Atkins Farms Opens in North Amherst!

It’s been quite a long road for Cinda Jones, who has a vision of her North Amherst Mill District becoming the next bustling commercial neighborhood in Amherst, and yesterday was a big day. Cinda knows that food and drink are the keys to get people to visit a new shopping destination, and so far she’s done well by recruiting a first-rate restaurant, Bread and Butter, and now, a grocery store. Atkins is officially a part of the Mill District on Cowls Lane!

Be prepared to be a bit underwhelmed if you head over to Atkins expecting the bounty you’ll find in their sprawling south Amherst store. It takes time to stock the store, find out what sells, and to fill in the gaps. I drove over yesterday at around 4:30 pm and it was not busy, but there is still an excitement in the air. I envision the store being totally filled up with the vegetables, meats and especially the full deli in not too many weeks.

For now, I’m glad that there is a place that’s just 10 minutes and 14 seconds from my house where I can get local milk, a good variety of produce, some good looking meat and a few other things like Atkins chicken pies that I’d never expect to find at Millstone Market in Sunderland.

Living in South Deerfield, we always have to drive at least 10 or 12 miles to get that. Atkins was once considering opening a store in our little town, but truth be told, there aren’t enough people here. I wish Pauline Lannon and her partners the best of luck making North Amherst a success. It’s clear to me that they’re in it for the long haul with the solid job they did on renovating the former cow barn.

This is progress…let’s enjoy it and spend money there to encourage them in their earliest days!