appears that the remediation has been completed, and The Jayden is now fully under construction at 579 New Park Avenue. The project is being developed by The Hexagon Group, owned by West Hartford residents Tommy and Jason Li. When complete, the 1.21-acre site will be home to a five-story, 70-unit mixed-use building with ground-floor retail in West Hartford’s Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Zone. Fourteen of the units, or 20%, will be income-restricted for 40 years, including 12 for households earning up to 80% of the area median income (AMI) and two units for households at 60% AMI.

• Every week there’s now more noticable progress of the construction of the new Animal Control facility on Brixton Street, and this past week was no exception!

• Progress has also continued on the construction that is taking place as part of the West Hartford Center Infrastructure Master Plan. It’s still a bit of a maze right now on the south side of Farmington Avenue between Music & Arts and Jenny Andre Hair & Skin Spa, but some of the sidewalk is now completed, including near Zohara. Also happening concurrently is paving of Farmington Avenue east of Main Street, where a separated bike lane is being installed.  Please note that all businesses remain open and accessible during the construction!

• I mentioned last week that permits had been issued for demolition of all of the remaining buildings that were part of the UConn property at 1800 Asylum Avenue. Last week’s photos showed that the former Undergrad building was gone, along with another smaller building next to it, and it appeared that the IT building would be next. When I checked on Friday the IT building was indeed gone, and it looks like equipment is being mobilized to next demolish the former library, which faces Asylum Avenue. Remediation of the contaminants will need to be completed before construction of Heritage Park can begin.

• ICYMI, great news for West Hartford with the announcement that Otis Worldwide will be relocating its global headquarters to the Town Center building at 29 South Main Street. Read the complete story here.
• Click here to listen to the latest episode of On The Scene featuring hosts Tom Hickey and Bob Carr who discuss financial scams and identity theft with Andreas Kapetanopoulos, Connecticut Regional President and Nicole Lent-Pollard, Fraud Risk Manager, for NBT Bank. The podcast is celebrating its third anniversary, and look for some great new episodes coming up! All “On the Scene” podcasts can be found on the bottom of the We-Ha.com homepage.

• Did you know …

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

Like what you see here? Click here to subscribe to We-Ha’s newsletter so you’ll always be in the know about what’s happening in West Hartford! Click the blue button below to become a supporter of We-Ha.com and our efforts to continue producing quality journalism.