BIG Y GETS FRESH WITH KOSHER CATEGORIES

Lynne Miller

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Big Y Foods took its first major step into fresh kosher merchandising with the opening of a new Big Y World Class Market featuring kosher meat, deli and bakery departments.

Depending on results, the new formats could serve as a model for future kosher departments at other stores, a spokeswoman for Big Y told SN. The early indications look good. Big Y opened the store the Monday before Passover and, in the first days of operation, the unadvertised departments had generated enough sales to meet the company's expectations, she said.

"I'm told they're doing very, very well," said Claire D'Amour-Daley, vice president of corporate communications for the 50-store independent.

Big Y took a low-key approach when it opened the store, opting not to promote the kosher departments in store circulars, or for that matter, promote the departments in any other way, she said. "We wanted to make sure we had everything working properly," she said. "We plan to promote it more. We've had a wonderful response from the Jewish community. They understand the importance of these products. They want to be able to purchase kosher foods locally."

The kosher departments fill a void by offering in a mainstream supermarket kosher products for Jewish consumers in the Springfield area. The next closest store with a kosher meat department was at an older A&P in an inner-city neighborhood -- not an ideal location. Jewish leaders for years had tried to move the department to another A&P store. Big Y this year acquired that store, and three other A&P/Super Foodmart units in the area, with plans to convert them into the World Class Market format.

When Big Y officials discovered that the older, inner-city A&P store with the kosher departments was slated to close, they saw opportunity, D'Amour-Daley said.

"The Jewish community was concerned because the next closest market was in West Hartford, a good half hour from Springfield," she said.

Inside the 59,000-square-foot store, the kosher deli includes the Empire and Zalmans lines of kosher meats, as well as other brands of cheeses, salads and smoked meats. The store also carries kosher rotisserie-cooked chickens and entrees, and a selection of kosher dairy products, which is expected to grow, D'Amour-Daley said.

The kosher meat department adjoins the conventional meat department. Featuring kosher products in self-serve cases as well as items at the service counter, the department carries glatt and regular kosher meats with a full line of fresh beef, chicken, turkey, lamb and veal -- as well as frozen meats and entrees, and prepackaged luncheon meats.

The kosher bakery offers a large assortment of fresh breads and rolls, bagels, cakes, pies and doughnuts with both dairy and pareve designations.

Under previous ownership, the store had a beer and wine department. Big Y already had three stores in Massachusetts with beer and wine departments, and under state law, could not open another one selling liquor. That created extra space, allowing the retailer to go kosher, she said.

All departments are physically separated from their conventional counterparts, she added. Big Y hired a full time Mashgiach, who acts as an in-store compliance officer, making sure Jewish dietary rules are followed in the food preparation. The specialty departments close at sundown Fridays and remain closed on Saturdays in observance of the Sabbath.

Staffing the departments with people who understood kosher food preparation, creating separate storage and preparation areas, and gaining an understanding of the needs of the Jewish community were hurdles the chain had to overcome, D'Amour-Daley said.

"Our group had to hunker down and work out those details quickly," she said, noting the chain acquired the stores just a week before reopening them under the company's banner. "We didn't want to miss Passover."