The owners of Armata's in Longmeadow have purchased and will operate Village Food Mart on Somers Road in Hampden, seen here Sept. 2, 2022. (Hoang 'Leon' Nguyen / The Republican )
A beloved Longmeadow-based grocery store that’s been under reconstruction since a fire burnt the business down in November 2021 will take over ownership of Hampden’s Village Food Mart starting Tuesday.
Village Food Mart, located at 43 Somers Road in Hamden, will officially switch ownership on Tuesday and join the Armata’s Market family, Armata’s Assistant Manager Al Ferrentino said in a Long Meddowe Fall Festival video.
The owners of Armata’s Market purchased the property in early September but emphasized the store will retain the “Village Food Mart” name. Armata’s and Village Market already share many of the same suppliers, management said.
In a statement released shortly after the purchase, Armata’s management said they plan to uphold the legacy and reputation that Village Food Mart founder Gary Mayotte built after owning the store for 30 years. Mayotte is retiring at age 72.
Alexis Vallides, owner of Armata’s Market, told the Republican in a September interview that the company will retain Village Food Mart’s 25 staff members during the purchase.
“Most importantly, the faces wont change. We are going to keep what ‘s working for them,” she said. “We will build upon it with more baked goods from a scratch bakery like we had at Armata’s with homemade pies, cookies bars, pumpkin bread, apple pie squares. You will see more prepared foods, cold, ready-to-go meatloaf dinners, chicken parmesan, those types of things.”
On Nov. 23, 2021, a fire originating in the wide-open attic space above the Shaker Road strip plaza destroyed neighboring businesses: Armata’s, the Bottle Shop package store, Iron Chef Chinese Restaurant, a hair salon and a nail salon.
With an estimated $5 million in damage, the fire was the largest in Longmeadow history.
Fire destroys Armata's Plaza in Longmeadow
Since the November fire, Armata management has been working hard to rebuild its Longmeadow location at 901 Shaker Road. Ferrentino said the grocery store owners are currently in the design phases of rebuilding the store.
Armata’s also retained 15 or so employees after the fire and has been serving meals-to-go and catering from the rented kitchen at the former Longmeadow senior center.
“They’re developing the footprint for the store. It’s in the beginning stages, they’re working with property owners so they can present to the town for their approval of the new and improved Armata’s,” Ferrentino said.
There is no set timeline for the reopening of Armata’s Longmeadow location as it is still in the infancy stages, Ferentino clarified.
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