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Big Y - West Hartford, CT

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By Zachary
Big Y
Opened: 2010
Owner: D'Amour family
Previous Tenants: Grand Union (1956-1970s) > Waldbaum's (1970s-2010)
Cooperative: none
Location: 772 N Main St, West Hartford, CT
Photographed: October 31, 2024 and March 18, 2026
Welcome (back) to West Hartford! This Big Y is located about four miles northwest of downtown Hartford, in the suburb of West Hartford. At the intersection of Main Street and Albany Avenue, there is a Whole Foods, a Target, and a kosher grocer called The Crown Market all alongside this Big Y, so it's only natural that they all would want to stay on their toes. Big Y certainly has, as this is the latest supermarket they've remodeled.
The approximately 42,000 square foot store was originally a much smaller, 13,000 square foot barrel-roof Grand Union constructed in 1956, which Waldbaum's acquired in the 1970s. It was a Waldbaum's Foodmart (the Foodmart name was used by Waldbaum's and A&P in New England) until its closure in 2010, when Big Y acquired the store. Big Y also operates a handful of other former A&P locations in CT and MA. Thanks to a commenter on the original post for the history!
Speaking of Waldbaum's, you can see the facade was not changed at all when Big Y came in. (Compare to Southington here.) This lettering across the storefront was also left over from Waldbaum's, just with red letters swapped out for the original green ones.
That's also what the interior was like. Big Y appears to have had a very quick turnaround time here when they took over in 2010, as the Waldbaum's decor (A&P Fresh 2.0) was still going strong, just with new Big Y lettering on top of it. More than 15 years later, it was definitely time for a change -- although, as we'll see, this store has always been immaculately maintained despite being older.
Now, we have the standard Big Y decor in place of the A&P-era decor, although the bones haven't been changed. In addition to the decor, the flooring and some of the fixtures have been replaced, and some of the lighting has been changed slightly but is mostly the same.
The decor really wasn't bad before -- if you didn't know that this was reused Waldbaum's decor, there wouldn't be any way to figure it out. No stickers, no duct tape!
But now the store is more consistent with other Big Y locations, including their new ones such as the Uxbridge one I linked above. Big Y is also preparing to open a second store here in West Hartford, at the Westfarms Mall. That's as Big Y prepares to open six new stores in Massachusetts and at least one other in Connecticut.
The grand aisle is on the left side of the supermarket, located roughly in what would've been the original Grand Union. Produce is in the front-left corner with bakery and seafood on the left-side wall, and deli/prepared foods are in an island in the middle. Natural foods are at the back.
Butcher/meat and dairy line the back wall, with frozen on the right side. Prior to the remodel, there was a kosher department in the front-right corner, which has been relocated to the back wall between meat and dairy. Beer now takes up the former kosher department.
You can see that some of the Waldbaum's fixtures here remain, but many have been replaced.
And the produce department looks much more like a new Big Y than a converted Waldbaum's overall now.
The Patisserie is now the West Hartford Baking Co.
I don't have a close-up picture of the seafood department before, but it looks like not a whole lot changed.
Here's a look across the grand aisle back towards prepared foods and deli.
"Quick & Easy" looks like it's where Waldbaum's had cold cuts, but Big Y has relocated those to dairy. Now, this area is natural foods.
And now, complete with signage for natural foods, too!
Deli and cheese face towards the back of the store.
Looking back up towards produce...
The basic setup of the meat department is exactly the same, but just with new signage and some new fixtures.
The grand aisle of this store (including here in the meat department) looks very good.
The grocery aisles look more standard, although they no longer still look like Waldbaum's aisles...
...they're more standard Big Y, which are not that exciting.
Relocated kosher department (which seems to have gotten quite a bit smaller in the remodel). It's possible some kosher foods have been incorporated into other departments.
The grocery aisle opposite this area has also been expanded to a double-wide aisle, with chips and snacks on either side and kosher foods in the middle.
New dairy cases on the back wall...
But as you can see, this store was far from neglected prior to the remodel. These days, there are very few Big Y stores that are really dated.
HABA appears to have been moved from the right side of the store (near dairy/frozen, a remnant of Waldbaum's) to the left side (close to the grand aisle, which is where Big Y typically puts it).
New or at least refurbished freezers. The whole store got new flooring. You can also see the lighting was replaced in the rest of the store after the grand aisle.
Frozen lines the last aisle...
...and again, these cases are either new or refurbished (maybe just painted?).
The former kosher department in the front corner, which is now home to beer.
It looks like Big Y hadn't been using this service counter, though I'm not sure if they ever did or if it was just a remnant from Waldbaum's.
Again, this is a more typical Big Y layout to have beer in the front-right corner.
A look across the front-end, now with new flooring, new lighting, and some new signage...
Looking good! And walking through, you'd hardly know this supermarket is celebrating its 70th birthday. Don't miss the rest of this weekend's posts here!

Saturday
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