Vernon Business Brief: March 2025

Opening:
-7Brew will be opening their coffee shop on April 14th. The coffee shop will be located at 35 Talcottville Road, at Tri-City Plaza. The shop serves a number of beverages including 'The 7 Originals', coffee flavors like blondie, brunette, smooth 7, white chocolate mocha, cinnamon roll, german chocolate, and sweet & salty. The shop also features 7 Energy (an iced energy drink with numerous flavors), smoothies, milkshakes, teas, lemonades, 7 Fizz (sparkling water with any flavor), cold brew, and classic espresso and coffee drinks.

-Little Mark's BBQ will open this spring at 346 Kelly Road in Vernon. The building was formerly home to Angellino's, Frankie B's, and 346 Gastropub. Little Mark's previously operated at 226 Talcottville Road until 2018. Square Peg Pizza now operates in the building.

-Shah's Halal, a rapidly growing chain of halal restaurants, will be opening in the long-vacant KB Toys space at Tri-City Plaza. The restaurant will occupy 3,623 square feet between Shoprite and GNC. The restaurant serves gyros, falafel, burgers, chicken, fries, and baklava. The restaurant is a late night option, usually open until midnight or later. Work is set to being very soon on their build-out.

-The Learning Experience is now open in Vernon! The childcare center is located at 420 Talcottville Road, between Dollar General and Tractor Supply. Find more information on their website:
 https://thelearningexperience.com/centers/vernon/

-Icon Kitchen & Bath is opening soon at Tri-City Plaza! The new showroom will be located in the former Animal City space. Signs were recently installed at the space. 

-Cruzn Retro is coming soon to 500 Talcottville Road! The store will be located in the plaza with Racks, Dog Essentials, and Legendary Looks Barbershop. The space was previously home to John Thomas Treasures Consignment Store.
Cruzn Retro sells all things Retro. Everything from the 80's, 90's, & early 2000's including action figures, video games, toys, Pokémon, vintage items, and more.

-Taybeh Market is coming soon! The new Middle Eastern grocery store will be located at 575 Talcottville Road. Work is underway, though no opening date has been announced.

-Halal Market & Lebanese Bakery are coming to the Vernon Circle. Signs have now been installed for the new business along with a new 'Villa of Lebanon' sign on the Anthony's building. The new market and bakery are now under construction and will occupy 2 vacant spaces behind Anthony's at 216 Hartford Turnpike in Vernon. The 2 spaces were formerly home to Wraith Engraving & Awards and The Tattoo Parlor.

-APH Hair Stylist is now progressing fast at 274 Talcottville Road in Vernon! After years of site work and foundation construction, the site is a flurry of activity. The project has been under construction for a while; with a lot of site work complete in the past few years. The site is planned to house APH Hair Stylist; when the project was first proposed in 2020, the site was to be salon suites. I’ve attached a rendering of the building when it was first proposed.

-Paradise Pizza & Family Restaurant is coming soon to 575 Talcottville Road! The new pizza place will replace the former Xpress Pizza. Xpress Pizza closed quietly earlier this year. The pizza place will be owned by Rudy V Castaneda, Jamil A Mendita Romero, and Gall H Mendieta Vintimilla according to business filings; the pair owns Somers Pizza as well.


Relocations/Expansions/Other Business News:
-NAPA Auto Parts is nearing completion on their new store at 67 Windsor Avenue! The store will relocated from their current location at 59 Windsor Avenue. Work is nearly complete with decals and fixtures being installed in the store.

-Dave’s Cobbler Shop Shoe Repair will relocated from their longtime home of 19 West Main Street! The shoe repair shop will relocate to 46 Union Street, the small brick building next to the Rockville Public Library. The space has sat vacant for years, once occupied by clothing store, the library during the renovation, Gallery 46, and many other shops.

-Guillermo's Hair Studio has relocated their longtime Vernon salon to South Windsor. The salon has been located at 500 Talcottville Road for over 2 decades, but has now moved to MY SALON Suite at The Shops at Evergreen Walk. Find them at 62 Evergreen Way in South Windsor.

-Juliano's Pools is planning a major expansion of their Vernon headquarters! The pool and spa installer has submitted plans to expand their existing building at 321 Talcottville Road in Vernon! The expansion would feature a new 3-story building. The pool installer has outgrown their current office space and needs more space for employees.

-Ray Page Plumbing will be relocating. The plumbing company will be moving to 0 Gerber Boulevard, a new building constructed off Hockanum Boulevard. Their current space at 400 Talcottville Road is up for lease.

-The Vernon Motel, formerly Days Inn/Howard Johnson, is being pitched for conversion to housing. The motel is located at 451 Hartford Turnpike in Vernon and is currently owned by DW Fish. The parcel also includes the adjacent Vernon Diner and American Eagle FCU buildings. A site plan of development was recently submitted to the Town on Tuesday for the proposed conversion, exterior changes include new lighting, fencing, and landscaping.