Simsbury recorded 17 new business registrations in August, according to the Connecticut Business Registry. Residential landlords led with three filings, followed by management consultants and trucking and moving companies. Among the more distinctive names: Shocking Innovations, a research business; Slice is Right, a sporting-goods store; and Scudder Consultings Studios, an architecture firm. All but one of the 17 organized as an LLC.
The neighboring pattern is similar — Avon logged 18 new registrations the same month, led by real estate and holding companies, commercial landlords, and education/training businesses, with a lodging business (SS REIT), a research firm (Emmetropia Consulting), and a resale shop (Vault Scout) among them.
A registry filing is a legal step, not a grand opening — some of these companies are already serving customers while others may never open a storefront. But the mix is the signal.
Read the two towns' filings together and a theme emerges: nobody's registering new retail. The August classes are landlords, consultants, researchers, and back-office operations — businesses that either own space in the Valley or serve businesses that do. For an owner watching main-street vacancy, that's a leading indicator: when the filing mix skews toward landlords and holding companies, commercial space is changing hands before the signage changes. Worth asking who's buying the buildings on your street.