West Street Market opens
Date: 6/6/2012
June 6, 2012By G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.comCHICOPEE — The owner of the new West Street Market hopes customers will find "a little bit of everything."
"It's a smorgasbord," owner Margarita Plagakis told
Reminder Publications at the store's official opening on May 30. "From fruits to nuts, we're like a mini-supermarket."
The location on West Street was the long-time home of Freddie's Market. That store's owner, Fred Borzek, said he closed his business 18 years ago and was happy to see another store finally take its place.
"It's a good location for a food operation," he said.
Borzek had kept the building, which has apartments on the upper floors and had sold it to Plagakis and her husband Gus.
Inside the newly remodeled store, Plagakis offers fresh baked goods, grocery items, fresh fruits and vegetables, cold deli meats and a selection of cooked food items to go.
"Every day it changes," she said of the offerings, which will include dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. She sees it as a convenience for working people who want a home-style entrée but don't have the time to cook. The menu will reflect not only her own Greek roots, but also the ethnic diversity of the city, she added.
She said she intends to keep the prices low on the take-out food.
Plagakis said she has been in the food industry for 30 years, but this was her first market.
The renovation of the building started a year ago, she explained. Originally from New York City, Plagakis said her husband, who has a food service equipment business in Holyoke, was impressed with Chicopee.
"We thought it was quaint," she said. "We lived in a quaint neighborhood in New York and it had the same atmosphere."
Plagakis believes the new market operation will be a good fit for the downtown area as there are only several other restaurants.
The market had a soft opening three weeks ago. It will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday.
