West Hartford Business Buzz for Sept. 15: Openings, Closings and Other News

Rita’s, the popular location for frozen treats in the Elmwood Shopping Center at 1134 New Britain Ave., has closed. While no official announcement has been given, the parent company’s website lists the Elmwood store’s hours for Monday through Sunday as “Closed” and the store’s phone number has been disconnected. The location is also listed as “for sale” on the parent company’s website.

In another piece of somber news, Risa Becker, who owned and operated Becker’s Diamond and Fine Jewelry with her husband Paul, passed away Tuesday after a long battle with ovarian cancer, according to her obituary. The store has been a fixture in West Hartford center for 35 years. On a related note, Team Becker recently raised $10,000 at an ovarian cancer walk in honor of Risa.

In case you missed it, we kicked off the week by leading with a feature on Effie’s Place, the Park Road institution that keeps chugging along 23 years after it first opened its doors. Its success isn’t surprising when you get down to it. I sat down with owner Johnny Paindiris for an interview that went about 45 minutes, and I could have just sat there all day and chatted with him.

What would Business Buzz be without a Pepe’s Pizza Napoletana update? I drove by the location on Saturday and the signage is up and the finishing touches on the interior were being made. Still. Can’t. Wait. The opening is scheduled for mid-September, which is, like, now. Look for a soft opening sometime soon. Here's what was posted on the restaurant's Facebook page Saturday night: "Getting close to opening our West Hartford location! We're training real hard and pretty soon we'll open our doors to our new community in Elmwood! See you soon!!"

According to a posting on Patch, “Andy Bessette, executive vice President and chief administrative officer of The Travelers Companies, Inc, has agreed to serve as chairman of the 2013 edition of "Start Something Big", the major gala held each year by Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters - Connecticut's premier youth mentoring organization. The event will be held at the historic Hartford Golf Club in West Hartford on Friday, Nov. 15 at 6:30 p.m.”

West Hartford residents love to be "in the know" about happenings in town, especially the openings — and closings — of local businesses. We hear things all the time, and some of them turn into big stories. But sometimes we don't have enough news to write an entire story, even though the information is definitely newsworthy.