Armata’s Market owner buys Village Food Mart as second location

Date: 9/15/2022

HAMPDEN/LONGMEADOW – A Hampden landmark is changing hands, but the new owner of Village Food Mart assures residents can expect the same small-town feel with an enhanced customer experience.

In early September, Alexis Vallides, owner of Armata’s Market in Longmeadow, bought the Village Food Mart, 43 Somers Rd., from Gary Mayotte, who has owned the business for 35 years.

“We had been in talks with Gary for some time,” Vallides said, adding that the business “resonated” with her as a small, neighborhood market.

Mayotte posted a statement to the store’s Facebook page on Sept. 6, which read, “I’m not the retiring type but ... It’s time to turn the page. Thank you for 35 wonderful years. Armata’s [Market] will do a great job.”

Vallides said the grocery store will maintain the name Village Food Mart. “We really want to keep the small-town Hampden feel,” she said, but noted there will be some aesthetic changes and people will “see Armata’s stamp on it.”

The Village Food Mart will be running with Vallides at the helm before the holidays, the busiest time of year in the food industry. “We are definitely hoping to see so many of the customers who have made Armata’s successful over the years,” she said.

Vallides said The Village Food Mart has a “great staff,” which she plans to keep employed at the store. There will also be added staff to handle the service areas that Vallides said she wants to expand. An in-house scratch baker will be brought in, as well as expanding the meals-to-go options. Vallides is also interested in building a hot-foods-to-go business in the 7,000-square-foot Village Food Mart.

“It’s about enhancing the customer experience. Bakery and hot foods were two of our fastest-growing departments,” at Armata’s Market, Vallides said, before a Nov. 23, 2021, fire that destroyed the Maple Center Shopping Plaza, where Armatas stood, at 901 Maple St., Longmeadow.

Since the fire, Armata’s Market has been running its catering service out of the Greenwood Center on Maple Street in Longmeadow. Vallides said Armata’s plans to reopen on the site of its former home when the plaza is rebuilt. Armata’s Market’s original storefront was 9,000 square feet, but Vallides said the rebuilt market will be between 3,000 and 4,000 square feet larger.

Vallides expects to have a solid timeframe for the rebuilding process by mid-September. “As long as we can break ground before winter, we hope to be back in the Longmeadow community sometime next year,” Vallides said.

Until then, Vallides has her attention on the Village Food Mart. “We’re very excited. We wish Gary well on his retirement,” she said, adding, “We’re happy to keep the Village Food Mart going from one family-owned business to another.”