Sound Beach Sportswear, A 'Fixture' In Old Greenwich, Closes

GREENWICH, CT — After over 30 years, Sound Beach Sportswear has closed its doors.

Located at 239 Sound Beach Ave., the store, which featured a curated collection of women's and children's clothing and sportswear along with a wide selection of gifts, was co-owned by Georgia Vlahakis. It officially closed last month.

According to the Greenwich Time, Georgia came to the United States from Greece several decades ago and opened a store in Stamford before moving to Old Greenwich.

For Richard Fulton, board member of the Old Greenwich Merchants Association and owner of Chillybear located nearby, the closing of Sound Beach Sportswear is the end of an era.

"They were hoping to stay open until the end of June, but once you start that closing process it gets, I would imagine, pretty emotional. When you've grown up in town, you've seen all of these individual mom and pop stores that start to close. It's kind of sad," Fulton told Patch. "It's the end of an era, and I don't see another store like that opening up again. Georgia was a sweet lady, and she was very active in our community. We'll definitely miss her."

Georgia, who could not be reached for comment, is in her 80's. Even though her sons had helped her run the business recently, Pat Cameron, president of the Old Greenwich Merchants Association, said it was probably just the right time to close.

"I think she kept on going for as long as she could because she loved being in Old Greenwich, because it's a 'stop in and say hello' kind of village. The pandemic was sort of the last straw for her, and she knew it was time to retire," Cameron said, adding that Georgia always helped out and was an active participant in the annual First Light event in town.

"She's always contributed to our events," Cameron said. "Old Greenwich is a Normal Rockwell town. Everyone pretty much knows everybody and helps each other out." Cameron added that it's still unclear what will happen to the empty space, although someone had bid on it recently.

Despite the sad news about Sound Beach Sportswear, merchants will now turn their attention to the annual Sidewalk Sale event that will take place from June 24-27.

Fulton recently moved Chillybear, which specializes in embroidery and screen printing, from Sound Beach Avenue to nearby Arcadia Road. He said he's excited to have some semblance of normalcy this year, as the Sidewalk Sale event was canceled last year due to COVID-19.

On the first night of the sale, over a dozen locations are going to stay open late. There will also be live music and gift card drawings and giveaways throughout the weekend.

"We'll make it a little more festive and maybe not as focused on bargain shopping," Fulton said.

There is also the second annual Art in the Park event which will take place in Binney Park on June 6 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event will have over 30 local, up and coming artists, exhibiting and selling their works to the public.

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