Another Grocery Store Disappears From Waterbury

In shocked. In one year, two of my favorite grocery stores have permanently closed in Waterbury. I was really surprised to learn last September that the ShopRite on Wolcott Street was no more, and I was devastated yesterday when I drove back to Town Plot and saw my beloved former-Town Plot IGA/Key Foods/Banana Fresh is lifeless too.

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The Wolcott Street ShopRite closing, I can kind of understand. with Stop & Shop and Walmart right across the street, keeping up with their nationwide price-competitive was absolutely a losing battle for a locally-owned franchise, but Town Plot is a food desert now.

In the late 1980's and early 90's, grocery stores and markets were everywhere on the Western end of Waterbury. We had the Town Plot IGA on Fairfield Avenue, the A&P on West Main Street, Everybody's on South Main Street, and two Pathmark's, one in the Colonial Plaza and one on Bank Street. That's how I learned to drive, hauling my grandmother around to all of those wonderful supermarkets.

I loved the three small markets in our neighborhood. Town Plot IGA, the A&P, and Everybody's were all the size of what's replaced them - Dollar stores. Everybody's on South Main had such a distinct smell to it, like day-old Italian bread and old feet, the aisles were narrow and items were sparse. My dad's favorite thing to do was grab a bite at Robinwood Luncheonette and get something to cook at the A&P.

Key Foods and Banana Fresh absolutely upped the diversity of products offered, but did that drive you into Dollar General's arms? Good luck finding a fresh avocado on Highland Avenue. From what I can gather from some of the comments on social media, unpaid vendors is most commonly mentioned among the guesses as to why Fairfield Avenue and Town Plot seems like the Sahara now. Rich Schnaars, the old neighborhood needs you.