Last updated on June 14th, 2024
Big Y is opening its two newest World Class Markets in Derby and Milford, Connecticut, on Thursday, Nov. 7.
Cake cutting ceremonies, at 10 a.m. in Milford and 1 p.m. in Derby, will officially mark the openings where state and community officials are expected to attend.
Construction commenced on the 55,060-s.f. Milford market in January. Big Y held several job fairs and has hired 135 new employees.
Joseph Fetcho, store director in Milford, has been with Big Y since 1996, holding various positions including night manager and grocery manager. He has been a store director with the company since 2003. Prior to working with Big Y, he worked in various positions with Finast/Edwards supermarkets beginning in 1986.
Construction on the 59,502-s.f. Derby store also began in January, and 90 employees were hired to staff the store.
Bob Rainville, store director in Derby, has been with Big Y for more than 31 years and as store manager for 24 years. He started at Big Y in 1988 as a night crew clerk. He has held several positions including assistant grocery manager, dairy manager and grocery manager. Rainville participated in Big Y’s store manager training program in 1992 and became a store director in 1993.
Both stores will be open from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. on Sundays.
“All of us at Big Y are excited to offer these communities a brand-new shopping experience and a new option for their grocery and lifestyle needs,” said Charles L. D’Amour, Big Y’s president and COO. “We know that our customers will appreciate the selection and quality of our fresh and local foods and the variety and value that our new stores have to offer.”
Big Y held a “Local Producer Discovery Tour” to find artisans, farmers, food entrepreneurs and craft food people to sell products at this location.
Both World Class Markets feature an eat-in café, where the Big Y kitchen serves hand-tossed pizza made to order using fresh store-made dough, fried and rotisserie chicken, rotisserie chicken pot pies, wings and appetizers, five varieties of hot soup daily and fresh-to-order sandwiches.
A full-service floral department offers bouquets, arrangements, balloons and foliage plants.
The old-fashioned butcher custom cuts meats including American grass-fed beef containing no antibiotics or hormones; all-natural choice Angus beef with no hormones and no antibiotics and a 100 percent product of the USA; all-natural lamb; and Smart brand organic chicken, an air-chilled chicken.
The full-service seafood department offers dozens of varieties of fresh fish from New England piers and is staffed with certified seafood handlers. Shoppers can choose from fresh haddock, shrimp, clams and scallops cooked in zero trans fat canola oil. Store-made sushi is produced fresh every day by fully trained sushi chefs. Big Y has made a long-term seafood sustainability commitment with the Marine Stewardship Council.
