Vernon Business Brief: February 2021

Opening:

Primitive Renditions has relocated from their former location near Spare Time to a much larger in The Shops at 30! The primitive decor store opened two years ago in a former Metlife Insurance office near Sparetime.

Home Sense in Vernon is NOW OPEN! Go take a look at Vernon’s newest home goods store! The store is located at Tri City Plaza next door to Shoprite.

Vivo Chiropractor will open a new office in Vernon! The chiropractor currently operates a location at 27 Hartford Turnpike, but will open a new office at Vernon Commons! The office will take the place of the former Keller Showroom before they moved onto Talcottville Road.

Pro-health Vernon Family Practice has opened their new practice at 206 Talcottville Road! The practice is the anchor of the once-vacant Talcottville Plaza built in 2018. The shopping plaza has sat empty since a liquor store failed to open in the space.

Square Peg Pizza will open a location in Vernon in the former Little Mark's Big BBQ space on Talcottville Road. The restaurant is planning massive renovations to the space including adding a drive thru, and major facade renovations.

McDonalds (Rockville) will receive a much needed renovation including renovations to the entire outside of the building, an added drive thru, and an interior renovation of the space.

Lucky Taco will open a location in Vernon! The Manchester-based taco-fusion restaurant will open in the former Nature's Grocer location in Rockville this spring.

Economy Oil Change has been sold! The local chain of 10-Minute Oil Change shops has been sold to Full Speed Automotive, a franchisor of oil change facilities around the U.S. including Greese Monkey, Speedee, and Chevron Havoline.

Stumpy's Hatchet House has opened their axe throwing facility in Manchester! The new entertainment destination is located at 8 Progress Drive Suite 2, in the Parker Street area! The facility offers a party room, and is BYOB (Bring Your Own Beer or Wine). Check out this new Manchester business!

Aldi in South Windsor, Manchester line, will open their door on March 11th according to a sign posted outside the nearly finished grocery store! The discount grocery is part of a new development called 'The Gateway.' This should hopefully calm the Vernon store down, the store is usually very busy during peak hours with cars parked up and down the entrance road.

Ray Page Plumbing has moved their headquarters from 500 Talcottville Road to 400 Talcottville Road! The plumbing company is now located behind The Beauty Mark, near Tractor Supply. They have expanded their offering to include sale of plumbing fixtures and parts.

John Thomas Treasures has moved their store from Courthouse Plaza in Rockville to a vacant space at 500 Talcottville Road. The space was last home to a martial arts studio.

Carter Chevy is now Vernon Chevy! The dealership is located on Talcottville Road next door to Vernon Volkswagen. The dealership is owned by Clear Automotive Group, owner of Manchester Honda and Manchester Mazda.

Golf Land is now under construction for the revamped version! The new golf land will features an arcade, bumper cars, mini golf, food, ice cream and much more when it opens!

Smoke & Vape is preparing to open their location in the former Metro PCS location at the Vernon Circle. The shop joins Cut to the Chase and D'angelo's in the building.

APH Salon Suites has started construction on their new home on Talcottville Road. The salon suites will open in a long empty salon building near Larry's Automotive. The site is on the corner of Alan Drive and Talcottville Road. The building will receive an extensive facelift.


Closings:

Pet Valu has closed their locations including their Vernon and Glastonbury locations. The pet store was an anchor of the plaza on Kelly Road, still home to Good Year Tire and Music & Arts. The entire chain of stores closed, leaving the parents company with only their Pet Supermarket Chain.

People's United Bank announced two weeks ago that the majority of their bank branches in Stop & Shop locations would close over the next year as leases run out. That news was followed by the news that People's United Bank would be purchased by a Buffalo-based bank named M&T. The combined bank will be headquartered in Connecticut and would become the largest regional bank in the North East.

AT&T has closed their Vernon location next door to Starbucks. This store was not a corporate AT&T store, but was only a franchised location operated by a third party. This is Vernon's second AT&T store that has closed, the company had a location at the Vernon Circle, now home to Smoke & Vape.

Prestige Cleaners has closed the Vernon dry cleaners shop. The store was located at 154 Talcottville Road. The dry cleaners was once a part of Battiston's Cleaners, before moving to accommodate American Family Care (AFC) Urgent Care.

Spark Virtual Reality in Vernon has permanently closed their virtual reality arcade. The arcade featured VR games, racing simulators, as well as a bar. The VR arcade was located in The Shops at Eastview (Planet Fitness Plaza.)