Meet the Minds Behind Main Street’s New Vegan Bakery, Home Boutique, and Maker-Space

After several mainstay Main Street shops shuttered their doors, Middletown spent the past year questioning the future of its local business network that anchors the city community. This fall, however, a tour of the town reveals anything but lifeless storefronts. Behind the bright window displays of Middletown’s new vegan bakery, heritage home goods boutique, and vintage market with a creative makerspace, the next generation of local businesses is taking root. As local opinions pour in and curiosity grows, The Argus thought it was time to meet the three independent entrepreneurs behind the burgeoning businesses that now call Middletown home. 

On Apr. 4, 2026, Emily Wadman celebrated the grand opening of her artisanal gift and home store, Wadman’s Home + Table, at 195 Main Street, which previously housed cinder + salt printshop. Like the other two founders new to the city, Wadman comes from a non-traditional business background. 

“I am a corporate dropout, but I was very fortunate to travel,” Wadman said. “I went to school for hospitality and worked for a tech company, so my work was all about creating experiences for employees. My favorite part about traveling was seeing the way that people gathered and ate and connected. Every time I came back from a trip, I would say, ‘How do I bring this into my life here? How do I show people how to eat in the way that people ate in Taiwan, with all these little dishes and shared little bites?’”

Like Wadman, Veegmyeats founder Sheena Salvador drew inspiration from her personal experiences to start her business. On Sept. 5, 2026, Salvador opened her bakery in the formerly vacant 203 Main Street lot, crowning the new storefront with an eye-catching pink balloon arch. 

Salvador’s path to entrepreneurship began in 2011, when she fully committed to a vegan lifestyle. 

“My last thing to go was cheese, and I remember because it was Thanksgiving,” Salvador said. “I was like, ‘I’m going to have my last mac and cheese, and that’s it for me.’”

Salvador struggled to stick to veganism, which motivated her to start baking and made her notice other food-accessibility issues.

“When I became vegan, we really didn’t have anything accessible like we have now,” Salvador said. “So, I just started to make desserts. It took me a bit to perfect what I have now. I wanted to have clean desserts that felt good…. A lot of people [who visit Veegmyeats] aren’t even vegan, some are dairy-free, egg-free, or have allergies.”

Four years later, in 2023, Salvador began to share her treats at farmers markets and pop-up shops. 

“We went to Boston, New York, and New Jersey a lot, but Connecticut is home,” Salvador said. “So we started to do more festivals here [in Middletown].”

Two weeks after Salvador opened Veegmyeats’ first brick-and-mortar shop, Laís Bartolomeu hosted the soft opening of Circular Society Social Club on Saturday, Sept. 19, before throwing the creative collective’s Grand Opening DJ Party and Vintage Market a week later on Saturday, Sept. 26. Circular Society sits at 725 Main Street, better known as The Trolleybarn, which previously housed the Common Room taproom and brewery. 

Immigrating from Brazil at 15, the now-24-year-old Bartolemeu recently moved part time to Connecticut and fell in love with Middletown’s creative culture, but noticed that “there [wasn’t] a space specifically to pull all of them together.”

Consequently, her new space combines many different elements into one: a coworking space, a social club, a vintage market, and an events space. The business describes itself on its website as “a members-only social club for creatives, entrepreneurs, and curious minds who value thoughtful spaces, inspiring people, and meaningful work.”

Bartolomeu said the space’s mission is to support “hustlers” and give their ideas room to flourish.

“What makes the Circular Society stand out is the people that come and the people that are part of it, and the whole idea of just having you here to exhibit and be a part of it and feel seen.”

Clearly, the organization has set out to combine numerous different spaces into one, one that Bartolomeu describes as a “creative hub.” 

“It’s a vintage shop that is open to the public on Tuesdays, and upstairs is a creative space where members get to communicate, collaborate, and grow their business together,” Bartolomeu said. “It’s also an event venue, so you get to rent the space for your own events, shop vintage, and come for the co-working space.” 

Neither Wadman, Salvador, nor Bartolomeu had run their business out of a permanent location before moving to Middletown. Each appreciated the visibility a Main Street storefront offers, but also had distinct motivations for choosing their location.  

“It’s all women business owners on this block, from what I believe,” Wadman said. “We’ve been welcomed with open arms by a number of surrounding businesses. I’ve become really good friends with Arianna from Arnie’s Art Cafe, Ash from Velvet Vows—we all opened businesses around the same time—and the girls upstairs at Nolana and Lifted Lash.”

Salvador elaborated on the Main Street community, especially given the popularity of vegan food in Middletown. 

“I love being on the strip where there are so many restaurants and we can feed off each other,” Salvador said. “[Other business owners] will let people know that we have a vegan bakery here, and I love to promote other businesses. It’s not just about us; it’s about having this community on this street.”

Small business owners spend much of their time on their branding. Salvador’s logo subtly expresses her vegan worldview.

“The logo we have has always been a pink circle, but the wording is green, white, and blue, and the green represents the animals on the land,” Salvador said. “The white is for the animals in the sky, and the blue is for the animals in the water.” 

Bartolomeu expounded the significance of her business’ main symbols, the circle and the fox.

Bartolomeu appreciates the idea of “creating a circular existence. [When] you’re here, I support you, you support me, and we create a new circular society…a circular society goes all around. We don’t see any competition. We just want to see everyone grow.” 

Bartolomeu continued, discussing the symbolism of the red fox in their branding. 

“I’ve always been in love with the fox,” she said. “Red foxes live in so many places; they adapt in the forest, in the city with humans, so [for our brand, the fox is] about being adaptable and fitting in with your own true self.”

Each of these businesses approach their work with a broader mission; they want their business to reflect their values, while also reaching their financial goals, and they use different means to do that.

Wadman highlights authentic representation of business ownership as a key online marketing strategy. 

“Authenticity is a trend,” Wadman said. “It gets people attached and invested in the brand. But I also think, ‘how can you be authentic?’ It’s me, messy hair and all, showing you how excited I am that new stuff is coming. That’s just our style.”

Wadman further discusses the style of content she makes, which is particularly trendy and drives higher internet traffic, further supporting her business. 

“It’s just me, my husband, or the dog that’s usually in the videos, and it’s us behind the scenes of what the excitement really looks like: us opening boxes, rearranging furniture, painting shelves,” Wadman said.

Wadman’s approach displays itself in the Circular Society’s membership programs. Non-members can attend specific events by purchasing a ticket online, but the space’s main priority is fostering artist connections within a WeWork-esque environment, for a price ranging from $45 for a single-day pass to $150 for one month.

These membership passes give you access to the space’s co-working spaces, photography studio, member events, creative workshops, and other exclusive opportunities.

Despite the heavy membership costs, Bartolomeu still encourages students to join the space. 

“It’s open for everyone because we love young people that are into the creative space,” Bartolomeu said. “We’re trying to get students here so they can extend their passion outside of school.”

Bartolomeu states the rationale behind the membership is that she hopes to create an environment where “you [can] walk in[to] a place where you can have similar conversations and be understood…. As a member, I’m able to kind of control that a little bit, where everyone can connect in a sense and have a base of morality, which is important to me.”

Each of these businesses is an owner’s first time running a brick-and-mortar store in Middletown, an endeavor that undoubtedly comes with numerous challenges.

Wadman discusses the challenge of staying on top of the various issues that pop up in day-to-day life. 

“Just trying to stay focused to keep energy on the marketing side of things, but not letting the inventory side slip and the customer experience side,” Wadman said.

Salvador found that Veegmyeats’ challenges lay in working with available materials as the market for vegan alternatives continued to grow. 

“Right now, we use a different butter, we use a different oil, so we definitely had to go with what was accessible to us to make this product what it is today…[but] I perfected it in my way,” Salvador said.

When considering the challenges of her business, Bartolomeu pointed to their location, saying their distance from Main Street made it harder for foot traffic to find them. 

“We’re in the last building in the trolley [area],” Bartolomeu said. “If you come to Perkatory to get a drink, you wouldn’t walk out here if you don’t know we’re here.”

To overcome this physical challenge, the business uses social media, specifically short-form content, and has reached out to other businesses in the area to let people know they’re open.

“I went to other businesses to introduce myself…[the biggest challenge is] just doing outreach…and letting people know that we’re here,” Bartolomeu said.

While Wadman’s Home + Table has been on Main Street for over half a year, Veegmyeats and Circular Society opened their doors about a month ago. Each store’s founder reflected on this time and expressed their future goals.

“In five years, [I want Veegmyeats to be] a franchise,” Salvador said. “I want to be in Boston. I want to be in New York…. In five years, I want Veegmyeats to be in places where people are just walking by. Even if you don’t set foot inside, you’ve seen this place.”

Bartolomeu also hopes to expand her society and benefit its creative constituents. 

“I want everyone who comes here to succeed and get a good return from being a member,” Bartolomeu said. “I do want to expand Circular Society to Florida within the next two years, and then other cities eventually.” 

Waldman wants to play a role in more individuals’ special moments and garner more name recognition.

“I hope [Wadman’s] just continues to grow, and more people know it to become a go-to spot, whether it’s for gifts, a special moment, or to host their first dinner in a new house,” Wadman said. “I hope that this just becomes a space where people know to come to…memorialize a moment in their life.”

After sharing their plans, Wadman, Salvador, and Bartolomeu each gave an elevator pitch to those who have yet to stop by their shops.

“Whether it’s a dorm, an apartment, or a house,” Wadman said, “Wadman’s is a space that you would come to if you’re looking for something to inspire you to host, or you’re bringing people together and you want a little special touch.”

Salvador appealed to Veegmyeats’ universal appeal.

“For anyone who doesn’t know who we are, we have something special for everyone and we just want you to try it,” she said. “We just want you to love it, and you can see that just because it’s vegan, it doesn’t mean it’s not for you. One thing that we’ll have in common is that we love sweets.”

Bartolomeu circled back to the Society’s philosophy. 

“It is Circular Society, there isn’t anything like that out there,” Bartolomeu said. “What makes Circular Society stand out is the people that come to exhibit and to be a part of it. Whatever it is that you do, you will feel seen and heard here…if you’re accepted, of course.”

Hope Cognata can be reached at hcognata@wesleyan.edu.

Willow Simon can be reached at wsimon@wesleyan.edu.