West Hartford Business Buzz for Jan. 5: Openings, Closings and Other News

Welcome to the first edition of Business Buzz of 2014! Everything about the feature will change. More stars! Bigger explosions! In 3D!

OK, forget it. It’ll pretty much be the same stuff - business goings on in West Hartford. I’ll leave the above for the people making The Hobbit 3.

Lila Mae, the Blue Back Square boutique that featured unique items made in the United States, will close down this coming weekend after making a brief “pop up” during the holidays.  The store - which is closed this week, but will be open next weekend on Friday, Saturday and Sunday - will be offering significant discounts on all of its goods. On the three days it is open, it will be are doing a special sale to benefit the Nurturing Families Network of the Village for Families and Children. “We are offering our organic children's clothes at 40 percent off,” said Lila Mae co-owner Heather French. “For every item that is purchased at Lila Mae, we will donate a similar organic cotton shirt, pant, top or jumper to the Network.”

French also released the following statement:

“At Lila Mae we are grateful to the Hartford area community for giving Lila Mae such a warm welcome during the holiday season. We wanted to find a way to give back. We welcome the opportunity to join forces with our customers, offer great saving on wonderful American-made items and support the Village all at the same time.”

With the pending closing of Lila Mae, another small business has cropped up. JC Vogue, which features  women’s clothing and accessories, opened at 268 Park Road in December. Look for more information on Patch in the coming week.

No date has been set yet for the opening of the Elmwood Kabob and Bar, which is owned by the same people who run the Bombay Olive on South Main Street. The new place, which is located in the space formerly occupied at Fuji Sushi at 1144 New Britain Avenue, is looking for wait staff, bartenders and a manager, according to a sign in the window. Anyone interested may call 860-561-3000.

West Hartford-based accounting firm BlumShapiro announced that it has merged with Friedman, Suvalle & Salomon PC of Newton, MA, according to a press release. BlumShapiro will now have offices in Boston, Quincy and Newton, MA, West Hartford and Shelton, CT and Providence, RI, making it the largest regional accounting firm in New England, according to its website.