Khaki & Black Moving Back To Center Of Town's Retail District; Station Square Owners Considering Shared Office Space Set Up

Joel Stander, the owner of khaki & black, which is currently located at 22 Durham Road in the Station Square complex, plans to move to the old Sound Runner space at 762 Boston Post Road in early June.

khaki & black started on the Boston Post Road in the center of town in 1996. The store's first location was at 703 Boston Post Road, where Peter Indorf Jewelers is located now. After five years in that location, enticed by the opportunity to start with a clean slate in terms of space, khaki & black then moved to the brand new Millennium Building at 741 Boston Post Road in 2001, and stayed there until 2009. Stander said that worked well for a while, but ultimately the space ended up feeling like it was too big for his store.

So, in 2009 he moved to his current location in Station Square at 22 Durham Road. Stander says he likes many things about the Station Square space, but, since his lease is up, he could not resist the opportunity to check out the possibility of taking over the Sound Runner space on the Boston Post Road when it became vacant in May.

The new space, at about 2,100 square feet, plus a generous storage area, is larger than his current space, at about 1,400 square feet. Stander said, if all goes well, he might consider using the storage area for floor space. Or, he said, he might try to do something creative like set up a lounge with a big screen television area. "Why not," he said. "That could be fun. We'll have to see."

Stander hopes to be settled in new location by second weekend in June

The owner of Sound Runner, Julie Francis, said she decided to leave when her lease was up because she has stores in Old Saybrook and Branford, and that the combined traffic in the stores was not enough to sustain three locations.

Stander said he has enjoyed being located next to the Timothy Pamment Salon, but that he had hoped Station Square would increasingly get traffic from the Boston Post Road via the walkway that connects Station Square with the Boston Post Road. That never really gained momentum and, in fact, the walkway was posted by the town as being shut down for part of the winter months. Stander said members of the business community, including the Chamber of Commerce, have made efforts to publicize the walkway and that he hopes that one day it will become better know and better used.

"I'll definitely miss being with Tim and the girls [at the salon]. Everyone there is like family. But we'll just be a walkway away," he said.

Stander said he hopes to be settled in his new location by the second weekend in June, after he paints the new space and gets everything moved in. "Being in the heart of the retail district will be very exciting," he said. "It's probably the best location downtown."

"The collective community is the draw"

He said his store is a good fit with the other retail stores close to the old Sound Runner location, and that he is looking forward to working with the other retailers on the Boston Post Road.

"When it comes to retail, everyone should feed off of each other. The collective community is what is the draw for many shoppers," Stander said.

Roxanne Coady, one of the owners of the Station Square complex, said she is evaluating a couple of different options for Station Square, including creating a shared office space. A large store in the building at 28 Durham Road in the Station Square complex, Elite, next to Savvy Tea, recently closed its doors, leaving that space open.

Shared office space being evaluated

"A lot of people want a little bit of office space with maybe a conference room and a kitchen," she said. "But they don't want to lease a big office. And there might be some people who want 100 hours a month of office space, so maybe those people could become members, and sign up for 100 hours and make a monthly payment. They could have a cubicle where they could sit when they come in, with lockers."

Coady said the space also might accommodate some permanent offices as well.

"We're putting together a game place and trying to figure out the different options," she said. "Right now, if people have any ideas or are interested, I'd love to hear from them. They should get in touch."

A model for shared office space in New Haven and Simsbury

She said one model for the shared office space set up is the Grove in New Haven, CT, which bills itself as a "new kind of social space," workspace, and incubator for new businesses.

She said there is another office space in Simsbury, CT that has a similar arrangement.

"We're working on this now to figure out the correct rates and how to run this," she said. "I think it would be very cool to have this in Madison."