Date: Fri 04-Dec-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Big-Y-D'Amour-rumor

Full Text:

Big Y Shoots Down Rumor About Impending Demise Of Local Grocery Store

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

A Big Y Foods spokeswoman is denying rumors that the Springfield-based company

plans to close its Queen Street supermarket that opened last February.

"We have absolutely no intention to close that store or sell that store,"

according to Claire D'Amour, Big Y's vice president for corporate relations.

Big Y Foods will continue operating the supermarket, she stressed. "We fully

intend to stay for the long haul ... It takes three or four years to establish

a store," she said.

The company spokesperson was reacting to persistent rumors in Newtown that Big

Y intended to close in February and that its new building would then be leased

to Grand Union.

Big Y Foods' corporate philosophy is based on customer service, Ms D'Amour

said, adding it takes time to establish a customer base for a new supermarket.

The Queen Street store is doing the level of business that Big Y Foods had

anticipated for it by this time, she added.

"We're happy with our sales trend," she said.

Ms D'Amour noted that getting the Big Y store open in Newtown was fraught with

difficulties.

Various planning and construction problems delayed the store's opening.

Big Y had to conduct a second round of employee interviews and hirings after

the store's initial opening date slipped by several months. The delayed

demolition of a Dunkin' Donuts store at Newtown Shopping Village pushed back

Big Y's opening.

Ms D'Amour said Big Y wants to attract more customers to its Queen Street

store and wants to have those customers buy bigger grocery orders. It can take

time for shoppers to change their previous grocery shopping habits when a new

store opens, she said.

Ms D'Amour noted Big Y is quite deliberate in deciding where to build a

supermarket.

"We do an extensive amount of research before we open a store," she said,

noting Big Y invests $4 million before it opens a supermarket.

Big Y's opening last February was the main element of Newtown Shopping

Village's redevelopment. The shopping center had fallen on hard times after

the closing of an A&P supermarket there. The Big Y store is more than five

times the size of the former A&P supermarket it replaced.

The renovated former A&P building is now in use as a CVS drug store.