Harp Gets A Valentine’s Head Start

Cooing as she opened and closed a tiny compact mirror with intricate needlepointing on top, Mayor Toni Harp got a hyperlocal head start on her Valentine’s Day shopping — to let New Haveners know they can, too. 

That was the scene Tuesday afternoon in the Ninth Square, as Harp visited four small businesses to shop local before next Tuesday’s barrage of red roses, heart-shaped chocolate, and cubic zirconia that have come to stand in for the Feast of Saint Valentine. This year, she said, she’s keeping it local — and hopes Elm Citizens do too.

“I think it’s really important for people to remember the experience of shopping, and how much as an individual you get from actually knowing shop owners and supporting them for what they do for our community,” she said. ​“Part of the reason we are a vital, thriving community is because of our shop owners — the people who have invested in their small businesses. It’s really important that we continue to support them — because when they leave, we all miss them. They hire our local residents, you can have conversations with a live human being. There’s a lot of enriched experience going to local retailers in New Haven.”

That’s exactly what she did Tuesday afternoon, embracing the approach that ​“it’s best to touch and feel and try on” things when shopping, instead of clicking quickly on something in an online store. Harp has made a practice during holiday shopping seasons of taking publicized trips to local stores to promote local commerce.

Stepping into the warm, heavily-scented air of The Blossom Shop on Orange Street Tuesday, she delighted in a pair of small lemon trees, leaned forward to inspect orange, pink yellow orchids, and learned from assistant manager Lindsay LoRicco that the best bang for her buck would come in the form of red roses — because they stay alive the longest.

“I love roses, but when they go, it really sort of breaks my heart,” she said. ​“So I’m glad to know that red roses have a staying power.”

That new knowledge joined a host of other Valentine’s Day tidbits along the way. Aided by assistant Michael Timlin and store manager Leila Crockett at Artist & Craftsman on Chapel Street, Harp designed a Valentines Day card, putting her urban planning background and spatial skills to use as she cut out a bright red felt heart and glued an embellished strip of paper to the bottom. ​“Love is all,” she wrote in swooping red script inside.

It followed her to Nim’s and EBM Vintage, as she searched for a large glass jar she’d been needing at home. Walking the 4,000 square-foot store, filled floor to ceiling with vintage items that curator Carol Orr has picked out, Harp didn’t find exactly what she wanted. But EBM Vintage is, she said, a wonderful collection of bric-a-brac, and she didn’t leave empty handed. She picked out two delicate, shiny brooches that reminded her of her mom.

The reason for the excursion wasn’t just a pride in local small business, she said, but also a genuine fondness for Valentine’s Day.

“I think anytime that you can connect with your heart and the way that you feel about someone else, that’s really a wonderful experience for you, but also for them,” she said at the end of the tour. ​“You never know — it’s really a gift that keeps on giving. Whenever you reach out and give love to someone else, you don’t know how that gives them permission, empowers them. So I think that anytime we intentionally decide to celebrate that human capacity that we all have, it’s a very important celebration.”