Date: Fri 28-Nov-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

business-Big-Y-Kasper

Full Text:

New Look Of Shopping Center Is Starting To Show

(with photo)

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Newtown Shopping Center, the centrally-located shopping plaza which is slowly

undergoing modernization and redevelopment on Queen Street, is finally

starting to look transformed.

Having deteriorated from the ravages of wind and weathering, the plaza is

being rebuilt piecemeal, its tenants being relocated within it, and a new

centerpiece Big Y supermarket being constructed.

The Big Y supermarket is set far back from Queen Street to create an expanded

parking area for shoppers. A major section of the former main building at the

plaza has been demolished. Gone is the former My Place Restaurant which has

relocated to the former post office. Newtown Hardware and Newtown Drug Center

have relocated to Church Hill Road near Wire Road.

An isolated Dunkin' Donuts was still standing at Newtown Shopping center this

week. The commercial space which formerly housed an A&P supermarket will be

converted for use by CVS, which is a drug store and discounter.

Stephen Hurwitz, Big Y Foods Inc's director of real estate, said from his

Springfield, Mass., office that "construction is progressing" on the new

56,000-square-foot supermarket.

"We are pushing along," he said. Big Y does not yet have a firm opening date

for its new market, he said, adding he hopes that the opening will be soon.

Whether the supermarket will open before Christmas or New Year's Day is

unclear, he said.

"We're excited about coming to town," Mr Hurwitz said.

Joseph Kasper, head of The Kasper Group, the firm which is building the

supermarket on its property, could not be reached for comment.

Big Y has 43 supermarkets in its chain. Sixteen of those markets are operating

in Connecticut. Besides the Newtown market, Big Y also is building new stores

in Rocky Hill and Enfield. When those stores are complete, Big Y will have 19

stores in Connecticut, Mr Hurwitz said.

The Newtown store now under construction is similar to the Big Y which just

opened in Ansonia.

The Newtown supermarket construction project encountered various delays after

it was approved by the Borough Zoning Commission in early 1996. The store had

been scheduled for occupancy by last Christmas.

Building the supermarket's interior is a complex process, involving much

wiring, plumbing and computerization.

The new Big Y may come face-to-face with the United Food and Commercial

Workers International Union, Local 371, even though the company does not

recognize the union as the collective bargaining organization for Big Y store

employees. Workers at the Grand Union supermarket across Queen Street and the

Super Stop & Shop supermarket at Sand Hill Plaza are unionized.

Big Y job openings will include customer service jobs, plus clerks for

delicatessen, bakery, meat, seafood, grocery, dairy, and floral departments,

as well as experienced pizza makers. Employees will work at least 15 hours

weekly.

Big Y is a family-owned chain which employs about 7,000 people. The Big Y will

be almost six times the size of the former A&P supermarket that it replaces.

The A&P closed for business in the early 1990s.

When completed, the shopping center will have 570 parking spaces, almost

double the number it previously had.

Mr Kasper has said he has been negotiating to purchase the Wiehl property that

will link the north side of the shopping center to Church Hill Road. In the

future, Mr Kasper plans to build an extension wing north of the CVS store

extending toward Church Hill Road. A driveway is planned to connect the plaza

to Church Hill Road. When all planned work is complete, the plaza would

enclose about 115,000 square feet of space.