The latest Westport institution to reopen is Wakeman Town Farm.
They’re doing it slowly. First they offer private farm visits, with a tour guide (optional).
Kids and parents will enjoy vegetable and pollinator gardens, beehives and animals (alpacas, goats, sheep, ducks, chickens, bunnies, even alpacas).
Tours are every Saturday morning through July, in 3 time slots: 9-9:45, 10-10:45 and 11-11:45.
Registration (click here) is first-come, first-served. The fee supports animal care and farm maintenance.
Justin Paul and his family enjoyed a recent Wakeman Town Farm tour.
The AMPLIFY Festival — Beechwood Arts’ supportive showcase for black artists and performers — continues this week. All performances begin at 7 p.m.
Today (Tuesday, June 22), Kahyree Jannah reads his poem “You’re Killing Me Again,” and violist Amadi Azikiwe performs works by Coleridge Taylor Perkinson and Jessie Montgomery.
Tomorrow (Wednesday, June 24), writer/actor Iyaba Ibo Mandingo shares the fears of a black father whose children live in “the crosshairs of America.” He’ll perform a piece inspired by, and performed under, Beechwood’s 400-year-old copper beech tree.
Thursday, June 25 features poetry slam champion Tarishi Midnight Shuler, as well as the Delphi Dance Company.
On Friday, June 26, jazz vocalist Frederick Johnson leads a conversation on bringing people together through the power of words and music.
Click here to access the performances — and see those still archived from last week’s AMPLIFY Festival.
Compo Barber Shop — an institution in Compo Shopping Center for nearly 60 years — is closing. The final day for business is this Friday (June 26).
Tommy Ghianuly opened the shop, and ran it until his death in January 2019. New owners took over the next month.
The good news is, all of Compo Barber’s staff is moving to Westport Hair & Co. That’s the salon next to now-closed Olympia Sports, a few yards east in the same Compo Shopping Center.
They look forward to carrying on the 6-decade leagcy in their new shared space.
And they made a deal with Compo Barber’s owner to keep Tommy’s old phone number: 203-227-9779.
Another closure, this one reported by a reader: Panera Bread in Westport.
A phone call to the Post Road East store went unanswered, as did an email sent to the corporate press office. If anyone knows anything about this location, please click “Comments” below.
The Panera Bread near HomeGoods.
And finally … all the recent talk about Confederate flags and monuments made me think of this:
Great news that everyone from the original Compo Barber Shop is moving to Westport Hair & Co.
👌Very smart business move and kind consideration to Tommy G and his customers to keep keep the original phone going.
It will keep customers coming in using the 227 number
Hi Dan,
The private tour times at Wakeman Town Farm are actually 9:00-9:45, 10:00-10:45 and 11:00-11:45. The error in the email blast was ours. Sorry about that! The tours are great fun, the littles love touching and feeding the animals and the grown ups learn a lot too! Thanks for the plug!
Thanks, Amy. I’ll change it right now.
Panera Bread is shutting stores across the country according to articles I see just now as I looked online.
They lost their revenue stream when they shutdown for COVID-19. They reopened some for groceries and curbside pickup but not all areas did well.
It seems they’re closing the underperforming stores.
Panera has been doing ad promotions. I clicked on the comments and noticed customers weren’t happy with their orders being incomplete when they picked them up curbside.
Panera went down hill many years ago.
I get emails every day from Panera, offering me free cookies. I checked with Google and there was a Panera in Westport, Kansas that has closed, due to “insufficient parking.” Nothing about Westport, Conn.
So very sad to see Tommy’s legacy end.
The 227 phone numbers lives on and the staff were hired by the neighboring hair salon.
I know it’s not the same but it’s something.
Just a thought… I wonder if the rent was a factor.
I do appreciate that the phone number will live on, but it’s still a sad, sad day. I think about all the stores that have come and gone in that shopping center since Tommy opened. McLellans, Brook’s Hirsch, Barry’s shoe store, Westport Record and Tape are just the tip of the iceberg.
I know….
That whole section both sides of the road
I just drove down Main St tonight…
It doesn’t feel or even look like it used too.
I worked at Klein’s in the early ’90s. Klein’s and the businesses at time were always a buzz with people. Even at night, when the stores were closed it still had energy.
The flowers are nice
Happy to read the staff of Compo Barber shop is moving up the “road” a few feet and can be reached at the 227 number. Sad Tommy;s place is closing, pictures to the new spot??
I wish all the best to the former Compo crew. Chau and the others are true assets to Westport. While Tommy is gone, his spirit lives in the people that will carry on. Please patronize your favorite restaurant and your favorite barber, our ongoing quality of life depends on it.
I am hoping someone can preserve all the historic photos that graced the walls of Compo Barber shop. They are real treasures!
I was on this end of town tonight so drove to the front door of Panera.
The sign says ‘This location temporarily closed”
The odd thing is the radio speaker is still blasting out music.
Panera headquarters or whoever was managing that location NEVER turned off the music!
I bet it’s blasting 24/7!
Thankfully, where the restaurant is situated it’s not bothering any homeowners.
I wonder how the store owners to the left of Panera’s front door are dealing with it. I’m hoping theirs enough sound proofing it doesn’t bother them.
Does someone in Westport government what to look into this situation with the music blaring and literally, no one around?
I’m not sure if Westport would contact the landlord or Panera Bread headquarters?