2 Former A&P Stores Reopen as Big Ys
Big Y Foods Inc. is bowing two of the seven Connecticut supermarkets it acquired from A&P in a transaction that closed Nov. 1. The West Hartford and Branford Big Y World Class Market locations will officially open their doors on Friday, Nov. 5 at 7 a.m. Both stores will be open from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. daily, although the West Hartford store will close an hour earlier on Sundays.
As well as changing signage throughout the stores, Big Y crews cleaned, upgraded and refurbished equipment; re-merchandised where necessary; replaced all computerized cash registers and other technical communications systems; and restocked shelves and cases with such signature selections as Big Y branded products, the Full Circle line of organic foods, and, at the West Hartford location, a complete line of kosher items, including Pas Yisroel deli and bakery products and glatt beef. Also new to both stores: Big Y’s recently implemented NuVal Nutritional Scoring System.
“Our team has worked tirelessly to present a truly World Class supermarket to our customers,” said Big Y president and COO Charles L. D’Amour.
All of the former A&P pharmacies remained open throughout the transition period, with the West Hartford and Mystic pharmacies converted to Big Y pharmacies and A&P’s Naugatuck pharmacy relocated inside the Big Y World Class Market in Naugatuck. A&P’s Middletown pharmacy has been sold to Walgreens there.
On Nov. 11, two more of the acquired stores will open as Big Y World Class Markets, in Mystic and Old Lyme. The Middletown location is still under evaluation, with the idea that it could reopen in a new no-frills supermarket format early next year. Big Y is also working with its wholesale partner, Cheshire, Conn.-based Bozzuto’s Inc. to find suitable independent operators for the Naugatuck and East Haven locations after January 2011.
Big Y revealed the purchase of the assets of the seven stores on Sept. 8. By mid-November, the Springfield, Mass.-based company will operate a total of 62 stores.