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Date: 8/30/2023
LONGMEADOW — Nearly two years after a fire gutted the Maple Center Shopping Plaza at 901 Shaker Rd., the anchor store, Armata’s Market has announced it will not be reopening in the same location when the plaza is rebuilt.
In a press release on Aug. 23, Armata’s Market owner Alexis Vallides cited “high rebuilding costs and lengthy timeline,” as the reasons for the decision. The market had been an established business and a cornerstone of the Maple Center Shopping Plaza for 50 years when the plaza caught fire in November 2021, destroying two of the six storefronts and causing damage to the others.
“This Longmeadow community is special, and we will always carry with us all the wonderful memories at our first home on Shaker Road,” Vallides said in the press release.
The owner expressed “sincere regret” and thanked Armata’s Market customers, the town — naming Town Manager Lyn Simmons and Fire Chief John Dearborn — as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the East of the River Chamber of Commerce. Vallides also thanked the other plaza tenants and the Pun family, which owns the property through Pun Longmeadow Realty.
Both Armata’s Market and Pun Longmeadow Realty had previously stated that the market would occupy its former storefront in the rebuilt shopping center. Demolition of the fenced-off plaza did not begin until late 2022. At that time, Capital Studio Architects Principal Architect David Holmes told the Longmeadow Planning Board construction was expected in early 2023 with completion within a year. However, construction has still not begun on the building. As recently as July 19, Holmes came back before the Planning Board to alter the building’s design, eliminating some features and changing others to make the project more “cost-effective.”
Isabel Pardo, who shopped at Armata’s Market frequently before the fire, said, “I loved the place.” She acknowledged that it was a “business decision” to not reopen at the plaza and said the location should be rebuilt soon because “it’s terrible, the way it looks.”
Former customer Dianne Dillon said the decision not to reopen in Longmeadow is a loss to the town. “One shop is not as good as the next. They were a part of the community and they worked to do right by their employees,” she said. Dillon said she would consider shopping at The Village Food Mart, a small grocery store in Hampden that was purchased by Vallides and run by the Armata’s team.
Simmons released a statement on behalf of the town. “After the fire that destroyed the shopping center in 2021, I was hopeful that Armata’s and the other businesses would reopen. I know the decision not to reopen was a difficult one; they were an anchor in the Longmeadow community for years. Today we are feeling the loss once again,” she said, adding. “All I can say now is: Thank you Armata’s, for what you provided to the Longmeadow residents and the greater community. We wish you the best.”