Look Inside: New Fairfield Food Center - New Fairfield, CT

New Fairfield Food Center
Owner: Johnny Petrone

Opened: 1969

Cooperative: none
Location: 1 Brush Hill Rd, New Fairfield, CT

Photographed: July 9, 2021

There aren't too many truly independent supermarkets out there, but this one in New Fairfield, CT has been rolling along since 1969. The small but mighty store of just 9500 square feet is not a member of a cooperative but is supplied by C&S Wholesale Grocers of Keene, NH, and uses Best Yet storebrand items.

We enter the store to find the produce department in the first aisle. Meat is at the back in an expansion out the side (the store is a bit of an L-shape) and deli is on the back wall of the main supermarket. Dairy and frozen are in the last aisle.

The store has been around for a long time, but has been very nicely renovated with new fixtures, decor, and flooring.

The butcher and deli are clearly a main draw here, and the meat looked beautiful. There's also a full line of groceries, though, even though the outside doesn't exactly make it look like a large full-service supermarket.

I'm not entirely sure why, but Litchfield County -- an affluent, sparsely populated county in western Connecticut -- has remained an enclave of independent grocers. Of course, we're not actually in Litchfield County here in New Fairfield, we're in Fairfield County, but we're very close to the border. I mentioned that this is the area where IGA started long long ago, and that Bozzuto's in Cheshire, CT supplies many of the independents around here on yesterday's post.

The deli is on the back wall of the main supermarket area. Again, the fixtures look pretty new here.

Dairy and frozen are in the last aisle...

The best part of the New Fairfield Food Center? This small independent supermarket has thrived for 50+ years, even with a 60,000 square foot chain supermarket right across the street. We'll be touring that store on Monday on The Market Report!