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2015 In Review: Businesses in Fairfield County Open, Close Their Doors

FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. — Businesses large and small have opened and closed their doors in Fairfield County this year.

Fairfield's bfresh was among the many local businesses that opened their doors in 2015.

Fairfield's bfresh was among the many local businesses that opened their doors in 2015.

Photo Credit: Skip Pearlman

General Electric, which has been headquartered in Fairfield for 40 years and employs 800 people across the state, has been considering a move out of Connecticut. The company is unhappy with Connecticut's business climate and increases in state corporate taxes due in 2017, according to several reports.

While no decision on the move has been made, GE is reportedly looking at a move to New York City or Westchester County, N.Y., among other locations.

In downtown Fairfield, the much-anticipated Plan B Burger Bar, which was originally set to open in 2013, opened this summer on the property of the old post office. The Connecticut-based chain specializes in American beer, burgers and bourbon.

In the same building, the similarly named bfresh opened in October. The healthy-minded supermarket offers a wide array of organic and natural products.

Across the Fairfield border in Bridgeport, Bass Pro Shops opened in November. The massive outdoor goods store joins Chipotle and Starbucks as the first businesses to open in the much-awaited Steel Point development.

In another part of Bridgeport, a total of 60 new apartments and thousands of square feet of new retail are coming to a restored historic building in Bridgeport’s Downtown North.

Construction work is underway at the 88,000-square-foot Securities Building — which was originally developed in 1904 — as well as two adjacent structures at 1103 and 1135 Main St.

Down I-95 in Westport, Jersey Mike’s, a shop specializing in sub sandwiches, officially opened its doors for business November at Compo Acres Shopping Center.

“We’ve been looking at real estate all over Connecticut,” said Brian O’Hagan, one of three managing partners of the company. “We always wanted to be here in Westport, where there are a lot of people, especially in this area.”

In Norwalk, Michael Scheidel, president and CEO of the New England Auto Museum, said he is looking at a few Norwalk locations to set up the fledgling museum, possibly on Belden Avenue.

Eight years in the making so far, the museum will preserve, interpret and exhibit autos and auto artifacts. The museum Scheidel envisions will feature antique automobiles from 1900 through 1960s, among others.

Down the street from a potential site for the auto museum, a new modern-day arcade, Game Haven, opened in the fall. Its 1,700-square-foot gaming room contains rows of tables topped with bright flat-panel television screens.

The room is home to 43 gaming stations, including 16 computers and 20 gaming consoles. A mural runs the length of a wall, depicting comic book heroes and characters from popular games.

Up Route 7 in Bethel, Bethel Cycle closed its doors, ending a memorable 16-year run.

"For 16 years Bethel Cycle has been my life," the shop’s owner Greg Pelican said in a Facebook post. "I have given it my all."

The shop is a fixture in town, but business has eroded quickly over the past few years, Pelican says. He attributes that drop to the low prices available for bikes on the Internet.

But even with competition from online retailers, some local shops have been able to survive. 

Diane’s Books in Greenwich, the last remaining independent bookstore in Greenwich, celebrated 25 years in business this year.

“It doesn’t feel like 25 years,” said Diane Garrett, the store's owner, adding that the time passes by quickly because she loves her job. “I’m living my passion every day.”

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