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Northern Berkshire Town Will Soon Lose Its Only Grocery Store

A Big Y storefront.
Mike Mozart
/
Creative Commons / flickr.com/photos/jeepersmedia
A Big Y storefront.

Big Y announced last week that it will soon close its store in Adams, Massachusetts, laying off its 90 employees who work there. 

Starting next month, local residents will have to make the trip to North Adams to restock on groceries.

Adams interim town administrator Donna Cesan said the closure will impact downtown residents the most.  

“For many elderly and low-income resident that don’t have access to a personal vehicle, I’m afraid this is going to create a severe hardship,” Cesan said.

Big Y has told residents it will run a shuttle to its North Adams location for a period of time following the closure.

The town of Adams is already working with state agencies to find jobs for Big Y employees, but Cesan said the jobs won't be the same.

“It might be a job outside the immediate vicinity. Then it creates a hardship, regardless,” she said.

Big Y said it plans to relocate some of its employees. The Springfield, Massachusetts-based chain is looking to sell the space in Adams to another supermarket.

State Senator Adam G. Hinds of Pittsfield and State Rep. John Barrett III of North Adams said they were dissapointed to hear Big Y's annoucement. 

"It is inexcusable that this decision was made by company management without first alerting the Adams Select Board or Community Development officials," Hinds said in a press release. "It goes without saying that losing 90 jobs will be impactful — in all the wrong ways — in northern Berkshire, and residents who have shopped at the Adams Big Y for a generation now are left without a hometown market."

The store will remain open through early March.

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