There is one place in the village where some of the finer wines and spirits in the world meets with the New Canaan’s rich history.
Francos Wine Merchants, which opened more than 80 years ago — the day that Prohibition ended in December 1933 — has been changing with the times while still cherishing and honoring the past.
Albert Franco drove up to Hartford that morning in early December 1933 to get his liquor license and was the first man in New Canaan to open up a retail business on Elm Street. Until the 1930s, all the businesses were on Main Street.
Francos is one of New Canaan’s family cornerstones that is still keeping this a charming New England town that drew so many of us here.
“New Canaan is wonderful now but it was very special back then,” Rick Franco, who owns the shop with brother Carl, said. Albert Franco was their uncle and their father, Richard, later became involved — along with other Francos.
While it was originally a market, Francos sells wine from the larger, known vineyards such as Cakebread, Caymus, Silver Oak, Far Niente, Jadot, and Latour, but is also proud to have a wide selection of boutique wines from throughout the world. And its selection of spirits — particularly single malt Scotches — can be overwhelming. But the Francos’ staff won’t let you be that overwhelmed.
“The idea of private business is how you can present it to the consumer … You get someone to stand there and explain the product to you,” Rick said. “People think we just explain wine. Well, we don’t just explain wine. We also explain how to serve it to the consumer and what his menu is supposed to be. Is he supposed to make veal or beef? And let me tell you something: There is not a better meal than one of those fine chickens you see in the grocery stores these days. You roast that and serve a white burgundy and have that on a Sunday afternoon. That is as good as it gets. That’s a nice Sunday afternoon dinner.”
But Francos didn’t start out as the place for fine wines from all over the world.
“It was spirits when things opened up,” Rick said. “Mostly the darker spirits. In the 50s and 60s, for us in particular, that is what started to separate us. My uncle Emile and my aunt Lydia did cultivate the wine section of the market. I don’t know if it was intentional or by accident. It just developed from there.”
In the late 1940s and early ’50s, the Franco brothers owned two stores in New Canaan — the other was next to where Varnum’s Pharmacy is — another store in Broad River and a bigger store on Main Street in Norwalk. During that time, Rick and Carl’s father, Dick, was in the wholesale liquor business.
Until the ’70s, the Francos wine shop on Elm Street was half its size — next to Estabrooke’s art supply store. “Mrs. Estabrooke was a cornerstone of Elm Street like so many other stores were,” Rick said.
After Estabrooke’s closed, Francos expanded into that shop, doubling its size. “It was a wonderful era of private businesses on Elm Street — I hate the term ‘mom and pop’,” Rick said.
Private businesses, he said, take the time to give their customers attention. He said, particularly in their business, there isn’t much of a difference in price between the box stores and the locally owned stores.
And while some shops in town don’t open when it snows, Francos is always open by 8 a.m. — no matter what. “We’re local guys,” Carl said.
Everyone who works there is from town so it doesn’t take much to get into the village.
And Carl Franco is often helping the Advertiser cover snow storms and other news on Elm Street by sending the paper photos he takes during weather and other events as he makes his way to work. You can find many of those photos on NCAdvertiser.com.
After 80 years, what’s next for Francos?
“The truth is, I’m speaking for myself — but I sure Carl feels the same way — we don’t feel like we own the store, we feel more like we’re stewards,” said Rick.
“Yes,” Carl said.
“We’re here to protect it,” Rick said. “I would love to see a member of the next generation come along. But truth-be-told, who works retail anymore? People talk about mom-and-pop stores and mourn the disappearance of mom-and-pop stores. But the reality is mom and pop are working like dogs in a store to get money to send their kid to school so he doesn’t have to work in a mom-and-pop store. Let him go out and be a professional and have Saturdays and Sundays off and five or six vacation weeks a year.”
And with its popular website, FrancosWine.com, it’s almost like Francos is never closed — and it certainly doesn’t take a vacation.
Carl said that they get people all over the country ordering wine that it seems only Francos has — or can get.
“The Internet has been a big boom for us,” Carl said.
Francos will deliver to any state in the nation that allows it. But why would someone from New Jersey or New Mexico order from Francos?
“We have cool stuff,” Rick said. “We have the brands you would find in any store. But we also have these properties that you will not see in 90% of the stores in the country.”
What started as a New Canaan business the day Prohibition was repealed, is now a nationwide business.
All from one of those still thriving New Canaan cornerstones.
