The General Store Gets An Update

Pedestrians and people driving along Whalley Avenue may have noticed the storefront that used to house Strange Ways has changed. That’s because the beloved lifestyle store moved from Westville Village to downtown. In its place, owner Alex Dakoulas — who also still operates Strange Ways in its new location — has opened Westville General, selling meats, cheeses, condiments, candy, home goods, and gifts (just for starters).

With both stores up and running, Dakoulas marks an expansion of his business, but also a fuller expression of who he is and where he’s been in a life that took him all over New England to land in the Elm City.

Dakoulas has a background in graphic design; he went to the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston and worked for Converse and Puma. He always gravitated toward lifestyle products, ​“things you buy as a form of self-expression,” he said. He had his own clothing line, called Dance Party Massacre, that took inspiration from ​’80s slasher flicks. ​“It was just so hard to get into stores,” he said. No one wanted to take a chance on a new brand. ​“I always had in the back of my mind that I would have to open a store eventually.” And ​“when I moved to New Haven” with a partner, ​“that was the opportunity to do it.… I wanted to be the store that gave independent artists a chance.” And he saw in New Haven a potential customer base that might be interested in what he had to offer.

Dakoulas started Strange Ways online in 2014, did popups in various neighborhoods in New Haven, and opened his Westville storefront — selling clothes, pins, patches, and other paraphernalia — in 2015.

“I opened in Westville because the rent was more affordable, there was a big artist community, and a big neighborhood push,” he said. The rents were too high for him downtown, and he perceived that other neighborhoods — including Wooster Square, where he lived at the time — didn’t have the same foot traffic for shopping beyond restaurants. Meanwhile, Westville already had clothing stores, stores that were as much about lifestyle as eating.

“Strange Ways to me is about self-expression,” he said. He bought merchandise from artists who had caught his eye, and gambled that customers would do the same. ​“You buy things that you relate to, you wear stuff that expresses you, you put stuff in your home that you feel connected to. That’s what Strange Ways’s ethos is.”

The store struck a nerve.

“We were here for five years,” he said, and then realized ​“we have no more room.” Strange Ways’s new space — in Pitkin Plaza on Orange Street — is four times bigger. The new spot was ​“perfect” and ​“so far it’s been going great.… there’s a lot more foot traffic.” Dakoulas moved Strange Ways downtown in the fall, and in the holiday season ​“we saw a lot of people coming in for gifts, coming in to see the new space, or if they were new to the area, coming in to see what we were.” Many downtown residents had never heard of Strange Ways until the move.

But Dakoulas also wanted to stay in Westville ​“because I love it so much.”

He didn’t want to simply run two Strange Ways locations in the same city; that seemed ​“a little silly,” he said. ​“I also just had this urge to open a general store.” He lives on Fountain Street and thought about how ​“I want to walk somewhere and get a snack, get an easy dinner, get a gift.” Dakoulas is ​“from New England” — New Hampshire and Massachusetts — ​“and I’ve been used to going to all these small-town general stores.” He wondered why Westville didn’t have a general store of its own already. He admired the markets in East Rock like Nica’s and P&M Fine Foods, but his storefront didn’t have the space, and he didn’t have the expertise.

The space did, however, have a refrigerated deli case, which a previous tenant had left. Dakoulas had left it unplugged and used it to display patches. ​“If this turns on,” Dakoulas recalled thinking, ​“then this is a sign that I should be opening this store. That’s how I made my big decision, really,” he said with a laugh. He plugged it in and it worked.

“I was hesitant to go into food and have two businesses, but it’s the same landlord, I know the area really well, and we already had a fridge case” — a piece of equipment, Dakoulas pointed out, that would have cost thousands of dollars to acquire if it hadn’t already been on site. ​“I want this to be here, I really care about the neighborhood, and I think this will do well, so I went for it.”

The shop stocks essentials like toilet paper and dish soap. ​“But then I want people coming in saying, ​‘this is such a cute maple syrup!’ You don’t need all this stuff, but I want regulars from the neighborhood.” So he focused on offering meats and cheeses, thinking of them as a snack, or for people entertaining guests. ​“Hopefully this is something where we can get people in the neighborhood coming in fairly often.”

There was a learning curve involved. ​“I didn’t know anything,” Dakoulas said, about stocking either meats or cheeses. ​“It was more work than I thought it would be, which I should have expected.” He got a food permit from the city to sell the items he wanted. The city worked with him to tell him what he needed to do, and Westville General officially opened in December.

“That was a prime time for holiday gifts and gatherings,” he said. ​“Immediately the neighborhood came out to support us. We did a really good first month. We listened to people, too,” about what to stock, and landed on what he called ​“elevated essentials” — higher-end olive oils, more interesting cheeses, crackers, condiments, cocktail mixers, and syrup — ​“which I’m happy to source and find. I think that’s what people are expecting from us: unique home supplies, groceries or pantry items, and gifts.” There are also a few pins and patches, like what Dakoulas carried on Strange Ways, plus a few that are forest‑, plant‑, and animal-themed.

“I’ve been telling people Strange Ways is style and art, and Westville General is home and gifts. That’s the city and this is the woods. Is your vibe going out downtown, young and — I would say hip, as a compliment to my customers? Or do you want to stay at home and eat a bunch of meats and cheese, and stay on the couch — which I love to do, too? Which vibe are you going for today?”

He began by getting his cheese from Vermont, which is well-known as a cheesemaking center, based on online research and taking road trips north. He found vendors happy to help him stock his store. He has been reaching out to local cheesemakers, and carries local honey and jams. He has a candy corner for kids but also kitchen utensils. He also carries fig-based vegan salami in addition to the traditional animal-based product, and is looking to stock vegan cheese as well.

“It’s really more like art direction,” he said. ​“I’m just always thinking, ​‘this is cool — I hope someone else thinks it’s cool and wants to buy it.’ It’s always on my mind when I see stuff.” He has been steadily working through the products, tasting them all.

“I’m just as interested in the general store as I am in Strange Ways,” he said. ​“It speaks to my two personalities. This is a little metaphorical, but I’m a Gemini, so I like to think I have two sides to me. If I want to hunker down and sit on the couch, I’m going to get some stuff from Westville General. If I want to go out and see something cool, see more youth culture,” then Strange Ways is the way to go. ​“People love it and I don’t want to lose any of that,” he said of Strange Ways. So he devotes equal time to both ventures. As Strange Ways nimbly finds its feet downtown, he remains glad to still be running a shop in Westville as well.

“I think there are more and more reasons for people to come to Westville Village,” Dakoulas said. ​“We’ve had to work hard to make the area well-known to people who don’t live in Westville, but it’s happening.” He pointed to Pistachio and Vintanthro Modern and Vintage, with which Westville General shares the block, as well as Elm City Sounds and Lower Forms vintage clothing shop. ​“More new blood is coming in and getting the word out,” he said. He also lauded Westville Village Renaissance Alliance for throwing events and promoting local businesses, and Westville residents for shopping in their own neighborhood. In the past few years, he has also noticed an uptick in visitors to Westville from outside the neighborhood.

To Dakoulas, all the elements come together to make Westville a neighborhood where ​“people can open a small business and succeed. Rents are affordable. There’s a big community vibe. People want to see this area thrive, be walkable and shoppable.… Not that it’s easy for a business to succeed,” he said with a laugh. ​“But there’s a lot being set up to help us thrive and grow.”

That includes Dakoulas’s own twin vision for commerce and community. ​“Strange Ways is in your face and very queer forward,” he said. ​“It’s almost its own beast.” Westville General store is ​“a whole other mindset, a whole other part of my brain.… I’m getting older. I’m not 21. I’m looking to settle down. I see a relation” between the two stores. ​“I’m still very much into where things are coming from, what they look like, where they’re sourced from, what they’re made with, who’s making it.”

It’s also drawing from Dakoulas’s youth in New Hampshire, but reflecting who he is now, and how far he has come. ​“Some of these backwoods general stores in New Hampshire aren’t the most welcoming always,” he said. ​“We’re a general store and we’re trying to be a modern one, trying to still be welcoming with the inclusiveness that Strange Ways has. I want to have a big American flag, but also a sign that says ​‘make art, not war.’ I want to have Shepard Fairey artwork. I want to have ​‘Love Wins.’ ” It’s ​“be-free America, but America for all. I want young people to still want to come in. I want them to feel like it’s their store. It’s everyone’s store.”

Westville General is located at 910 Whalley Ave. Visit the store’s website for hours and more information.