Our Commitment
Our number one priority is to provide specialty, organic and prepared foods from local and global sources to people who care about what they eat. We strive to provide every person who walks in our door with delicious food and a positive shopping experience. Our goals are to:
- Provide access to quality, flavorful, hand–crafted organic and artisan foods.
- Provide attentive service to every customer who walks in the door.
- Be a preferred employer providing living wage compensation and satisfying jobs with growth potential.
- Be a responsible company and an active member of the community.
- Partner with other organizations in the community to grow a vibrant and sustainable marketplace in Easthampton.
Local, Independent, Community-Based
Blue Moon Grocery is a locally owned and independently operated small business located in the Pioneer Valley. Independent retail merchants are a hallmark of this region. We tip our hats to the business owners who have come before us and choose to make a living providing products and services to the neighborhoods and communities of Western Mass. It helps remind us of the benefits of supporting local businesses. A dollar spent with a local merchant stays within the community because local merchants buy support services (e.g. banking, advertising, printing services, etc.) from other local businesses. Most large corporations have their corporate headquarters outside the region, so a dollar spent with a chain superstore most likely leaves the region and buys support services elsewhere.
Our Origin
Blue Moon Grocery was founded in 2004. The impetus for the store rose out of a simple wish to not have to cross a crowded bridge and pass through a series of strip malls to find natural foods. We wanted fresh, natural and specialty foods right in our backyard in the greater Easthampton area. The search for the perfect location ended at Eastworks (www.eastworks.com), when Blue Moon Grocery signed a multi-year lease on 7,000 square feet of raw factory space in December 2004. On January 1, 2005, with a dream and limitless willpower, a four month build-out process began. By early May, it had transformed a dark, dirty factory setting into a colorful and vibrant store. Blue Moon opened its doors for business on May 18, 2005 and held its official grand opening on June 3, 2005.
Today, Blue Moon provides an appealing, open environment for food shopping. The 14-foot loft ceilings and huge bright windows create a unique ambience. You won't find narrow aisles and cramped spaces at Blue Moon. Shopping for good food should be easy and fun, so we designed our store with that hope in mind.
Our Size, Competitiveness and Advantages
Blue Moon was built on the memories of what food shopping used to be. Our grandparents shopped at the corner neighborhood store where people knew one another by name and the shopkeeper knew what customers wanted. These grocery stores didn't have a million products to choose from, but you knew that what was on the shelves was good. Typical purchases were smaller and more frequent, to keep only the freshest ingredients in the icebox. These corner grocery stores also served as places where neighbors would meet and exchange news and ideas.
Today's super stores are changing the way we shop. Supermarkets are built on the concept of volume. Most are greater in size than a football field and hold tens of thousands of product. Size gives chain stores (typically 60,000 to 140,000 square feet) a competitive advantage because they can buy large volume from distributors who sell the products. Volume brings deep discounts that are not typically available to small retailers. There is no question that in shopping at a superstore chain retailer, you might gain more discounts in the pocketbook, however we believe the experience is also discounted.
The crowd starts in the parking lot, where you often have to jockey for a space to park. Next come the narrow aisles where thousands of products line shelf after shelf after shelf. What are the chances you will find someone who knows the answer to a question you might have? The product you are looking for is in aisle 30? The checkout is often crowded and while you strategize about which lane to get into you might loose your place in line. Discount card, where did I put my discount card? The exit to the parking lot cannot come fast enough.
At 7,000 square feet—we are big enough to carry all the basics, but small enough to know our customers and what they want. At Blue Moon our goal is to provide not just good food, but a place you'll find yourself wanting to return to again & again. Our parking lot provides ample parking, and we even have a bike rack for those coming off the bike path. Our store is spacious, colorful, and filled with light. We don't bombard you with bells and whistles; we just present the freshest and most delicious foods we can find. Our staff regularly samples products and has first hand knowledge about the things we sell. Our size allows us to offer more products than a typical health food store, but we're small enough for you to find everything you are looking for.
For more information on supporting the local independent retailer go to: stopsprawlmart.org and newrules.org.
