EASTHAMPTON — It’s a bittersweet ending for the Zygmont family after recently selling the Ferry Street Package Store they have owned for more than four decades, but they can rest easy knowing the new owners intend to keep the store exactly the same.
“I remember being here at nine years old, running around, stocking the candy and stocking sodas and stuff like that, cleaning the stairwells,” said Glenn Zygmont inside the store on Tuesday. “My dad never thought it was going to be a 46-year run, but here we are.”
Glenn and his father Alfred Zygmont recently sold the property at 64 Ferry St., which includes the commercial property on the first floor and five, three-bedroom apartments. The father-son duo said part of what makes their tenure special is that they are only the second owners of the business, which was built to be a package store, after Alfred Zygmont bought it in 1980.
The Hatfield residents said it’s sad for their ownership to come to an end, but ultimately it’s time for Alfred, 84, to retire. And for Alfred, he doesn’t mind continuing his passion for maintaining and repairing vintage John Deere tractors.
“Now I get to go play with my tractors,” said Alfred Zygmont, who maintains and repairs several tractors that were built as early as 1947 as a hobby.
Since Alfred Zygmont bought the store 46 years ago from the previous owners — the Donais family — he said he, his son Glenn and Glenn’s sister, who died in 2022 of cancer, have been the only ones to work there besides some occasional part-time help. Glenn Zygmont said he took over the main ownership duties from his father in 2013.
Before their last day on Wednesday, the owners spent Tuesday selling alcoholic beverages, snacks and scratch tickets, as regulars stopped by to give their thanks and congratulations to the Zygmonts on a successful run.
“We’re gonna miss him [Alfred Zygmont], but I’m happy for him,” customer John Pepin said on Tuesday.
Pepin said he has been a customer since 1996. Living just up the street in Easthampton, he said the store has always been a place for him to grab some drinks while having a laugh with the Zygmonts. He said he will still be a customer after the sale.
Regular customers like Pepin can rest assured, knowing that the store will remain the same. The Zygmonts sold the property to Raj Patel of Easthampton, who planned to reopen the store Friday after a one-day closure on Thursday.
“I like the store. It’s a small store in a nice neighborhood,” Patel said. “I’m going to keep it as they have it, I’m not going to change anything.”
Patel is the owner of a similar store in Worthington called Corner’s Grocery and Cafe. He said he is excited to expand into Easthampton. Patel purchased the Ferry Street Package Store from the Zygmont’s in a private transaction, declining to disclose the cost, but Glenn Zygmont said it was a deal that all parties were happy with.
Patel said the store will remain open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
Before Alfred Zygmont bought the store, he and his wife owned and operated a restaurant called the Homestead in Hatfield. Glenn Zygmont said the building has generally stayed the same except for some wall expansions.
For Glenn Zygmont, the store’s identity has always been a local, family-run business that serves customers at a low price. Out of 20 customers that come in, he said he will know 17 of them.
“I’ll definitely miss all the customers and they’re pretty much not even customers, I call them family,” Glenn Zygmont said. “There’s so many of them you get to know so well and they know us.”
Alfred Zygmont said one of the biggest changes he has seen is the “astonishing” increase in the cost it takes to operate the store and apartments since 1980. He said real estate taxes have escalated and liquor prices have increased, but they have still been able to keep prices low for customers and tenants through revenues from the business.
“Like everything else, you have to learn how to ride the tides with everything,” Glenn Zygmont said. “You got to learn the industry and how to ride the industry.”
He said that they have tried to maintain a consistent stock of drinks and beverages that the store’s clientele wants to see, especially as a store that serves many customers with a lower income. Additionally, the family had very few issues with tenants, keeping a low turnover rate.
Glenn Zygmont, who also drives vans for the Hatfield Council on Aging, will continue to do that work while spending more time with his family. He said that even through difficult times such as the COVID-19 pandemic, his family has had disagreements over the business, but those disputes never split them apart.
“There’s been definitely family squabbles because of all this stuff but in the end, we’re family,” he said.