For the last few years, the building situated at 410 East Main Street has been home to long-standing local business Artworks.

In late 2019, the business opened at that location. It happened after the Shoppes of Averil Place on South Virginia Avenue which housed Artworks and several other businesses went up in flames on Oct. 3, 2019.

Almost five years to the day of the fire, on Oct. 1 of 2024 to be exact, Artworks had left its East Main Street home to open its new location at White Oaks. The good news is that Artworks is thriving at the development. More good news is that the former Main Street site did not stay vacant long.

The Skin Suite, LLC, which, as its name suggests, offers a variety of skin care services, is doing business there after relocating just a bit down Main Street in space across the street from Price Cutter. You can find information on all that they offer from facials and waxing to body contouring and IPL hair reduction and more by visiting their Web site HERE.

Heidi Binegar operates the facility that opened this past November. She is a licensed esthetician.

While Artworks took the building and made it aesthetically pleasing, The Skin Suite is looking to do even more with the exterior. During the Jan. 21 meeting of the Bridgeport Development Authority, Binegar and her husband Josh were on hand to request an exterior improvement incentive grant for the business.

Josh Binegar talked to the BDA about planned improvements. Once those exterior improvements are complete, receipts for the work will be brought back to the city where an audit will be done to make sure everything qualifies. From there, they can get 25 percent of their investment back, but the amount is capped.

Another business was on hand and had their renovation completed. The BDA announced that a review of receipts and an audit had been done for the building that houses Della’s Deli and Hadorn Distributing, which is located at 230 East Main Street.

Jeff Perine was on hand for the meeting. He told the BDA that they invested $37,984. As a result, he received a reimbursement of $9,496.23 from the city.

The Hadorn building, which now also houses the deli, has been a staple on Main Street for decades. Bridgeport Community Development Director Andrea Kerr told Perine and those on hand that the upgrades looked great.