A Surprising Luxury In Litchfield County’s Grocery Stores

I have a new guilty pleasure - grocery shopping in an immaculate store.

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I've been spoiled by my move to Torrington, after living in Waterbury for most of my life I was used to shopping alongside hundreds of people in crowded Watertown Stop & Shop aisles, or my decades of convenient shopping at my beloved Town Plot IGA. Now? I find excuses to go to Bantam or Northville Market, the Salisbury LaBonne's, or the beautiful Big Y in Torrington.

Litchfield County is sparse in retail and convenience, you might have to drive over 10 miles to find a Dunkin or gas station and forget anything after 10PM, people sleep up here, restaurants close by 9, and the fast-food places in Torrington shut down at midnight. Waterbury on the other hand has everything, and you can find 24-hour businesses open everywhere. With this non-stop living, things get filthy.

Less Populated Areas of Connecticut are Generally Cleaner

Litchfield County has money to burn, the properties are luxurious, and the workers have time to clean up between customers. The first thing that struck after moving here is the vast difference between the Watertown and Litchfield Stop & Shops. The Litchfield Stop & Shop is pristine, while Watertown smells like 2008.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, I'll never forget the lines that formed in front of the Naugatuck Big Y, with lines of 25-50 people in masks waiting their turn to wander those marked aisles. That cleanliness after the deep disinfecting became my standard, and I watched it slip back into what we've all come to accept in 2025.

The most incredibly clean newer grocery store that I was in love with is the Whole Foods in Avon, but I feel like the crush of West Hartford shoppers has discovered it.