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News 12 Staff

MainStCTEco52324_2024-05-23-06-38-20

Hey, we're starting Main Street Connecticut today. Something new here on News. 12 Connecticut. Our first stop is Echo Evolution on Washington Street in Norwalk. Chris Gallardo. The store manager is joining us this morning. Hey, what's going on? Hello, how you doing? Nice to see you doing well and glad to have you with us here this morning. Now you have a pretty cool place going on there. Got a lot of Echo stuff and a local organic. Tell me a little bit about what you guys have to offer. Uh So we have uh many different things that we offer. Um We work through a couple different ways. We have a, an artisan um Cooper. We, we uh get a lot of like local people that make candles or books, art and we host them here. Um We also hold a plethora of like organic products that's good for the environment and good for the human body. So like soaps uh detergent. Uh we have a refill station and we also have the best coffee you're ever gonna get uh this side of Norwalk. Um All organic. Uh we have like ac like for example, our chocolate comes from Peru. Um We have fresh teas. Uh our macha is incredible. Um And then we also have like a whole vintage section in the back and a beautiful view in the front. Now, I, I know it's early yet, right? I mean, you didn't have any coffee yet. Is that the, is that the deal here? Oh, I mean, I don't really drink coffee honestly, even for, for working here, to be honest, I just work off a pure life. It's just pure life. I love it. Hey, uh now, recently you guys won a contest. Tell me about that. Um I think you may be talking about how we started. Uh that contest was uh we basically won, uh you know, over pandemic, there was a contest to host a uh business here for two months and we won that contest. Uh you know, when we started the business and we were here and then it's been three years since then and now we're flourishing. So if you're at all familiar, I know we're different generations here. If you're all familiar with the show Friends and Central Perk, I mean, you, you guys seem to kind of have that kind of central perk thing going on. You get the poetry readings, you can sip some coffee. Um te tell me about the, the poetry readings and, and, and book readings you have there. Well, we, we, we host a talk on different events, not just uh poetry and book readings. Um, like anyone can come in and talk to us about any event that we wanna host here and we work with them. So, we've hosted, uh, sushi making classes, uh, dumpling making classes. We've hosted, we have a very popular, uh, monthly, open mic. We host markets monthly too. Uh, among many other things. Uh, we've hosted birthday parties here too and that's just like one of, uh, many different things that we can do here and we're really open to anyone's imagination. All right, Chris Gallardo. Thank you so much for being with us.

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SonoBaking523_2024-05-23-07-24-43

Well, Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer. We're proud to be starting Main Street Connecticut today every Thursday. We'll be live at three different businesses today. We're taking you to the So no baking company in Norwalk, one of the best in America. And joining us this morning is Lauren Tishia, assistant store manager. Good morning to you. Good morning. How are you? Very, very good. We're glad you're with us this morning. You know, you guys are big time. I know uh ownership there is uh spent some time with Martha Stewart on some, some pretty big time national programs. That's right. Yeah, definitely. Uh So tell us, I mean, you, you, you do scratch baking there. What is uh what are some of the biggest sellers? Um Our biggest sellers will definitely are our sour dough, all of our bread that we have. Um But I would say, you know, some, some items like we offer gluten free items. So our vegan cookie is super popular and even people that aren't vegan, they end up loving that. So I would say that's super popular. Any of our muffins and of course, our cakes, they're fantastic. And they're a show stopper too. So, you know, not only do they look great, they taste amazing. Yeah, I think, uh, the boss told me that when he stopped by, he had one of the vegan cookies. It was pretty good. I mean, everything there is good and it looks so good. Yeah, everything looks so good now, I mean, you become so popular. What, 19 years there in that location? You also have another location now as well. Yes, we have two other locations. So we have our location in Darien and we have our location in Southport as well as, you know, doing throughout the year. Um, farmers markets in the areas as well. Now, you know, it, it's not easy to, to run a business today and certainly to please the customers. But, uh, you know, you've made such a name for yourself and, and people just keep coming back. Yeah. Well, um, I definitely think something that's really interesting and cool about the soda baking company in particular is one we have been here so long. But I still think to this day we offer something unique and great that, you know, we have loyal customers, but every time we get a new customer, we usually have a long lasting customer after that. So I think that really sets us apart because a lot of things come and go in this area and we've kind of been a staple here in Norwalk and then the word spread. So, you know, people are enjoying our stuff all over Fairfield County, all over Connecticut and sometimes we even ship out. Um, well, we don't personally ship out, but for other people, they ship their stuff out. Laura, thank you so much for being with us and of course, we'll have more.

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MICicecream523_2024-05-23-08-41-25

Well, we know Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer. We're proud to be starting Main Street Connecticut today every Thursday. We'll be live at three different businesses today. We're taking you to Sweet Ashley's ice Cream in Norwalk and joining us this morning there. He is Frank Lanzo, the owner. Thanks for being with us morning morning. How are you doing? Great. You know, uh I know you've been around over 30 years. I used to go there with my son and stepdaughter to get some of your delicious ice cream over the years. Uh Tell us about uh you know, all your concoctions. I know you, you, you've just like whipped some up here recently, haven't you? Absolutely. Absolutely. We've been doing some great stuff. We uh we uh just did recently a bourbon creme brulee sounds delicious. We kind of introduced a, it is, it is definitely. And you also introduced what, I'm sorry, Mark. Oh, you said you also introduced something else. Yes. A a lavender lavender has been very popular lately as well. Uh So tell me you, you also have uh have kind of uh an all you can eat kind of deal going on there. You got your little sign with you. You're gonna promote this. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. So, actually, uh, this is, uh, a kitchen sink challenge. Uh, I, it was, it was, uh, originally started I, at a, at a place called Jan's Ice Cream Place, I think back in the twenties and I kind of reintroduced it. That's awesome. Now, you, I mean, I know you have a ton of flavors there. Um, and you also had AAA bunch of kids in there yesterday. Tell us about that. Yes. Yes. We did a, did a give back for uh, a Concord Magnet school and uh, we did one the night before for pent school and uh they, they basically put the word out and, and uh, we give a portion of sales back to the school. Great stuff. You guys are doing great stuff there, Frank. Thanks so much for being with us. Thank you so much, Mark.

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News 12 is checking out all of the best summer spots on this Main Street segment.

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