Vineyard Vines Coming to Elm Street This Summer

As long has been speculated, the new shop moving into 67 Elm St. is apparel and accessory retailer Vineyard Vines, the Stamford-based company confirmed late Tuesday morning.

The lease on the space right smack in the center of downtown has been signed and Vineyard Vines is preparing to start renovations, said Lindsey Worster, vice president of brand communications for the line with the signature pink whale logo.

“We are hopefully opening the store in the early summer,” Worster said. “We are delighted to come to New Canaan. The Fairfield County community has been so loyal to our brand and we are thrilled to add a third store in the area.”

Vineyard Vines already has locations in Westport and Greenwich, hometown of founders and brothers Ian and Shep Murray. There are more than 30 Vineyard Vines stores overall.

The brand name’s installment marks the latest change in a rapidly evolving downtown here in New Canaan, where a bike shop is expected to arrive soon in the old Bob’s Sports building and where fixtures such as Irresistibles and Candy Nichols have shifted to new spaces.

While Vineyard Vines brand carries a lot of weight, the arrival of a dedicated store in town likely will affect existing merchants who carry the line, according to Tucker Murphy, president of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” Murphy said.

Murphy said that while a Vineyard Vines location technically represents a chain—something the community is sensitive to—it’s more along the lines of an Ann Taylor or J. Crew store in that it’s a “good anchor store.”

“I think a store like Vineyard Vines is good, is a good anchor,” Murphy said. “We would never have a Wal-Mart here … I think they’re smart and there’s a desire for it here.”

The owner of Newport, RI-based Island Outfitters, which has a retail store on Main Street in New Canaan, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The New Canaan store’s manager, Ann Donovan, said Island Outfitters in town carries Vineyard Vines’ men’s items but not kids’ items.

“We were wondering what they were going to carry in the new store because we do very well with the men’s Vineyard Vines, that was our little niche,” she said.

Asked about how Vineyard Vines envisioned its place in the overall retail community here in town, Worster said the company is “delighted to offer our full collection to customers in New Canaan in this store.”