Mackenzies, an independently owned candy and gift store that has been a staple of New Canaan”™s retail community since 1980, is shutting down on Jan. 28.
The store at 7 South Ave. announced a going-out-of-business sale, with discounts up to 50% on its inventory of candies, chocolates, party goods, books, toys and gift materials. Sieh and Heather Washington, who bought the business in August 2018, posted a sign on the store”™s front door that blamed the closing on “high rent prices, other operational cost increases and decline in local shopping.”
The Washingtons acquired the business from Jim and Phyllis Weinstein, who ran it for nearly 14 years. Phyllis Weinstein penned a letter to the editor of the New Canaan Advertiser that lamented that it would be “difficult to imagine the town without this beloved shop,” adding that its “closing is a loss for both young and old in New Canaan.”
