WILLIAMSBURG — For almost 90 years, there has been a grocery store where the Williamsburg Market stands. As owners Angie and Jean Duquette plan their retirement, they are hoping the market will continue on in some fashion as the area’s local store for groceries and supplies.
“We have put in 29 years, and my husband and I want to retire,” Angie Duquette said. “But we don’t want to turn it over to just anybody.”
According to Angie Duquette, the First National was the original store to open in the 1930s, after which it became Len’s Fine Foods. When owner Len Nichols sold the store, it went through a couple of closings and reopenings until the Duquettes purchased the business in 1990.
“Thirty years ago, it was closed for about a year and a half, and people in town still remember that and don’t want to see that happen again,” Duquette said. “We have started closing on Sundays, and people are really feeling it.”
Duquette said she is hoping the community will be able to turn the market into a food co-op.
“If they can get a co-op and buy us out, that would be wonderful, and the community would have a store,” she said.
A while back, Duquette began talking to residents about the possibilities for the market.
“Angie asked several community members to kindly help them figure out the future of the business,” resident Lisa Bertoldi said. “Some people are interested in seeing the market continue as a privately owned business, and some people would like to see it become a consumer-owned co-op.”
Bertoldi also noted that there is an idea for making the market a nonprofit grocery store.
“It’s a landmark,” said Jackie Compton, who has lived in town for 40 years. “I go in there for something every week. I hope the community can pull something together.”
To begin an open discussion on the future of the store, Bertoldi, together with resident Claire Bateman and other interested parties, has arranged to hold a community meeting Tuesday at the Grange at 7 p.m.
“The main question that we will ask at the meeting is: Does the community want to see a grocery store remain in Williamsburg?” Bertoldi said. “If yes, then we would like people to step up with the skills and the desire to serve on a working group so we can have a robust process, investigate all of the possibilities and see what is feasible for us to actually do.”
The working group also would be looking at a business model, a business plan, fundraising for a market study and a survey to find out the specifics of what the community wants and needs.
Bertoldi said a small group has already been working closely with Dave Christopolis, executive director of the Hilltown Community Development Corp., Jade Barker, a consultant with CDS Consulting Co-op, and Jennifer Hoffman, the director of the Williamsburg Council on Aging.
“We are dedicated to serving all of the constituents in town and in the hilltowns,” Bertoldi said. “And we have also been thinking a lot about food security and making sure that the increasing demographic of seniors will be served by having an available local grocery store.”
Some in the hilltowns have suggested that a co-op in Williamsburg might have a negative effect on the Old Creamery Co-op in Cummington, but Bertoldi said she believes that the two stores would not be in competition.
“We don’t think that will be a problem as the co-ops would be different from each other, and there is not a saturation of co-ops in western Mass,” Bertoldi said.
Karl Sabo manager of the Old Creamery Co-op, said that the process of creating a co-op is no easy task. Before the popular store and deli/café became a co-op, it took a full three years of development and fundraising for the community to be able to purchase the business.
“The Williamsburg Market is a wonderful community asset,” Sabo said. “It would turn into a food desert in that area if the store wasn’t there.”
Sabo said he thinks changing demographics in the hilltowns are helping to turn small towns into the bedroom or “commuter communities” of larger cities like Northampton, which can make it difficult for hilltown businesses to remain sustainable.
This is why so many residents have expressed an interest in keeping the market open.
“Thus far, we have been contacted by about 60 people who are eager to see the grocery store remain in Burgy,” Bertoldi said.
While the store serves a large population from Williamsburg, it also has steady customers from the surrounding towns.
On Tuesday, Steve Campbell, who lives in Greenfield and works in Williamsburg, was at the market. He said that he goes there every day.
“It’s a great place to come and get something for lunch,” he said.
Mary Lorenz, of Conway, said she travels to Stop & Shop in Northampton every few weeks, but the market is the store she frequents most.
“I come here two to three times a week. I like that they have all of the basics, and they have nice meats,” Lorenz said. “I think that they support the food needs for a lot of people, and I hope the community will support the co-op idea.”