Big Y World Class Market welcomes residents to renovated store

Nov. 14, 2018 | Payton North
payton@thereminder.com

LONGMEADOW – Residents rejoice! Longmeadow’s Big Y World Class Market located at 802 Williams St. has officially completed renovations in many areas of the now 29,573 square foot space, offering a variety of new options for townspeople to enjoy.

Big Y has added a stir–fry station, a pizza shop, made–to–order sub and Panini station, fish and chips, a freshly prepared hot food bar, a salad bar, a coffee bar and café space and a sushi department to the Longmeadow location providing a plethora of made–to–order and grab–and–go food options. The produce department has also increased in size.

In addition to the quick dining options, Big Y has added a new butcher shop, which offers a variety of natural products including grass fed beef, lamb and veal as well as an “expanded variety” of kosher products and organic Smart chicken.

“The upgraded sales floor features the all–new Living Well Eating Smart section, which offers hundreds of organic, natural and gluten free products in grocery, health and beauty, dairy and frozen foods, freshly ground nut butters and an ample selection of bulk dry foods,” Big Y stated in a press release. “Big Y’s continued its focus on supporting local with great local partners like Red Rose and Frigo’s pasta sauces–both from Springfield and Parnella natural soaps from Sunderland. Customers will find an expanded offering of Stonewall Kitchen gourmet products.”

Longmeadow Big Y Store Director Brian Pepe, who has been with Big Y since 1999, explained to Reminder Publishing that with the addition of these services, new job opportunities were provided.

“We have an entire new food service department, we didn’t have a traditional food service department prior to this so we added basically an entirely new staff. Now we have 16 people in the food service department including five full timers, and that’s just over there,” Pepe said. “Altogether, I would say 20 to 25 people were added.”

While there is an expansive assortment of food choices in the renovated location, enhancements have been made to the pharmacy department including improved privacy area for customers to receive vaccines. Furthermore, there will be interactive and informative monthly wellness events offered at Big Y.

Though the renovations offered a plethora of new experiences in the store, Big Y also has new décor and fixtures featured in all departments, including meat, produce, bakery, and an expanded cheese and olive bar. Additionally, new exterior signage has been added.

With all of these new services and operations, it would be easy for the store to become overwhelmed with the responsibilities thrust upon it. However, Pepe said that due to the competency of his staff, this hasn’t happened.

“We’re pretty lucky, I’m specifically lucky because I have very good employees. They’ve adjusted in a very quick way,” Pepe said. “When you add new areas to a store things can get complicated, but we’ve handled it really well so far.”

Now that the store is remodeled and larger than ever, Pepe told Reminder Publishing that while it’s still considered on the “smaller side” in comparison to other Big Y stores, it is now the right size for what the community needs.

The Longmeadow Big Y hosted a grand–reopening celebration on Nov. 8 with coffee, cake donuts and samples. As a part of the celebration, Longmeadow High School, Glenbrook Middle School, Center Elementary School, Wolf Swamp Road Elementary School, Blueberry Hill Elementary School and Williams Middle School each received a donation from Big Y to show their “longstanding commitment to education.” Big Y annually offers a merit scholarship program that has awarded over $3 million since 1984.

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