Health and wellness center opens at town's busiest intersection

Brookfield CT

08 January, 2022

2:08 PM

Description

Southern Corridor of Federal Road Raymour & Flanigan Plaza Super Route 7 Amazon Fresh Brookfield Town Center Monique Quiles Candlewood Lake Road By Scott Benjamin BROOKFIELD – When it expands its economic pie, Brookfield is a study in contrasts. In 2009, the long-awaited 2.1-mile Route 7 bypass opened and considerably reduced the 30,000 vehicle trips that had clogged the Four Corners intersection of Federal Road. That allowed for the emerging development of the 198-acre Brookfield Town Center, a New England-style, pedestrian-friendly central business district where two streetscapes have been built and another four are planned. In some cases – such as in Brookfield Village - there are two floors of apartments above the retail spaces. Over the last nine years, first, the Eastern Account System call center and then Branson Ultrasonics have opened operations in the 75-acre Brookfield tract in the Berkshire Corporate Park. In 2003 when Republican former First Selectman Jerry Murphy initially underscored the potential for that parcel, he noted that it wouldn't impact traffic flows since the entrance to it is in Danbury. However - as a result of Super Route 7, which was built about 45 years ago - high traffic flow does matter along the southern corridor of Federal Road. With a direct link to Interstate-84, there are big box outlets, furniture stores and shopping plazas. Democratic former Selectman John Osborne once called it, "The Miracle Mile." "It's 70,000 vehicle trips" on a typical day, Monique Quiles of Brookfield said regarding the traffic volume going through the southern corridor of Federal Road near the Candlewood Lake Road intersection. That was one of the reasons that she established The Collective – a 7,000-square-foot health and wellness center in the Raymour & Flanigan Plaza at 14 Candlewood Lake Road. "I have had businesses that were put in a poor location, and they didn't do so well. That is not the case here," remarked Quiles in an interview with Patch.com. She indicated that the traffic at the Raymour & Flanigan Plaza should increase following the expected January 15 opening of the futuristic Amazon Fresh supermarket. She said that it is supposed to be the first of its kind in Connecticut. The primary shell of the former day spa remained largely the same. Quiles, who has owned wellness salons through the years, said she remodeled "the aesthetics." The tenants "are all health and wellness related," she commented. The roster includes: Lotus Nail Spa, nail salon; Sculpt Aesthetics, mediSpa; Sage Wellness Chiropractic; Beautify by Zuleyha, lash & brow artist; HBK, hair by Kemi;; Style by TINA; Jade, massage therapist; Aggregata Zupanova, meditation & energy healing; Spray tans; Bella's Artistry, salon; Healing Hands by Uni; and Rejoice Skincare. "The Collective is very innovative," Aimee Jaquez, the owner of Scuplt Aesthetics, said in phone interview with Patch.com. "It is a collaborative concept about clients looking good, feeling good." "I love the vibe and energy at The Collective," Uni Cui of Healing Hands said in a Brookfield Chamber of Commerce news release. Quiles said many of the wellness practitioners have been rebounding from the early stages of the pandemic in spring 2020 when they "were forced to shut down." "It is a service industry, and people provide hands-on services," she noted. "You can't do a haircut virtually." Jaquez, who lives in Newtown, said, "After the shutdown, a lot of [clients] weren't investing in themselves. They were looking elsewhere." Quiles said The Collective has daily and weekly rentals available for wellness practitioners. "For example, there are a lot of independent hair stylists," she explained. "It's becoming more common now." The Collective also will host business-related and health-related workshops. In interviews with Patch.com during the municipal election campaign last fall some residents expressed concern about the increase in affordable housing being built in the Brookfield Town Center. Much has changed in the nearly six years since the former site at Brookfield Village was demolished and businesses, streetscape and lamp posts were constructed. Quiles, who grew up in Brookfield, said she is pleased about the addition of rental housing in Brookfield Town Center. "I think it is wonderful that diversity is coming in," she remarked. Municipal officials have said through the years that after it is fully developed, many of the customers in the Brookfield Town Center will come from a short radius. The opposite is true along the southern corridor of Federal Road. Quiles said that since The Collective opened in October "a large majority" of its clients have traveled from Westchester County in New York state. Susan Murphy - the executive director of the Brookfield Chamber of Commerce, which helped sponsor a grand opening/ribbon cutting on January 2 at The Collective - told Patch.com in a phone interview that for years businesses along that business district have attracted customers with zip codes in suburban New York state. Former First Selectman Bill Davidson once said that,"If you are stuck in traffic on Saturday at 11 a.m., remember that a lot of that out-of-town traffic is helping to lower the residential tax burden in town." Quiles - who was a high honors student and qualified for the Leadership Program at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she earned a bachelor's degree in Social Work/Law – is not just the owner, but also a consultant to the tenants on marketing, accounting and insurance services. She said, "I sit down with everyone." References: Brookfield Chamber of Commerce news release, December 27, 2021. Harding hears 'frustration' over slow progress on Town Center | Brookfield, CT Patch