Month: November 2011

Early on Saturday I posted on DoingItLocal.com’s Facebook and Twitter pages that today was Small Business

Saturday, an small business campaign launched by American Express this year. Many of you were strongly in favor of the concept. Margie Rosten commented that the 3 local merchants she visited had never heard of it; I guess they don’t take American Express!

Small Business Saturday is nothing new to Spector Furniture and Home Décor in Ansonia. They have been bringing local vendors together inside their store for a couple years for their annual Holiday Gift Boutique. I had to head up to the valley for my mother’s birthday so I figured I would mix a little business with pleasure and quickly stop by. My wife and I had such a good time talking with everyone we were a half hour late for the party!

Howie Spector greeted us at the door with a warm smile. I introduced myself and received permission to take photos in the store, he recommends I speak to Robin who was coordinating the event. I place my camera bag on a

table getting ready to set up my equipment when Mary Jane Paris of Positiv*A*Tea greets us with a warm cup of her special blend of one of her great teas. It was a special treat to hear her explain how excited she was about her product I’ll probably write an article on her at a later time, she has a great story!

I could go on and on about how great each and every vendor was. It was such a refreshing change from dealing with the big box stores. Don’t get me wrong, there are good employees at the big box store but there is a huge difference with the small business where you are more than likely dealing with the owner himself.

The Holiday Gift Boutique continues again today. I highly recommend the visit. Spector Furniture is located at 285 Main Street and will run from 10am to 4pm. Each of these unique vendors will contribute to the gift basket that customers can take a FREE chance to win. What a holiday gift that would be!

Spector Furniture has been serving the valley for four generations, furnishing homes since 1980. Wow, how many businesses can say that?

 

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6:38pm–West Haven–Armed Robbery Update–931 Boston Post Road, dvanced Auto Parts Store, $300 was taken at gunpoint. Police are looking for a black male wearing a grey coat silver handgun along with a black female in a purple jacket.

 

2:45am–Stratford–Route 130–Main Street in front of Mr P’s a pedestrian has been struck by a car.

DANBURY: Carbon Monoxide incident at Ethan Allen Inn. High readings – 2 being treated by EMS with symptoms. Building evacuated.

RT @FiresinCT New Haven, 245 Whalley Ave. Whalley Correctional Facility, fire in a cell, heavy smoke condition

9:07pm–#Milford–A carjacking just occurred in the parking lot of Lowes in Milford. Police are looking for a gray Saturn Ion CT registration 992 YMG. A black male threw a woman out of the car.

7:08pm–#Fairfield–Create your own retail specials–Rite Aid at 1619 Post Road Black a Hispanic male 5’8″ in a Northface jacket, shirt and tie took a 14″ TV and walked out of the store without paying.

7:03pm–#Easton– Report of shots fired at Wilson and Beers St. Caller said he heard four shots in the area.

3:44pm–#Stratford–Heavy police activity on Stratford Ave near Waterman St. Numerous 911 calls about three black males one with a gun.

1:50pm–#Easton #cttraffic–Motorcycle/car accident on Route 136 and Redding Road. Cyclist has broken bones and head injury.

2:48am–Main Street near Stratford Avenue by the old old Mr. P’s remains closed as police investigate a pedestrian accident which sent one person to Bridgeport Hospital early Saturday morning. The victim remains in critical condition    Police have not released the victims identity nor have they released any official information at this time. The road was strewn with evidence markers and a vehicle with heavy front end damage was tagged as evidence as well.  We are told one person is in custody.  We will of course pass on any new information as it becomes available. Special thanks to Donna Caporaso for providing these pictures.

Earlier today I stopped at Best Buy in Norwalk to interview the hardcore shoppers giving up their Thanksgiving to wait in line. At noon there were about 20 people in line. The store opens at midnight and the first in line got there at 7am., most were waiting for a television. They were aware from the fine print in the flyer that there were only 10 available and someone in line was wouldn’t be going home happy.

I haven’t been to a door buster sale since I worked them when I worked at Caldor almost 20 years ago. I worked at the headquarters but the day after Thanksgiving all executives working the headquarters were required to work a store in the northeast. Tonight I took my 17 year old son with me because he is my computer consultant and he has never been to such a sale so I knew it would be memorable no matter the outcome. I posted this on my personal Facebook page, some warned us it probably won’t be a good memory, and others protested they didn’t think it was fair to employees to make them work the hours.

We arrived at the store at 11:40pm and the line stretched all the way around the building. It was difficult to estimate how many were in line but there were several hundred to say the least. The line moved quite quickly, we got in line at the very end and were inside within ten minutes. There were two Norwalk Police Officers that were stationed outside the front doors and they were there since 10pm to ensure order. They were firm but very friendly. Line cutters were not to be tolerated, inside the store was another story; they sure could have used enforcement inside. Once inside the store it was wall to wall people, you couldn’t move without bumping into someone. Getting from one place to another was a challenge. .

So my son and I ventured inside trying to find the computer we had in mind. It was a bundled unit that came with monitor, printer and computer all in one big box, not something you were going to hide under your jacket. Items like the TVs, X-Boxes and other high demand items were stacked at the front of the store in the aisles. I’m not sure why our item wasn’t displayed this way as well.

The item we wanted was at the very back of the store and we had to wait in a line that snaked in the aisles of the computer department; openings were blocked with merchandise or large carts. We really felt like cattle in the slaughter line, at times feeling claustrophobic, but hey, that’s part of the experience, right? We waited in line for over an hour, dealing with line cutters, loud alarms going off, and the kid five feet from us blasting his music on his cell phone’s tinny speakers were starting to take its toll on my nerves. Speaking of nerves I did get nervous when I noticed we were at the very back of the store with a sea of people in front of us hoping no emergency takes place. We were confined in line not with the ribbon stanchions you see at banks or theatres but the physical merchandise shelves. As a reporter I am often in large public gatherings and I think this was the first time I was a little nervous for my safety in the case something happened.

I knew the item I wanted was limited to five per store since it was clearly posted in the online circular. I was willing to gamble that not too many were in line for a quad core five hundred dollar computer. After the hour in line we finally saw a manager I guess was pre-writing the orders those in line were waiting for. That’s when we found out we needed a ticket for our sale item. There were no signs anywhere, not in the flyer or any where in the store indicating that we needed the ticket. He said I had to be  in line this morning to get said ticket. So my son and I wasted an hour but grew an appreciation for the Occupy Movement, not for corporate greed but for corporate insensitivity for not taking care of the customer. I told my son not to be disappointed coming home empty handed if they went through the five per store but not on a technicality of something like this!

I think back to those waiting in line for over seventeen hours for the TVs, if they paid themselves five dollars each hour they waited in line they could have paid full retail for the TV and enjoyed their Thanksgiving! It also gave me a greater appreciation for the smaller stores like Marsillio’s in Fairfield or Mudrick in Stratford; they purchase as a group to give competitive prices to these big box stores and they would never ever treat their customers like this– but they don’t sell computers!

Tonight also reminds me of a post on Facebook that says “If you really want to occupy Wall Street do all of you’re shopping at a local business”. Tonight Marsillios posted on Facebook their sale–19″ LED TV’s for $139.00 a 32″ LCD TV’s: $197.00 while supplies last, no mention of a ticket but I seriously doubt you will need one!

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10:19pm–#Bridgeport–Report of heavy smoke coming from a structure to the right of 127 Jones Street. UPDATE:Home behind this house has a wood burning stove and the smoke may have been drifting to the house in question.

2:35pm–#Bridgeport–Report of a motorcyclist struck by a car at Seaview and Adams Street, cyclist is have difficulty breathing. EMTs on the way.

12:03–#Bridgeport–AMR on the way to Bullard Haven HS for a player with a dislocated finger.

11:53am–#Bridgeport–Ugh, AMR sending an ambulance to Central High for a player with a spinal injury.

1:39am–#Fairfield–Fight outside Penny’s Diner on Black Rock Turnpike. Police on the way.

Over 20 people gave up their Thanksgiving family gatherings to gather at Best Buy on Connecticut Avenue to be the first in line for Black Friday specials at the store.  Most everyone we spoke to said they were waiting to get the 42″ TV on sale for $199.    The online advertisement says there will be 10 per store.  The people in the front of the line started gather at 7am Thanksgiving morning. The store will open at  midnight.

Not even a week after a devastating fire at Saugatuck Congregational Church on Post Road East in Westport, the Thanksgiving was relocated and held down the street at Christ and Holy Trinity Church at 75 Church Lane. Over 250 people turned out for the feast in addition to another 100 or so shut ins the church will deliver later today.

After stuffing yourself with turkey and all the trimmings come join Treeman and DoingItLocal.com at 5pm Thanksgiving Day for the official light up of the 2011 Christmas display.    The house is on Roseville Terrace right off Black Rock Turnpike (just down the road from Chips).  I will  be there recording everyone’s  expressions for an upcoming special on this amazing home!  I hope to see you there!  The display at Roseville Terrace will be lit up every night until New Years Day.
Exact location: geo:lat=41.17513714203662 geo:lon=-73.2402840256691

“After five months of negotiations with various guilds, hundreds of presentations to potential financial and technology partners, and a hope that we could pioneer a new network for the future, it is with great disappointment that we are suspending our aspirations to revive One Life to Live and All My Children via online distribution,” said Prospect Park’s Rich Frank and Jeff Kwatinez in a joint statement issued Wednesday.  Read full story……

Written by Nancy Doniger Bridgeport News– Video Steve Krauchick DoingItLocal.com

A familiar voice that greeted a generation of Bridgeport area residents as they began each work day but suddenly went silent in 2007 is back on the airwaves.

John LaBarca’s big personality was, for all intents and purposes, the morning voice of WICC AM for 20 years, and its absence left a void. (Video produced by DoingItLocal.com)

Now LaBarca, 64, of Stratford, has returned to State Street in downtown Bridgeport as morning show host at AM 1530 WDJZ, interactive leased time radio. The 5,000-watt station reaches 65% of Connecticut and streams live at WDJZradio.com.

LaBarca’s down-to-earth tone and exuberant style once again exudes a local presence and reassuring quality, almost as though he was never gone.

“It feels great,” LaBarca said during a weekend interview. “People want to hear a real person in the morning — a human being talking to another human being.”

His new show began with a soft opening Monday, Nov. 14, and will be broadcast each weekday from 7 to 10 a.m. He will host his original “Italian House Party” Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“Some people grew up listening to me until corporate took over and lost sight of the relevancy of what AM radio is about,” he said. “Rather than relating to the audience they chose shows where people yell at each other or talk real fast. AM radio has been formatted to death.”

He wasn’t the only one let go; other veteran broadcasters also found themselves out of a job. LaBarca said his new show would do things differently and relate to people interactively with the full support of management.

Every 15 minutes listeners will hear top stories, weather, traffic reports and sports updates. His morning show, John LaBarca and Friends, also features fellow long-time broadcasters Matt Levine and Bill Buchner.

“The three of us have a great rapport in the studio doing the show,” he said. “We have conversations and will make an effort to really entertain the audience every day.”

After LaBarca’s job at WICC suddenly ended four years ago, he landed a job at 1400 WSTC/1350 WNLK in Norwalk. He worked there until recently, when the long-time local stations became NPR affiliates upon their sale to WSHU.

In the beginning, LaBarca thought he would do the Italian House Party at WNLK one day a week and sleep in and take off the rest of the week.

“I said never again,” he said about hosting another daily show.

But as time went by he began to miss it and wanted something more, leading to his becoming morning news host on WNLK.

But LaBarca’s new show will not be a carbon copy of his old show.

“You’re got to reinvent yourself every day,” he said. “I want to change and be more interactive and have people on the station who are experts in their field. They can have their own show.”

Mike Raub, a former colleague at WNLK, produces LaBarca’s show on WDJZ and said the station would be adding more live shows very soon.

“John’s back home again,” Raub said. “He was a huge personality in Bridgeport for two decades, and we’re bringing him back to the city.”

LaBarca is excited about being back in the city where he has many personal and collegial ties.

“I live five minutes from work,” he said. “I had to get up at 3 a.m. to do the show in Norwalk. It feels so good to be home.”