This store used to be the A&P Super Foodmart up until last October when Big Y bought it from them. A lot of things have changed since the switch in ownership. The store seems PHENOMINAL from a quick glance.
There's a lot of new equipment in there (like shopping carts without the squeaky wheels, registers, and the new rotisserie that can clean itself at the deli), and what didn't get replaced from the old store got some good old fashion elbow grease on them to make them look like new again (like the fryers again in the deli); even the employees got a face lift.
A lot of the old employees don't work there anymore (which is great because the old meat manager was a drunk, and one of the kids that worked that the deli really didn't care about his job), and the store has a nice semi-formal/formal dress code which makes you feel like you aren't well dressed enough to be in their store; but I guess that's better than the sloberly "I feel like coming to work with jeans and a t-shirt attitude" or that one girl who used to dye her hair all colors of the rainbow when it was the A&P.
Overall this new Big Y store looks just about perfect compared to the old A&P, but looks are just looks and don't matter if the experience is just terrible.
The prices have been jacked up on anything that isn't Big Y brand. And yes they do have those Gold & Silver coins (which you seldomly get) that you can use on certain items to get them discounted; but if you're not using a Gold coin, that silver coin brings the price down to a price you might find at a different store like McQuades or Stop & Shop.
There's an over selection (yes OVER) on many goods, so much that they can't put enough of one particular item on the shelf without it running out especially if it's a sale item.
As for the employees: Big Y did a great job on letting go of a lot of bad employees from the old store like: Ken from the deli who I would see come back inside from a smoke break without washing his hands go right back to work, Todd the alcoholic meat manager, or Sal the pervert; but then again they also let go of a lot of the great employees that made you want to come back to the A&P.
Yes a good portion of the current staff that works at the Mystic Big Y are nice and friendly, but a good portion of that portion used to be A&P employees like: Linda that works in the deli (used to work at the bakery for A&P,) Holly who works the register, Ricky in the deli (although I rarely seem him as a slicer anymore), the pharmacy staff, and Diane who does general merchandising I think.
But the rest of the staff doesn't make you want to comeback unless there's a sale. Eventually as time goes on and they get comfortable and more acqainted with the customers at this store they'll probably be able to draw us back in like the old A&P employees did. All except for one of their employees however, I think her name is Dana
She's slow (slower than Rob for all you old A&P shoppers,) rude, obnoxious, gets orders wrong AND has the nerve to tell/argue with customers on what they had ordered.
One time I saw her argue with an ederly woman until she was at tears. The other girl working the counter (I forgot her name but it was weird and it started with a T) gave her a gold coin from her pocket book, and Ricky (who was on the total opposite end of the department by the old pizza oven [maybe 3 or 4 car lengths away from the slicer for those of you not familiar with the Big Y/A&P in Mystic]) noticed the commotion, came around with a box of tissues to try to console her.
Afterwards when the elderly woman calmed down and left Ricky asked the two girls working behind the counter what exactly happened, of which Dana replied that he should mind his own F-ing business right in front of me and 3 other customers.
And just last week while I was in the store waiting to be served at the deli counter she struck an all time low with me. She waited on a customer who had an autistic individual with her (could of been her daughter,) that kept rocking back and forth while standing up. After the customer with the autistic individual left, Dana started rocking back and forth conspicously trying to get a humored reaction from her coworker. He told her to grow up, and she called him a D-bag in front of me and another customer.
I asked him to talk to his manager about what had happened and was told the deli manager nor the other full timer was availible at the moment, he'd talk to Dana again about her actions, and that he'd talk to or pass on a note or message from me to his manager or the full timer if I had wished. He also told me that I could take the issue up to the manger in charge of the store instead. Of which when I went to the customer service desk to find the manager in charge I spoke to a male individual that definetly wasn't the manager of the store (who actually is a female) and got a vibe that he just didn't really care. NEVER shopping here again. read more