No Atkins Farms in South Deerfield’s New Plaza

Last night we joined other business people at a Chamber after five event at Dr. Spooky’s Animal museum in Deerfield. In the museum we chatted with Steve Schecterle, who is building a new liquor store and additional retail space in South Deerfield, near Rte 5 & 10.

In the cafe, this new building has been the subject of great excitement, when word came out that they were negotiating with Atkins Farms to bring a grocery store to our village. Many people came in and asked us about it, and we pointed to the Gazette article on the bulletin board…”is this really happening?” they’d ask. We’ve had no market here since the feeble Deerfield Market closed, and this wonderful food emporium had our mouths watering.

After decades of expansion, Atkins has turned what was once a farm stand in South Amherst into a huge grocery, deli and gourmet food emporium. But they never had to go out and get a huge bank loan, they grew it all themselves, building more and more additions to their store.

I got an update from Steve Senior and Junior last night—it’s not going to be Atkins who builds a store here in South Deerfield. “They couldn’t do it now, there are four partners, and they just couldn’t pull the trigger now,” said Steve. So now he is talking with other grocery store people including Randalls Farm, from Ludlow, and Guido’s from Lennox, about his location.

Stay tuned, someone is going to bring a market to our town, sooner or later!