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Price Rite is coming soon to Waterbury!
The new grocery store will be located in the former Ollie's Bargain Outlet space at 881 Wolcott Street in Waterbury. The budget grocery store will occupy 34,000 square feet. The plaza's owner confirmed the new tenant, hopefully bringing much needed life to the plaza. Price Rite is part of the Wakefern Food Corporation, parent company of ShopRite, The Fresh Grocer, Fairway, Dearborn Grocer, and other brands. Most locations are locally owned and operated, Wakefern is a cooperative company, similar to IGA. Ollie's Bargain Outlet closed their location in the space in early 2023 after 8 years. The retailer stated at the time that they would look for a new location in the area. ShopRite, sister-company to Price Rite, previously operated a location up the road. This location closed in 2022 and became Stop & Shop. Look for them to open in May 2025!
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Avanti Restaurant in Meriden has been sold! Red Fox Ct has purchased the restaurant at 34 River Road in Meriden with plans for a new 'Fox' eatery! Red Fox Osteria, a new Italian restaurant, will reopen in the space next week according to owner Fico Cecunjanin! The owner closed on the property this morning. The restaurant will serve traditional Italian favorites along with new family-style meals! The menu will include freshly made pastas, pizzas, Italian entrees, and a full bar. Red Fox has a number of restaurants throughout Connecticut including Red Fox Steakhouse in Middletown, Red Fox Prime Steakhouse in Glastonbury, Red Fox RedFox Amore Italian kitchen in Middlefield, and Fox on the Green in Portland. Momosan, a restaurant by Iron Chef Morimoto, is coming soon to Foxwoods Resort Casino!
The new restaurant will be located in the Great Cedar Concourse, featuring signature dishes including Gyoza, Nigiri and Sushi Rolls, Ramen, Bao, and much more! Momosan has existing locations in NYC, Boston, Santana Row, Seattle, Waikiki, and Wynwood. The new restaurant will be the 24th restaurant for the famous Chef. Chef Morimoto is known worldwide, including two IACP awards and a James Beard nomination. The new restaurant is expected to open this spring! Bake Market in Rocky Hill and Glastonbury will be closing the doors of their retail shop to focus on their catering
Bake Market is located at 1975 Silas Deane Highway in Rocky Hill and 63 Hebron Avenue in Glastonbury. Bake Market opened their doors in 2023 in Rocky Hill and opened their Glastonbury shop in August 2024; both shops were formerly home to La Piastra Gourmet To Go. The Glastonbury location closed their doors on 10/30; and the Rocky Hill location is planned to close their doors at the end of business on Saturday 11/02. The markets sold prepared meals, baked goods, coffee, and much more. The bakery carried a large amount of gluten free baked goods including cakes, cookies, and brownies. The closures were the result of an overwhelming demand for their catering services. They will remain open for catering at both locations for pick up. The Charles, the sister restaurant in Wethersfield, remains open and unaffected. Duck Donuts is still coming to Orange Connecticut!
The donut shop reaffirmed their plans for the first Connecticut location in Orange. The Pennsylvania-based donut shop chain will occupy the former Smoothie King space at 350 Boston Post Road. The donut shop originally announced the location in February with an anticipated opening date in 2024. The chain reaffirmed their plans in an email exchange with us last week. The shop is expected to open this winter! The project has been going through permitting, design, and construction according to the 'Sprinkling Happiness Team' at Duck Donuts. A building permit was issued for the project on June 6th according to town records. Stay tuned for a grand opening date! Duck Donuts was founded in 2006 in Duck, North Carolina. The shop quickly became a favorite of locals and exanded rapidly to over 110 locations, including some internationally! A new buffet is coming to Bristol Commons!
Hibachi Buffet is coming soon to 99 Farmington Avenue, next door to The Paper Store. The new buffet will be over 10,000 square feet, with cuisine from all over the world. The buffet is planned to open in January with a target grand opening date on January 10th! They will serve Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, American, and much more cuisine from around the world! The restaurant is still under construction, with a front facade being swapped for glass instead of the existing masonry. Stay tuned for their opening! 
Spirit Christmas, the spinoff of Spirit Halloween, will not be coming to Connecticut this year.
The previously announced Christmas store was planned to occupy the former Christmas Tree Shop space at Crystal Mall in Waterford. The store would open after Spirit Halloween wrapped up their sales after halloween. The store is now expected to close on November 1st. The chain scaled back their Spirit Christmas test to 8 location, down from the originally announced 10. The chain will open 8 Christmas stores on the East Coast including 4 in New Jersey, 2 in New York, 1 in Pennsylvania, and 1 in Mass. The Mass location will be at 65 Faunce Corner Mall Road in North Dartmouth, MA (former Christmas Tree Shop.) A statement from Spirit's PR department reads: "Based on the initial positive reaction to our Spirit Christmas test, we have made the difficult decision to adjust the store count from 10 t0 8 locations. We know that this is disappointing to the Connecticut Community... Our updated store list can be found at https://www.spirithalloween.com/content.jsp?pageName=santa TJ’s Burritos is NOW OPEN in Bloomfield! The new burrito and coffee restaurant is located at 695 Park Avenue in Bloomfield. The space has been host to a number of restaurants over the years including Papa Johns, Amna's, The Sloppy Waffle, The Farm Shoppe, and more. This is TJ's second location, their original location is in East Granby. The restaurant serves a variety of inventive burritos, breakfast, coffee flights, cocktails, and much more. Check out their menu on their website here: https://www.tjsburritos.com/ They will be doing a soft opening from 7AM-9PM every day this week. Their Grand Opening will be this Friday November 1st! 
Save A Lot has closed their grocery store in Meriden!
The grocery store was located at 311 West Main Street in Meriden, in the Lincoln Plaza. The store closed their doors earlier this week. The store was underperforming and chose not to renew its lease. The plaza is home to UHaul, Dollar General, an Ecuadorian restaurant, and others. UHaul, owner of the plaza, plans to redevelop the space as more climate controlled self storage. No timeline was announced for the conversion into self storage. Save A Lot has four location remaining in Connecticut including Hartford, Hamden, Bridgeport, and Waterbury. 
TGI Fridays has closed all of their remaining Connecticut location as the chain prepares to file for bankruptcy.
The TGI Friday's locations officially closed their doors at the end of business last night in Manchester, Orange, and Waterbury. The chain recently closed their longtime location in Enfield. TGI Friday's was located at: -335 Union St, Waterbury in Brass Mill Commons -209 Hale Rd, Manchester -348 Boston Post Rd, Orange The chain once had locations throughout Connecticut including Hamden, Waterbury, Farmington, Manchester, Orange, Enfield, and Newington. 
Big Lots is closing their East Haven location!
The East Haven discount store has been added to the list of closing Big Lots, including the Bristol location. The store is located at 78 Frontage Road in East Haven. The store opened its doors in 2017, replacing Xpect Discounts. The store is currently up to 25% off regular prices. Big Lots has been closing locations across the country, including 11 in Connecticut. The chain recently finished liquidation sales at the previously announced 9 locations in Windsor, Manchester, Newington, Waterford, Torrington, Milford, New Milford, Waterbury, and Norwich. The chain will still have 5 Connecticut locations in East Hartford, North Haven, Wallingford, Middletown, and Derby. New restaurants are coming soon and one is now open at Trumbull Mall!
-T Swirl Crepes will open their 6th Connecticut location at the mall! The dessert and savory crepe restaurant will open in the mall's food court. This addition will bring the food court to full occupancy! -Ruby Thai Kitchen is coming soon to the mall’s food court! The restaurant has over 60 locations across the country. They have an existing location at Brass Mill Center in Waterbury. -Black Pearl Bubble Tea is now open at the mall! The boba shop is located on the second level, across from The Cheesecake Factory. This is Black Pearl's fifth location. These new food additions join many new retailers that have joined the mall! CEC Entertainment, parent company of Chuck E Cheese, recently opened a new arcade concept at the mall called FunSpot Arcade. Other additions include Nathan's Famous, Sana's Beauty, Naturally U, Top Notch Apparel, Concept Designs, Trumbull Convenience, and more. The mall has lost a number of tenants this year including Guacamole's Mexican Cuisine, Panera Bread, Michael Kors, American Eagle, Foot Locker, Foot Action, among others. What would you like to see added to this mall? Comment below! Haya Sushi Enfield will open their new sushi restaurant in Enfield this Friday, October 25th! The restaurant will be located at the former Denny’s at 111 Elm Street in Enfield. The shop will serve a variety of Japanese cuisine including All You Can Eat sushi! All You Can Eat prices are: Lunch- $16.95, Adult $9.95, Kid $5.95, Kids under 4 Dinner- $24.95, Adult $13.95, Kid $8.95, Kids under 5 The restaurant will be table service only, no sushi buffet. Patrons will fill out an order form and return it to their waiter/waitress; once finished a patron can order even more. Their menu includes fresh ingredients every day to make sushi and Japanese dishes, ensuring that every dish is full of flavor. Offering a variety of sushi, including hand rolls, nigiri sushi, gunkan rolls, and signature rolls. They also offer other Japanese dishes such as ramen, udon noodles, tempura, and more. Check out their menu here: https://www.hayasushienfieldct.com
66 Church has announced their last day of business. The restaurant will officially close their doors on October 29th.
The restaurant will host their final Halloween party on October 26th at 9pm. The party with include a DJ spinning all the hits and drink specials. Costumes are encouraged. The restaurant announced their planned closure back on October 8th, though no final date was announced at the time. THe restaurant will have one final Taco Tuesday, College Bash, and the Halloween Party. The restaurant mentions a new spot with new owners will open in their spot in 2025. The restaurant said in a statement, in part, "After nearly a decade of making memories and redefining the social scene in downtown Naugatuck, 66 Church will be closing its doors for good in the next few weeks. This decision comes with a heavy heart as we reflect on the countless moments that turned our bar into a home away from home for so many. From the friendships formed to the unforgettable nights spent together, 66 Church has truly been a local landmark. Since opening in 2015, our mission at 66 Church has been to inject fresh, lively energy into downtown Naugatuck, offering a one-of-a-kind experience that brought people together. We brought life back to downtown with DJs every weekend, our famous Taco Tuesday with DJ Sunshyne, weekend brunches, and the always-entertaining Trivia Nights. Every week, we aimed to be the go-to spot for good vibes, great drinks, and even better company. Through the years, we’ve weathered it all—from packed dance floors to quiet weeknights, from epic celebrations to navigating the pandemic and a horrible economy. Our regulars became more than just customers—they became family. We’re endlessly grateful for the support you’ve shown us, especially during the pandemic. You kept us going when times were tough, and for that, we’ll be forever thankful. While 66 Church may be closing its doors this isn’t the end. Something new is coming in 2025, A new spot with new owners!! Stay tuned—you won’t want to miss what’s coming! In the meantime, we invite all of our friends, family, and loyal patrons to join at some final events over the next few weeks to raise a glass, share our memories, and say goodbye to 66 Church in true style." Make sure you stop in and say goodbye. Tony's Flour Shop is NOW OPEN in Cromwell! The bakery and coffee shop is located 548 Main Street in Cromwell. The shop sells a variety of baked goods including breads, pastries, cookies, stuffed breads, focaccia, babkas dessert bars made with local dairy and premium ingredients. The bakery is owned by Tony Palmieri, a Cromwell Resident. Tony's inspiration for baking is his mom, who he describes as an artist who's medium was food. Read his story here: https://tonysflourshop.com/pages/about-us This is a relocation of the bakery. The bakery was formerly located up the road at 322 Main Street. The new location replaces Hot Taco at 548 Main Street. The shop's hours are: Tuesday thru Thursday 7-2 Friday 7-6 Saturday 8-2 
Ninety Nine Restaurant has closed their Enfield location after decades of service. The location is listed as permanently closed on Google and has been removed from their corporate website. Phone calls to the restaraurant direct patrons to area locations in East Longmeadow and Springfield.
The restaurant was located at 54 Hazard Avenue in Enfield, part of Stop & Shop Plaza. The eatery occupied 6,500 square feet of space near Advanced Auto Parts. The property management company, Phillip Edison, has already listed the space as available for lease. Ninety Nine still has 7 Connecticut locations including Bristol, Killingly, Glastonbury, Vernon, Norwich, Torrington, and Wallingford. Ninety Nine previously had locations in Stratford, Cromwell, Newington, Orange, Groton, Manchester, and others that have all closed previously; the chain recently also closed their location in Holyoke Mall at Ingleside. Ollie's Bargain Outlet will open their new Willimantic location on November 6th according to an email from corporate! The new store will be located at 1589 West Main Street, inside Willimantic Plaza. The store replaces a vacant Ocean State Job Lot after they relocated up the road. Ollie's joins BJ's Wholesale, KFC, Supercuts, and others in the plaza. The store will be open November 6th at 9am! The store's hours will be Monday-Saturday 9am-9pm, Sunday 10am-7pm. Check out the flyer for the grand opening here: https://www.ollies.us/currentflyer/flyer.html?store_code=556 Make sure you check them out! Moodus has a new coffee shop!
Moodus Mud Coffee Roasters is NOW OPEN at 25 Falls Road (Building 6A) in Moodus, CT! They are a new small batch artisan coffee roaster, purchasing their beans through specialty green coffee importers. Their menu includes lattes, mochas, smoothies, lemonade, spritzers, drip coffee, and much more. The shop officially opened to the public at 6am this morning (10/21). You can purchase their roasted beans on their website at www.moodusmud.com .Their beans are sold at stores throughout Connecticut include (but not limited to) Brookside Market, Coffee's Country Market, The Cooking Company, Hadlyme Country Market, Hometown Market, River Valley Provisions, and Ted's IGA. You can try their coffee at their shop or countless other area markets include Higher Grounds, Klekolo World Coffee, Edds Place, and more. 
Buy Buy Baby will close all of their stores, again. The baby store has 11 stores in the chain, down from the 137 stores they had at their peak. Buy Buy Baby will close their stores to focus of their ecommerce site, the closures include the single Connecticut location in West Hartford. The West Hartford location originally opened in 2018, occupying a portion of the former Sears at Corbin Corner. The entire Sears redevelopment is now known as The Corbin Collection, featuring World Market, Saks Off 5th, REI, Crumbl, Club Pilates, Shake Shack, Tavern in the Square, Pokeworks, and more. The store closed their doors in 2023 as part of Bed Bath & Beyond's bankruptcy and liquidation. The store reopened in January 2024 under new ownership with 9 other locations. The new owners planned to open over 100 stores over the next few years, but have since announced their plans to close all physical stores and shift focus to online sales. A liquidation sale has already started at the West Hartford store. Stop in and save on the baby essentials while they last. Sale in the store are currently up to 30% off normal prices, all sales are final.   Photo Credit: Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger Ulta Beauty will open their new Dayville store on October 31st according to a statement from corporate!
The new store will be located at 2071 Hartford Turnpike in Dayville, located inside Killingly Commons. The store replaces a long vacant Hallmark store. This Ulta will be smaller than a typical store. The new store is only 6,319 square feet, while the typical Ulta stores are usually between 9,000 and 12,000 square feet. Make sure you check them out on Halloween Photo Credit: Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger Danbury Fair Mall has welcomed new stores and will be welcoming even more in the coming months! Take a look at the new addition laid out below:
-Tai Chi has opened their new shop in the food court! The shop sells poke bowls, boba, ramen, and more. The boba shop replaces a vacant McDonald's. -T Swirl Crepes has opened their new restaurant in the mall's food court! The crepe shop has locations throughout Connecticut. -Chomp Chomp has opened their new restaurant in the mall's food court. The restaurant serves a variety of hearty sandwiches, fries, floats, and much more. -Terra Nossa has opened their new Brazilian restaurant in the mall's food court. The restaurant serves Brazilian favorites like rice, beans, a variety of smoked meats, fried yucca, brazilian banana, and much more. -JD Sports will be converting and expanding their Finish Line store in the mall into their flagship brand! No timeline has been announced for the store opening. -Foot Locker is in the midst of an expansion! The store is expanding into the former A/M Fragrance space (A/M moved into a larger space near Target) and the Windsor store (moved as well.) Foot Locker has relocated into a temporary store until the expansion is completed. -Windsor has relocated their store from the first level into the former Rainbow store space on the second floor. -The Toy Box 203 has opened a new toy store at the mall! The store is located behind 203 Exotics. Make sure you add them to your Christmas Shopping list! -Pandora has renovated their store! The store relocated temporarily for renovations, but has since reopened sporting their latest concept. -OC Organic Kitchen is coming soon to the mall! The new food tenant will be located on the first level in center court, occupying the space where Starbucks once had a kiosk. -Lego will be getting a store refresh! The toy brick store will be renovated into the chain's latest format. Look for construction to begin soon. More stores are also coming soon but have not been formally announced! Stay tuned for those announcements! What would you like to see open at Danbury Fair next? Comment below! 
The new L.L.Bean Clearance Store in Southington opens tomorrow (10/18)!
The new clearance store for L.L.Bean will open tomorrow morning at RK Center at 835 Queen Street! The new store will be an extension of the L.L.Bean Outlet Stores, offering even steeper discounts of the well-known outdoor brand! L.L.Bean replaces the short lived Bob's Stores Footwear & Apparel. Bob's Stores opened in October 2023 and began liquidating in May 2024. Before Bob's, the space was home to Bed Bath & Beyond before they liquidated all their locations. This will be L.L.Bean's fourth CT store, with existing stores in Danbury, South Windsor, and the new Enfield location that recently opened. Make sure you stop by and check it out! POP MART is bringing their first Connecticut location to The SoNo Collection! The toy store will occupy roughly 1,100 square feet of the space on the mall first level, replacing the former The Body Shop. Pop Mart is a China-based retailer that sells collectible figurines. The figurines, similar to FunkoPops, are usually sold in blind-boxes, where customers buy a uniform box with no clue what figurine they will get. The chain currently has 29 locations in the US and 450 worldwide. No timeline for the store's opening was immediately available. Stay tuned! The SoNo Collection has added a number of national tenants in an effort to increase foot traffic including Starbucks, Haagen Dazs, Hot Topic, GameStop, Charlotte Russe, and more. Stop by and see what's new! A new upscale restaurant is coming to Downtown Hartford!
The Foundary is coming soon to 400 Columbus Boulevard, on the 20th floor of One State Street! The new eatery will occupy the former On20, another upscale new American eatery that opened in 2010 and closed in 2020 during the COVID lockdowns. The new restaurant will be owned by Chef Jeffrey Lizotte, the former Executive Chef of On20. Chef Lizotte owns the Present Company restaurant in Simsbury. Chef Lizotte describes the new restaurant as: “The combination of The Foundry’s innovative American seasonal cuisine, topflight people, industrial-chic ambiance, and panoramic view of the city will make every meal unparalleled, every visit indelible.” They are expected to open this fall! Stay tuned for an opening date! Lisa's Chocolates and Gifts has officially reopened their Mansfield store in the historic Mansfield Center General Store building at 534 Storrs Road! The chocolate and gift shop sells homemade chocolates, truffles, chocolate covered pretzels, and many more sweets! The shop has a candy counter as well! The store has a large selection of homemade products from area vendors, furniture, gifts, plants, gift baskets, antiques, and many more options! Make sure you stop by and shop around or just pick up a sweet treat! They are open daily from 10am-7pm. |
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