"The mere fact that our residents don't have to drive 10 or 20 miles is easier on their wallets and it's easier on our environment," First Selectman Matt Hoey told Zip06 in August 2025, when Target opened in Guilford. That sentence is the clearest summary of what has been happening on Boston Post Road. Over three years, from 2025 into 2027, Guilford has been adding the stores whose absence used to mean a trip to another town. Next up are a drive-through Starbucks and a Chipotle on the lot across from Guilford Commons, and a grocery store is expected to join them.
The trips are coming back to town one at a time. Here is where things stand as of late October 2026.
2025: The First Trips Came Home
The biggest change happened in the former Walmart space in Big Y Plaza. Target held a soft opening on Aug. 8, 2025, and a grand opening on Aug. 17, according to Zip06. Target got its zoning approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission in 2023. The town's economic development coordinator, John Tarutis, said the store was expected to bring about 100 jobs to Guilford. Target's Guilford store page lists it at 900 Boston Post Road, next to the Big Y at 830 Boston Post Road.
Guilford Commons, at 1919 Boston Post Road, filled in around it:
- Old Navy had recently opened between DSW and Petco when Patch reported it on March 4, 2025.
- T.J. Maxx moved into the former Bed Bath & Beyond space. Its Clinton store closed Aug. 18, 2025, and the Guilford store opened three days later on Aug. 21, according to Patch. For T.J. Maxx shoppers, that turned a drive to Clinton into a stop at the Commons.
- Playa Bowls was announced in March 2025 for a space between T-Mobile and Pure Barre. Its location page now lists the shop as open at Unit 202, with daily hours and online ordering.
These joined a tenant list that CT Insider had reported as including The Fresh Market, Panera Bread, Michaels, Ulta Beauty, Petco, DSW, Mooyah Burgers Fries and Shakes, F45 Training and Pure Barre. Zip06 called 2025 "a banner year for retail growth in town."
2027: The Trips Still Going to Branford
Some errands still mean leaving town. Today the nearest Chipotle is in Branford at 2 Commercial Parkway, and the nearest Aldi is also in Branford at 1151 West Main Street. Guilford's only Starbucks is the café inside Target.
All three are slated for Guilford Village West at 1940 Boston Post Road, the cleared lot directly across from Guilford Commons. On Oct. 20, developer Robert Sachs of Cherry Hill Construction told Patch that building permits for Starbucks and Chipotle had been secured. He said the Aldi deal was expected to be finalized "within the next few months" and that retail construction would start within about two weeks. Aldi has 35 stores in Connecticut, according to Patch.
The grocery store is the least settled piece. In January 2026, Sachs told Patch that all three tenants were "either signed or very close to signing and finalizing leases." In the same story, Aldi said it had no information to share, and Hoey described Aldi as under consideration rather than committed. Another 4,230 square feet of retail space next to the planned Aldi is still available, according to Patch and the Connecticut Scoop.
The Connecticut Scoop puts completion "sometime in 2027." The project also includes 162 apartments behind the retail buildings. Sachs said vertical construction on that part started in mid-October and leasing should begin in early summer 2027. In 2025, Hoey told Zip06 that people living there would be able to walk to nearby shops and restaurants.
How the Village West Site Got Here
The site has been a long time coming. Town records trace its earlier approvals back to 2011, and those approvals stayed valid through COVID-era extensions. The older approval allowed a lot of excavation. By May 2025, the applicant reported removing 229,800 cubic yards of material and expected to remove another 79,500 over two years. The stone removal and site clearing that drivers have watched from Route 1 this fall is the end of that process.
The current plan was approved with conditions at the Sept. 3, 2025 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Along with the site plan, the town's notice of decision lists two special permits, one for buildings taller than 40 feet and one for two drive-throughs. Those two drive-throughs are what make Village West different from the Commons across the street. It is designed for quick coffee and takeout stops, which suits the morning commute toward I-95.
What Changes at the Light
Once the retail opens, the biggest daily change will be at the Route 1 intersection. Planning and Zoning records describe the development's main entrance as a new fourth leg on an intersection that already has a traffic light. CTDOT will oversee the signal changes and set the final light timing once that leg is built. A supplemental traffic study projected that evening rush-hour service there would slip from a level-of-service B to a C. That is a step down, but it is still near the top of the scale traffic engineers use.
Flag Marsh Road will change too. The plan calls for:
- A two-lane approach that separates left turns from right turns
- A relocated stop sign and new lighting
- Restriping and curbing
The project's traffic engineer told the commission that a new traffic light at Flag Marsh Road was not warranted under the criteria studied.
The Green's Additions Are a Different Kind of Store
While the chains settle on Route 1, the town's other 2026 openings are independent shops, and none of them overlap with what Village West will bring.
ciao! ANGIE opened in early June at 51 Whitfield Street, behind the row of boutiques at the edge of the Green. It took over the space Ballou's Restaurant and Wine Bar occupied for 15 years before closing in 2024. Owners Todd Taylor and Daniela Balzano told the Hartford Courant that they modeled it on an Italian espresso bar just off a piazza. It serves espresso drinks made with coffee from Newington's Saccuzzo Coffee Company, along with pastries and panini, in a 1,500-square-foot room with 26 seats inside and 32 more on the covered patio. "Now, every morning, there's people sitting out in the pavilion," Taylor told the Courant.
Whitfield & Co. at 20 Church Street is Erica Grasso Azarigian's second shop. According to the Courant, it sells clothing, gifts, toys, crafts and pet goods.
Bella Baci Espresso Bar is a dairy-free coffee bar inside Three Girls Vegan Creamery at 645 Boston Post Road, owned by Brittany Guerra and Tracy Alexander. CT Insider first reported it in May under the planned name Dear Diary. The owners changed the name days before opening, according to CT Insider's roundup of new Connecticut restaurants for July. Like the Village West Starbucks, it sits on Route 1. The two are aimed at very different coffee drinkers.
When Target opened in 2025, Tarutis told Zip06 he expected the big-box arrivals to bring more business to gas stations, restaurants and boutiques, partly by bringing in "people who have not frequented Guilford."
Where Each Errand Lands, Now and in 2027
| Errand | Where it went before | Where it goes now | Expected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target run | Out of town | 900 Boston Post Road, Big Y Plaza | None, open since Aug. 2025 |
| T.J. Maxx | Clinton | Guilford Commons | None, open since Aug. 2025 |
| Old Navy | Out of town | Guilford Commons | None, opened by early March 2025 |
| Chipotle | Branford, 2 Commercial Pkwy | Branford | Guilford Village West, 2027 |
| Aldi | Branford, 1151 West Main St. | Branford | Planned for Village West, deal not yet final |
| Starbucks | Inside Target | Inside Target | Drive-through at Village West, 2027 |
| Italian espresso and panini | Not in town | ciao! ANGIE, 51 Whitfield St. | None |
Watching Route 1 change over the next year is the kind of thing that helps when you're thinking about your own next step. If you'd like to know where your home stands as Guilford grows, Jules G. Etes is glad to talk it through. Request a Free Home Valuation and get a clear, local read on your property.
