Everyone’s talking about tariffs.
In this area, many of those talking are businesspeople. Most have some skin in the game.
That includes Stew Leonard Jr.
The Westport native — now CEO of Stew Leonard’s, the company his father founded, with 8 locations in the tri-state area — sat down the other day with Business Insider. Among his comments:
As far as tariffs go, I’ve talked to our suppliers in Mexico with avocados and beer and tequila, and I’ve talked to our suppliers in Canada. We get some tomatoes on the vine from Vancouver, and salmon is our biggest item from Canada. There’s also lobsters, but it’s not lobster season yet.
Basically, take your darts out for your dartboard because nobody that I’ve talked to, even the experts in the field, knows what’s going to happen.
Throw a dart. Is this tariff going to last one day? Is it going to last a week? Is it going to last a month?
What we’re scrambling to do is find alternate sources if there is an increase in the tariff. We’re sitting here riding the market day by day….
Click here to read the full story. (Hat tip: Doug McCarthy)
Stew Leonard Jr. (Photo courtesy/Westchester Magazine)
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On the 5th anniversary of the pandemic, COVID is still here.
Is bird flu here too?
While the CDC website shows no reported cases in Connecticut — or east of Ohio — one Westport woman is not so sure.
She told “06880” yesterday that she found 2 dead birds in the waters of the Ned Dimes Marina at Compo Beach, and another nearby on the Longshore golf course.
She was advised to contact the Aspetuck Health District, just to be sure.
Dead birds at the Compo Beach marina.
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For a while, I’ve wondered why nearly every new house in Westport seems to be white (with black accents).
I’m not the only one.
Dan Kois has thought about the trend too.
Now he’s written about it.
He concentrates on Arlington, Virginia. But the style is national, he notes.
His piece in Salon answers a number of questions, including why they’re so big, and why they’re so white. Click here to read. (Hat tip: Scott Smith)
This 4-bedroom, 3 1/2-bathroom house on Spriteview Avenue is on the market for $3.499 million.
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It’s less than 3 miles from Staples High to the Westport Country Playhouse.
It’s a lot longer through Ithaca, New York.
That’s the route Zach De Brino took. It was worth the detour.
Before graduating from high school in 2019, he was an assistant director for Staples Players.
Zach earned a BFA in stage management from Ithaca College in 2023. Since then he’s worked Off-Broadway and regionally, including production assistant and crew swing on “Teeth” at Playwrights Horizons, assistant stage manager for the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, and event production coordinator in New York.
Now he returns home. Zach is the production assistant “Theatre People,” which opens March 25 at the Playhouse.
Click here for more information on the show, including tickets.
Zach De Brino, checking props for “Theatre People.” (Photo/Andrea Quiles)
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Jay Norris’ new “Visionary” podcast has just dropped.
This week, the business/tech/media/retail/real estate/music entrepreneur talks with ESPN chair (and fellow Westporter Jimmy Pitaro.
To hear the strategy that led him to the world’s top sports network — and much more — click below.
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Signs of spring are everywhere. Bob Weingarten spotted this — a perfect candidate for “Westport … Naturally” — on Hillandale Road:
(Photo/Bob Weingarten)
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And finally … as noted above, Stew Leonard Jr. is worried about:
(Be a champ! Help support “06880.” Just click here — and thank you!)