Big Y — Local services in Stratford

Tonight my wife went to Hawley Lane Big Y Supermarket to purchase some items, particularly a box of pizza for a family who is distressed quarantining, due to their experience with Covid-19.

My wife and I are local Pastors and this is the type of work we do within the community.

While there a man approached her and begin to attempt to converse in the most inappropriate way.

My wife is happily married for almost 30 years. To yours truly!

He would not stop. He began to follow her around the store attempting to continue to engage her.

My wife called me, via FaceTime. Thank goodness I was home and have a house phone. I was able to call the Big Y store and speak to Gene (Manager).

I just wanted to thank him publicly for escorting my wife to her vehicle, tonight. It brought tears to my eyes to know that not only do they provide a great service, quality products, and great prices but they are truly concern about the customers that come through their business doors.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Gene (Manager) and staff for a full service tonight.

This was not business, as usually for sure!

I am deeply grateful for their heroic efforts tonight to assure that my wife got home safe and sound.

Abundant blessings to you Gene (Manager) for personally taking an interest in walking her to her vehicle!

You are my hero, for sure!

My family and I and the community we...

I despise grocery store shopping and would do anything to avoid it - but there are rare occasions I'm forced into hitting one. This Big Y (I'm a West Coast Southern California longtime resident who only moved to the NYC Metro Area in 2011) is near a girlfriend's home. On those forced occasions I groaned as I walked in - very clean, like OKs brand new and impressive, but my first feeling was the always "Good God it's enormous" overwhelming feelings I always get. Again, I'm a grocery store hater. But this Big Y is highly recommended. Shockingly easy to navigate, good prices, excellent staff (used Apple Pay for first time here - cashier went out of her way to show me the ropes which from that night firth I was addicted to Apple Pay, FYI - SO RARE TO SEE THAT CUSTOMER SERVICE, previous to that night when Apple Pay wouldn't work for my the cashier would growl at me "Do you just have a regular card sir!" Sure let me show you, bleep!). Super clean, great customer support...only grocery store I don't need a bloody Valium before I walk inside in the Tri-state region and that's my truth!! And, last note, after several severe winter storms the parking lot was the only one around that is plowed by perhaps a cult of snow-hating fanatics? It is always immaculate, while many nearby shopping centers had 1-2 feet of snow still on their lots...I thought that was...

Lets talk food, hours and eating healthy. Although I just noticed this in your flier this week, all the grocery stores are doing the same thing. Open a 7am if you want to eat unhealthy. No fish is out, most meat is stocked and all the vegetables aren't out. So what can you buy. Household goods and things that aren't healthy.

I had a business that opened at 9am and people needed what I had at 9am, so I got in at 6:30am to prepare the store for customers. Granted this was years ago when customer service was vastly different. Groceries stores could do this and be ready for customers at 7 am, but that would require extra employee hours.

If you look at the coupons and the Offers, there isn't one thing there that is considered healthy to eat. Lets have offers and coupons on fish, meat, chicken, vegetables, fruit, instead of cookies, ice cream, chips and ultra processed food. Also, there is hardly anything really on sale anymore. Remember when the flier was 8 pages, now its 3 or 4.

If the older generation could actually go to the grocery store at 7am and get everything they needed, the store would be pack.

I'm really not trying to bash Big Y, I really like the store, but so many things are wrong in all food stores...