Thomas MacMillan Photo
Frank Douglass and his grandchildren.
With no supermarket in the neighborhood, Frank Douglass’ grandkids were eating junk food from the corner store. With a new Stop & Shop on Whalley Avenue Friday, he said, his 7‑year-old grandson Jahsir can go back to eating carrots like he’s “Bugs Bunny’s little brother.”
Douglass, a Democratic committee co-chair in Ward 2, made his comments in the fully stocked dairy section of a brand new Stop & Shop supermarket on Whalley Avenue, where he was among scores of people who turned out for an invitation-only sneak peek at the store, before its 6 a.m. grand opening Friday.
The opening comes one year after Shaw’s supermarket shut its doors at the same location, leaving over 100 people without jobs and turning the greater Dwight area into a “food desert.”
With the help of other community organizations, the retail complex’s landlord, the Greater Dwight Development Corporation, was able to lure Stop & Shop to take over the vacant space. The new tenants have already won plaudits by hiring 150 new employees from New Haven, including many former Shaw’s workers. On Thursday evening, the store opened its doors to people who live nearby, those who have been most affected by the year-long absence of a supermarket.
The gleaming new store was stocked the to the brim with neatly stacked fresh produce and aisle after aisle of untouched dry goods, including all varieties of Jell‑O and pudding.
Near aisle four, the Vincent Paul Trio filled the air with the smooth sounds of supermarket jazz.
Tables throughout the store offered sliced ham, hot dogs, cheeses, fried chicken, and onion rings, among other delicacies. Lt. Ray Hassett helped himself to two cups of pomegranate juice.
One of the tables was manned by Fallon Pauls and Sharee Ladson, who were both recently hired on as cashiers. They also live in the area and said they were “heartbroken” when Shaw’s closed, leaving neighbors without an easy source of groceries.
“I was one of those people,” Pauls said. She had to borrow a car or hire a cab to take her out to West Haven to get to a supermarket, she said. “This is the greatest thing they could have did in the area.”
Pauls served up some macaroni and cheese to Connie Ellison, Douglass’ wife, who pronounced herself the happiest person in the store.
She said she could not believe how quickly the supermarket came together. It seemed like she just read about Stop & Shop taking over, “and look! I’m standing in a Stop & Shop!” she said.
“This is a godsend,” said Douglass. He said his grandchildren have been eating a lot of “low-grade crap. … Now we’ve got some produce, man!”
Materson and Jolee.
Sheila Masterson, head of the Whalley Avenue Special Services District, tried out a touch-screen grocery finder with her 2‑year-old friend Jolee. She predicted Stop & Shop is here for good and will not suffer the same fate as Shaw’s, which was a victim of financial trouble at its parent company, Supervalu. The demand is there to keep a supermarket thriving, she said. Shaw’s was number two in sales in Connecticut when it was open, she said.
Many people commented approvingly that the store seems bigger than Shaw’s did. Anne Demchak, the new store manager, said the aisles are wider. She said the store also has a new floor and all new deli cases.
Asked about the lack of bike racks outside, she said two racks will be installed shortly.
Kosher Cookies
Neighborhood activist Eli Greer was on hand to show off the store’s kosher bakery. His organization, Vaad HaKashrus Of New Haven, has been working closely with Stop & Shop for several weeks to certify the bakery as kosher. All the ovens, trays, sinks, and equipment have been properly prepared and steam cleaned, he said. All the ingredients and products have been inspected.
All the bakery’s kosher products are clearly labeled, he pointed out, picking up a package of lemon cranberry scones. The labels indicate what kind of kosher category the food fits into, such as “pas yisroel.” That means “baked in an oven lit by a Jew,” Greer said. He pointed out the labels on the oven switches back in the bakery, certifying that a Jew had “lit” them. If the power ever goes out, and the ovens need to be turned back on, Stop & Shop will have to call up Greer and his colleagues, he said.
Greer said the kosher bakery will attract more Jewish shoppers to the store; a growing Orthdox community lives nearby in the Edgewood and Beaver Hills neighborhoods. Stop & Shop workers have “gone out of their way to accommodate us,” Greer said. He said his organization charges a “de minimis” fee for its kosher certification services.
Ribbons, Tomatoes, Elks
Shortly after 6 p.m., the invited guests gathered in the front of the store for an official ribbon-cutting ceremony. It was preceded by remarks from Robin Golden, the Yale law professor who headed up a group of students who worked on the Stop & Shop deal alongside the Greater Dwight Development Corporation. A representative of People’s United Bank spoke about the opening of a new branch in the store, and donated $1,000 to a local soup kitchen.
Demchak (right) and Mayor DeStefano.
Mayor John DeStefano saluted the efforts of the community in bringing in Stop & Shop.
“Is this a city that will accept no for an answer?” he asked
“No!” came the chorused response.
After Anne Demchak received a citation from the Board of Aldermen and cut the ceremonial purple ribbon, a group of activists button-holed Connecticut Stop & Shop President Ron Onorato. They asked him if he will support Florida tomato pickers in their fight to earn 1 cent more per pound of tomatoes picked.
John Lugo, Megan Fountain and Rob Onorato (r to l.)
Megan Fountain, one of the activists, later said Onorato told them he would have an answer in a week. “He’s done the right thing for workers here” by hiring locally, she said. “So I expect he’ll be an advocate for the tomato workers as well.”
Elks John Edwards, Pete Bittle, Clarence Brogdon, and Jim Strachan (l to r).
As the festivities wound down, several members of the local chapter of the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks of the Worlds rested on a display of Brawny paper towels.
Outside, the setting sun illuminated the new Stop & Shop sign on the building, less than 12 hours before the new store was set to open for its first day of business, at 6 a.m.
Nice work on the store.
But really, no bike racks? Surprising, given that an enormous share of customers at the old Shaw's arrived by bike. You would have thought that a community-owned property like Dwight plaza, which receives significant public benefits because it is a nonprofit, would be more responsive to its community.
We know that virtually all of the decision makers and executives here drive cars and/or live in the suburbs, but oversights like these are still truly astonishing.
Do these executives provide secure, indoor bicycle parking for their part time workers?