For Immediate Release
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. >> Berkshire Interfaith Organizing (BIO) is calling on Price Chopper Board Chairman Neil Golub to meet with representatives of the Brayton Hill development, BIO and other groups to discuss food sales at the site of a Price Chopper store that will close on Feb. 27.
The Schenectady, N,Y.-based Golub Corporation announced earlier this month that the store at 245 State Road, which has been open since 1959 and employed 57 people would close. The store is within walking distance of two low-income neighborhoods, Brayton Hill and the Greylock Valley housing project in North Adams.
Transportation to the other supermarkets in the city is problematic for residents without personal transportation. Indeed, walking downtown or to Stop & Shop in the West End during the winter can be dangerous.
Price Chopper at one time had two stores in North Adams, with one in the former North Adams Plaza on the Curran Highway. Price Chopper currently has stores in Pittsfield, Lenox and Lee in Berkshire County.
The focus of the meeting, organizers said, is to ensure continuing food sales in some form at the site.
Other groups involved with organizing the meeting include the Northern Berkshire Interfaith Action Initiative, which runs the Friendship Center Food Pantry, the largest food pantry in North Adams. Leaders of that group are concerned that the area around the closing store will now become a “food desert” for those of limited means and transportation without continuing food sales at the Price Chopper site.
Berkshire Interfaith Organizing is part of a New England organizing network, with five other similar groups, called the InterValley Project. BIO consists of 16 congregations and groups throughout Berkshire County, including several in Pittsfield and south county.
“We are communicating with and working with local residents and consumers most directly affected by this closing,” said Rev. Mark Longhurst, pastor of First Congregational Church, Williamstown, and member of the BIO Executive Board. “We applaud the outplacement and other services Price Chopper is providing for its employees. However, we are concerned about continuing access to affordable and healthy food at this site after Price Chopper leaves.”
On its corporate website, the company states, “Price Chopper has an 80-year history of doing what is right in the communities we serve.”
Said Longhurst, “We would like more information about plans for the site. We are concerned about the impact this closing will have on the people in this part of North Adams. We are seeking a direct and meaningful discussion with Mr. Golub about the future of the site, particularly as it relates to food access.”
BIO is governed by an executive council made up of representatives from its 16 member congregations and groups in Berkshire County; it employs two community organizers and a communications specialist. Since November it has been headquartered at Shire City Sanctuary at 40 Melville St. in Pittsfield.
According to a press release on the Price Chopper website, Scott Grimmett became CEO of the Golub Corporation in January 2016. He reports to the board of directors through Neil Golub, who remains executive chairman.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. >> Berkshire Interfaith Organizing (BIO) is calling on Price Chopper Board Chairman Neil Golub to meet with representatives of the Brayton Hill development, BIO and other groups to discuss food sales at the site of a Price Chopper store that will close on Feb. 27.
The Schenectady, N,Y.-based Golub Corporation announced earlier this month that the store at 245 State Road, which has been open since 1959 and employed 57 people would close. The store is within walking distance of two low-income neighborhoods, Brayton Hill and the Greylock Valley housing project in North Adams.
Transportation to the other supermarkets in the city is problematic for residents without personal transportation. Indeed, walking downtown or to Stop & Shop in the West End during the winter can be dangerous.
Price Chopper at one time had two stores in North Adams, with one in the former North Adams Plaza on the Curran Highway. Price Chopper currently has stores in Pittsfield, Lenox and Lee in Berkshire County.
The focus of the meeting, organizers said, is to ensure continuing food sales in some form at the site.
Other groups involved with organizing the meeting include the Northern Berkshire Interfaith Action Initiative, which runs the Friendship Center Food Pantry, the largest food pantry in North Adams. Leaders of that group are concerned that the area around the closing store will now become a “food desert” for those of limited means and transportation without continuing food sales at the Price Chopper site.
Berkshire Interfaith Organizing is part of a New England organizing network, with five other similar groups, called the InterValley Project. BIO consists of 16 congregations and groups throughout Berkshire County, including several in Pittsfield and south county.
“We are communicating with and working with local residents and consumers most directly affected by this closing,” said Rev. Mark Longhurst, pastor of First Congregational Church, Williamstown, and member of the BIO Executive Board. “We applaud the outplacement and other services Price Chopper is providing for its employees. However, we are concerned about continuing access to affordable and healthy food at this site after Price Chopper leaves.”
On its corporate website, the company states, “Price Chopper has an 80-year history of doing what is right in the communities we serve.”
Said Longhurst, “We would like more information about plans for the site. We are concerned about the impact this closing will have on the people in this part of North Adams. We are seeking a direct and meaningful discussion with Mr. Golub about the future of the site, particularly as it relates to food access.”
BIO is governed by an executive council made up of representatives from its 16 member congregations and groups in Berkshire County; it employs two community organizers and a communications specialist. Since November it has been headquartered at Shire City Sanctuary at 40 Melville St. in Pittsfield.
According to a press release on the Price Chopper website, Scott Grimmett became CEO of the Golub Corporation in January 2016. He reports to the board of directors through Neil Golub, who remains executive chairman.
