New Stop & Save Owner Likes Working In His Hometown

By Kaaren Valenta

Curt Hopkins likes a challenge. So when the electronics company that he nurtured and grew was sold to a large corporation, he soon knew that he wanted to own his own business again.

“I’d been looking since 1999, but nothing seemed right,” the Sandy Hook resident said. “One business that seemed a good fit was a 50-mile drive from my home. I didn’t think I was interested in a package store until my broker suggested it last spring. The more I learned, the more it made sense.”

When he heard that the Stop & Save Liquors of Newtown in the Sand Hill Plaza might be going on the market, he approached the owner last July and made an offer. On October 2, he officially bought the business.

“I really wanted to own a business in town,” Mr Hopkins said. “I traveled a lot in my corporate life, and I’m really fed up with it. I spent weeks out of town traveling for business. Owning a local business means a lot to me. My wife, Ellen, and I have lived in Sandy Hook for 17 years. Our children went through the school system here.”

He is ready for the long hours ahead and the busy holiday season. The store is open 8 am to 8 pm, Monday through Saturday.

“We open earlier than any other package store in town,” Mr Hopkins said. “There are few customers that early, but we are one of the first stops for the distributors and it allows us to get the product on the shelves earlier. I probably get more work done between 8 and 10 am than the rest of the day, when I am giving all my attention to my customers.”

He already has begun to implement a few changes to make the store displays more visually appealing, and has launched a series of free wine tastings to be held each weekend.

“This gives customers the opportunity to try a few new wines to see if they like them,” he explained. “I also plan to provide more information about the wines that are sold here.”

Mr Hopkins offered a popular “build-your-own six-pack” for the Octoberfest and plans to continue it through the holiday. Shoppers have the opportunity to mix and match beers in a six-pack for one price.

“There are so many new microbrewers, and this is a way to sample the beers from each of them,” he said. “Like wine, it also makes a nice gift.”

The store offers a customized gift basket service, providing not only the baskets but also ice buckets, bar tools, wine charms, flasks, and other items to be included with the wine.

“The accessories are my wife’s touch,” Mr Hopkins said. “The wine charms attach to the stem of a wine glass to identify who is using it. These are very popular items.”

The changeover in ownership of Stop & Save was very smooth, partly because employees like Joe Sotnik have been with the store since it first opened 11 years ago.

“I’ve added some new employees for the holiday season, and when my kids come home from school they will be pitching in also,” Mr Hopkins said. “Allyson is a senior at the University of Massachusetts, majoring in elementary education. Adam is a freshman, studying foreign relations, at George Washington University.”

Ellen Hopkins works in the accounting department of the development company at Heritage Village in Southbury and also spends a couple of nights a week helping her husband in the store.

Curt and Ellen met when both were students at the University of Bridgeport, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. He earned a master’s in business administration at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

“In 1984 I joined a new company, Harbor Electronics in Ridgefield, as engineering manager and within three months I became director of operations and, within a year or two, was made a partner. We grew the business from $3.5 million to $17 million, and opened two manufacturing plants, before we sold it in 1993.

“One of the things I liked was growing a business,” he said. “I don’t regret that we sold it to Berg Electronics – the timing was right – but I didn’t like the fact that when I went to work for the corporation, I felt I no longer had control of my own destiny. After being a partner for so long, I didn’t enjoy corporate life.”

In September 1999, when the corporation decided to close one of the plants that Mr Hopkins had opened, he knew it was time to make a change.

“I had to stand in front of 350 employees – many of whom I had originally hired – and tell them that the plant was closing,” he said. “It was very difficult.”

By that time, however, he was already looking for a business that he could purchase.

“So far this has been every thing that I envisioned,” he said. “I really enjoy people. I like helping every customer who comes in.

“If a customer comes in looking for something special and we don’t have it, we will get it in short notice. If it’s available in the state of Connecticut, we will bring it in,” Mr Hopkins said. “Customer service is so important, from getting what you want to buy, to carrying it out to your car – it’s all part of our business.”