nothin Westville Village Storefronts Fill Up | New Haven Independent

Westville Village Storefronts Fill Up

Markeshia Ricks/Karen Ponzio Photos

Clockwise from top left: New Westville shop owners Gonzales, Angela Pullo, Della Ragione, Lorri Cavaliere.

When Melissa Gonzales began looking for a storefront for a new incarnation of her popular vintage store Vintanthromodern, Westville Village came calling.

No really: The creatives and young entrepreneurs who have had a hand in reenergizing the neighborhood’s commercial district reached out and said, Come to Westville.”

So she did. This Saturday, during Citywide Open Studios Westville weekend, Vintanthromodern, formerly of East Rock, will have a soft opening on Whalley Avenue in Westville, joining a wave of new businesses that have put out a shingle in the last year or two.

I had a lot of encouragement from people that are already here making things happen,” Gonzales said. That encouragement came from the likes of Alex Dakoulas, founder and creative director of Strange Ways, who opened up his store in the heart of the neighborhood village” about three years ago. And it came from Luke and Mistina Hanscom of The Range at Lotta Studio and Lizzy Donius of the Westville Village Renaissance Alliance.

They were all actively pursuing me coming here,” she said. They said, As soon as something opens up in Westville, you should come over.’”

The something that opened up was the former computer shop at 895 Whalley Ave.

If Dakoulas and the Hanscoms represent one wave of business investments that have swept into the village, Gonzales’ shop is part of a another wave that has seen the opening of a cat cafe (the first in the state), an old-school record shop, and an antiques and collectibles shop. Polished Hair and Nail Salon also joined what could be called the village’s beauty row” this summer after taking over the former home of Hair Power.

With the village’s reputation as a home to artists and creatives, WOW! Creative Design Group founder Jackie Buster moved her office there last year. Even the Citgo close to the entrance of the village got a makeover along with banners that welcome people to the neighborhood.

Donius said the excitement of having Gonzales and Vintanthromodern come to the village has been palpable.

Melissa has some longtime fans here … and we all really wanted her here and realize how lucky we are to have her wonderful store and her wonderful energy and commitment,” Donius said. It’s been fun to watch the store transform.”

Donius pointed out that the boom hasn’t just been about new businesses. Stalwart businesses have decided to renovate and expand their footprints with Bella’s Cafe expanding into the old Perecman Jewelers space. Manjares, which is around the corner from the now 1‑year-old RAWA restaurant, is also expanding, while Westville Jewelers has opened in the former Sally Goodman location.

What About Delaney’s & Former Key?

Representatives from the Church of Scientology told neighbors Wednesday they plan to renovate and move into 949 Whalley Ave.

Though Westville has seen a definite uptick of new businesses in the area it still awaits the start of construction on two stalled big projects: a new mixed-use building on the former Delaney’s site at the corner of Central and Whalley Avenue and a new restaurant from the creators of Shell and Bones at the corner of Central Avenue and Fountain Street. Donius said she doesn’t have an explanation for the delay; the principals of the businesses failed to respond to repeated requests for comment for this story.

The village also continues to push for solutions to languishing properties at 781 Whalley Ave. and 500 Blake St.

Westville/West Hills neighbors got news at a monthly community management team meeting Wednesday that the Church of Scientology plans to renovate and move into the former Hallock’s warehouse and showroom at 949 Whalley Ave. The building has been vacant since the church bought it in 2003, and the church hasn’t renovated it yet. Church representatives had scant details about what those planned renovations would entail and agreed to come back to the neighborhood before heading for site plan review at the City Plan Commission.

We are down to a couple stubborn storefronts on the block between Tour and West Rock on Whalley, and filling them is the priority,” Donius said. And a great new storefront just became available at 900 Whalley, so that makes three available. There is definitely interest, but the trick now that storefront space is tight is finding the right fits.”

A Place For Creatives

Markeshia Ricks Photo

Gonzales has been working long hours to prepare for her soft opening Saturday.

Vintanthromodern’s Gonzales said she’d been actively looking for a new space since she closed her State Street location in East Rock but she couldn’t find the right space. The shop in Westville will be the latest evolution of her business that started out on eBay, moved into English Market downtown, then into a bus. After that, she shared space with the Hanscoms in Trolley Square, and then eventually opened her own boutique on State Street.

This time she needed something different.

I looked at some space in the Ninth Square,” she said. I looked at some other spaces in East Rock but nothing. It was like Cinderella looking for her shoe. This was too big. This was too small. This was too expensive, or there was too much work needed.”

But the Whalley Avenue space fit just right even though it’s much smaller — about 600 square feet vs. nearly 2,000 square feet — than her previous space and needs a lot of interior updates.

It’s really affordable,” she said. And the location is great. There’s already a community here. Not just the community here [in the village] but the community of Westville is so — there’s so much energy. Like what more could you ask for as a business owner?”

Gonzales said that though the new space is much smaller, and has to be more tightly” curated — goodbye men’s clothing — she doesn’t see it as a step down from her previous store. The 17-year veteran Hamden High art teacher and mother of two said it’s an opportunity to take her brand to the next level in a space she said has a lot of character with its tin ceilings and beadboard walls. She also will have two floors to work with thanks to a basement level.

The shop also will be operating under more abbreviated hours, at least through the end of the year. Vinanthromodern will open noon to 5 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, as well as 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays to capture Westville’s brunch crowd. The shop will be closed Monday through Wednesday.

I think my aesthetic is always going to be the same but I’m trying to elevate it,” she said. As I get older and my life changes, I have a vision and I feel like it’s going to happen.”

Donius said she believes that new businesses are choosing Westville because of the long-running success of the business district, which has recently worked to make zoning changes that the city hopes will make the neighborhood even more attractive to businesses and developers.

Running a business is hard, and people spend all day, every day, in that place. There is a sense of community among the entrepreneurs, and among the studio artists as well, that is important.”

Gonzales said that sense of community played a huge role in her choosing Westville to reopen because it was what she was missing most while she was in East Rock. Though she had great success in East Rock and many of her clients came from that neighborhood, it was also a much more transient community than Westville, she said.

There’s no greater gift than to be inspired by the people around you,” she said. It just keeps you excited and growing as a person and when you have a creative minded business whether it’s a vintage shop or a Lotta Studio, or what Alex does, the people that come in, even if they’re not buying things, they’re presence, their ideas, their energy is so important to any space.

I can’t imagine not working in a space where it is that every day,” she added.

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