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Anita Bruscino Closes Her 30-Year Retail Venture July 31, 2023 (0 comments)

Cheshire, CT--After nearly three decades in retail, Cheshire's Anita Bruscino, owner of Elegant Touch Fine Gifts & Jewelry, is ready to close this chapter of her life. Bruscino has made a name for herself through her customer-centric business approach, which has been at the heart of her store's operations.

[Image via Elegant Touch Fine Gifts]

According to a CT Insider report, Bruscino is now ready to transition into the next phase of her life. The store, located at 1110 South Main St., is scheduled to close in the upcoming weeks.

"I will miss the people who were my customers," the 60-year-old Bruscino said, per the report. "You kind of feel like you're a small part of their lives and their family events from all the times they have come in to buy gifts."

Bruscino opened Elegant Touch at 178 Main St. in Cheshire at the close of 1993. After 11 years, the store moved to its current location at S1115 South Main St. in the Country Plaza.

The report noted that though now a seasoned retailer, Bruscino started her career in the manufacturing sector after graduating from the University of Connecticut with a degree in mechanical engineering. She later earned an MBA from the Hartford campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

In 1993, after a dispute over their family-owned manufacturing company's direction, Bruscino and her father left the firm. That same year, she launched into retail upon a friend's suggestion.

"I always liked the idea of working for myself," she said, per the report.

In the report, Tim Phelan, president of the Connecticut Retail Network, commended Bruscino's resilience: "To do that, you have to be adaptable to changes in customer behavior."

Learn more in the entire CT Insider report.