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

Welcome to a rare Wednesday edition of Business Buzz, postponed along with our Monday newsletter due to the Memorial Day holiday.

We finally had some great weather to end the Memorial Day weekend (Friday through Sunday was anything but summery) – and it was perfect for the annual West Hartford parade. It was very hard to narrow down the photo gallery to roughly 100 images, and you can see scenes from the parade here.

Many thanks to We-Ha.com intern Roz Green, who also took some parade photos and covered the Memorial Day ceremony that followed. Roz will be a junior at the University of Hartford this fall, where she is majoring in digital media and journalism, and look for plenty of stories with her byline this summer!

As I write this column on Tuesday, it’s another beautiful day. The next several weeks are jam-packed with activities in town, including home playoff games for high school sports teams, and many of them are at overlapping or conflicting times. We will do our best to cover as much as possible and I do want to reiterate that we always welcome submitted content.

I am very much looking forward to the summer, to many warm and sunny days to come along with (hopefully) a bit of a more leisurely schedule that includes some beach time.

We had several notable dinners last week – including a visit to No Mames – DORO Restaurant Group’s newest restaurant – on Friday night with Jeannette and Dan Dardenne. Other than the group photo of our tacos, the rest of the photos and details are in a bullet point below.

Because we went out on Friday night, we decided to grab some takeout and stay in on Saturday night, and we got dinner from the Rockin’ Chicken, just over the line in Newington. It was delicious, and the rest of my chicken bowl was just as good leftover!

My sister and her boyfriend, Carmine Mancini, hosted our traditional Memorial Day barbecue this year – which was also very yummy! Sadly I neglected to take a photo of my sister’s trademark watermelon salsa.

No trolls again this week – three weeks in a row! Thank you for commenting with your full names! 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].

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Here’s this week’s Buzz:

• As with most large construction projects, it seemed to take a long time before the foundation was completed and the stairwell/elevator banks were constructed, but since then the appearance of One West Hartford has seemed to change daily. I was very excited for the opportunity for a hardhat tour last week (see hardhat selfie above) to see the partially-complete interiors of the units, as well as the public spaces. The Town Council approved Continental Properties‘ plans to redevelop the former Children’s Museum property at 950 Trout Brook Drive – which had long been owned by neighboring Kingswood Oxford and leased to the museum – back in October 2022. The work got underway in the spring of 2023, as soon as the issue of what to do about Conny – the giant sculpture of a sperm whale that had sat sentry on the property for decades – was resolved with the severing of the whale’s tail, which is now “planted” across the street along the Trout Brook Trail. Howard Rappaport, principal of Continental Properties, and Project Manager Tom Albright, led the tour of One West Hartford, the five-story development that will include 172 luxury apartments including one-, two-, and three-bedrooms units in an “S-shaped” building. Nine of the units will be reserved as deed-restricted affordable housing for those with incomes at 80% of the area median income or less. While the property will be not be occupied until all units are completed, Albright said for construction purposes it’s broken down into phases, and the first phase already has drywall installed and will soon be ready for additional finishes. The hallways are lined with acoustic material for sound reduction, and will be fully carpeted. Inside the units, brown-toned luxury vinyl tile (LVT) plank flooring will be used, and all apartments will have white shaker cabinetry, stainless steel appliances including side-by-side refrigerators, white quartz countertops, and other high-end finishes such as Moen faucets. The units all have balconies, and large windows manufactured by Oknoplast and imported from Europe – affording tons of natural light, and offering views that include the KO fields, Blue Back Square, Trout Brook, and the hills to the west, depending on the location. “All two-bedrooms have two baths,” Rappaport said as we checked out a two-bedroom corner unit with a view of the fields and the Delamar Hotel. There are also three-bedroom units, he said – 1,370-square-foot units like those on the southwest corner of the property – that have two bathrooms plus a powder room. The main entrance is on the north side of building, and will include a lobby area, club room with a catering kitchen, a cinema, billiards, private dining area, a gym, and golf simulator room. Fronting Trout Brook Drive are common areas that residents can also access directly from the sidewalk through a secure doorway, and include co-working space, a pet spa, and a roughly 70-bike capacity storage area. Pricing is not yet available, Rappaport said, but they do expect to be pre-leasing this fall and have residents moving in by late 2025 or early 2026. “Our target market, in addition to young professionals, is empty nesters, those transition out of single-family housing or condos. … We expect a very diverse group of residents will be interested in One West Hartford.” A few photos are directly below, but there are more at the end of the column, including some taken from the roof that really show the perspective of the location.

• I first heard about the opening of Loco Hot Deals at 983 New Britain Avenue from Jean-Luc Dube at the Connecticut Scoop, and finally had a chance to stop by and see what it was all about, after seeing posts on social media of hundreds of people in line waiting to get in. An employee told me that this is the first location in Connecticut, but they have stores in other states, including New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and they sell items that are returns from other businesses, including Amazon, Home Depot, Costco, Best Buy, and others – with prices beginning at $10 for each item but dropping to $1 by Wednesday, when the selection is rather picked-over. Loco Hot Deals had its grand opening on May 15, and they’re open daily, 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. except for Thursdays, which when they open their packages and re-stock the bins. Friday features the best selection but that’s when everything is priced at $10 – but you can find TVs, tablets, microwaves, clothing, shoes, books, home decor, and more spread out between the bins. Loco Hot Deals accepts credit or cash.

• Springtime/summer event updates from Blue Back Square! “Jazz in the Square” takes place weekly on the stage, every Thursday and Friday from noon to 1:30 p.m.; “Blue Black Block Parties” return on June 26, from 6-8 p.m., with live music from Latanya Farrell, kids activities, special samplings, and more; and free kids events at Camp Blue Back will be return on Tuesdays from 10 to 11:30 a.m. beginning June 24 through the end of August.

• A few months ago Jeannette Dardenne and I and our husbands got together for dinner at DORO Restaurant Group‘s then-newest concept, Casadoro, and when we were talking about getting together again, last Friday we decided to visit No Mames – which just opened a few weeks ago. DORO, which is owned and operated by West Hartford residents Dorjan and Mira Puka and Scott Miller and is also based in West Hartford (they own Zohara, Treva, Àvert, and DORO Marketplace in town, as well as several other DORO locations. Casadoro in Newington, and Artisan Burger Company in Manchester). No Mames just opened on April 30 at 1140 Silas Deane Highway in Wethersfield, specializing in “authentic Mexican cuisine,” the website states. Miller happened to be there and guided our selection of appetizers, tacos, and desserts. The food and service were impeccable, and just like when we visited Casadoro, the restaurant was packed! Below are photos of the interior and everything we ate … and we ate ALL of it!

• Congratulations to Wabi Sabi on their first anniversary/ribbon-cutting with the Chamber of Commerce and town officials held on Thursday, May 22. Owners Gao Cai and Andy Mozer cut the ribbon with Mayor Shari Cantor, and then treated those in attendance to some of their favorite dishes, including FD Potatoes, Karaage Chicken, Shrimp Tempura, Spring Rolls, and noodles.

• We stopped at Nothing Bundt Cakes in Corbin’s Corner on Saturday afternoon so that Ted could pick up his “Bundtlet of the Month” for May (something he bid on and won at a silent auction fundraiser) – but were shocked to find the door wide open and Servpro hard at work inside cleaning up the floor. I spoke to franchise owner Traci Halky, who said that a single sprinkler head malfunctioned Saturday morning just before they opened for the day – which was actually lucky timing because staff was onsite and they were able to immediately call for help and minimize flooding damage. The entire retail area in the front of the business, however, was completely soaked and all of the merchandise and items in the refrigerator case as well as the case itself were lost. “We can still bake,” Halky said, because the bakery in the back was not damaged. They are back open, taking phone, website, and app orders, and offering curbside pick-up. Call the bakery (860-590-6336) upon arrival and they will bring your order out to the car. Halky said she’s hopeful the front area will at least be usable for pick-up later this week, the “new normal” until the renovation work is done. “The West Hartford Fire Department was hugely helpful,” Halky said about the initial response to the the deluge. She said firefighters borrowed an industrial-size mop from Trader Joe’s next door, and got right to cleaning up the mess even before Servpro arrived. Halky said prior this business has been great, and she loves the West Hartford community that has welcomed them with open arms.

• As the West Hartford Center Infrastructure reconstruction progresses, I’ll continue to provide regular updates, including photos, in this column. It’s now been eight weeks since the project commenced (see project details here) and there are just about two more weeks left in the first phase, according to the schedule. During the past week, storm drainage has been installed, there has been backfill of the curb areas and grading of the sidewalks, and forms have been constructed and new sidewalks have been poured. The town has placed signage in the Center urging the community to continue patronizing businesses. Also, click here for updates on the status of the draft of the overall West Hartford Center Infrastructure Master Plan, which was discussed in last week’s meeting of the Town Council’s Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) Committed.

• James C. Hagan, President and CEO of Westfield Bank, is pleased to announce that Kaidy Vezina has been appointed Assistant Branch Manager at the Bank’s West Hartford location. She will assist in managing all areas of the branch including customer service, retail and business product sales, employee development, and general operations. Vezina joins Westfield Bank with prior banking experience, having worked at another local financial institution. “Kaidy’s energy, leadership, and strong background in customer service and sales make her a valuable addition to the West Hartford team,” says Patrice Taffe, Retail Banking Officer and Branch Manager. “We are excited to welcome her and look forward to the positive impact she will bring.”

• ICYMI, there was quite a bit of business-related news last week, including the announcement that West Hartford was ranked 19th IN THE COUNTRY by U.S. News & World Report in their ranking of the “Best Places to Live.” The town was top-ranked in the state, and the only Connecticut place to be ranked in the top 50. Town leaders are very excited about this latest accolade – and in my opinion they should be! Here’s the link to the complete story.
• A collaboration between West Hartford Public Schools, the town, and the Chamber of Commerce resulting in the inaugural SkillsUSA National Signing Day last week. Click here for the details.

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

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