Biz Briefs: Price Rite Marketpace to Hold Grand Re-Opening of Pittsfield Store

Price Rite grand re-opening

Price Rite Marketplace will unveil fresh new looks and shopping experiences with grand re-openings at its store on Dalton Avenue in Pittsfield, as well as stores in Chicopee, Springfield, West Springfield and Westfield. The supermarket is continuing to roll out its award-winning redesigned store concept focused on deep discounts and fresh foods after successful store rebrands in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Pennsylvania locations.

Price Rite Marketplace kicked off its rebranding campaign in fall 2018 with three stores in Pennsylvania, followed by an aggressive 2019 rollout with 35 additional rebrands in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Maryland. The changes attracted new customers, generated industry buzz and even secured a National Grocers Association Creative Choice Award for outstanding marketing and merchandising in the supermarket industry.

Customers who visit these stores will find bright, revitalized décor, including market-style produce departments brimming with fresh fruit, vegetables and organics. Each store will also include the new "Drop Zone" stocked with special surprise buys on must-have grocery and private label items, and lower prices that extend across hundreds of products.

To mark the latest grand re-openings, Price Rite Marketplace is hosting community celebrations on Friday, Jan. 24, with music, free sampling and other fun events. Doors open 8 a.m.; the first 400 customers who arrive at each store will receive a $20 Price Rite Marketplace gift card.

Birthday party for Marty

Marty, the tall, googly-eyed robot that roams Stop & Shop stores searching for spills and potential hazards, is turning 1. To celebrate, all three Berkshire County Stop & Shop stores - 1 Dan Fox Drive and 60 Merrill Road in Pittsfield and 876 State Road in North Adams - will throw Marty a first birthday party on Saturday, Jan. 25, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., complete with birthday cake, crafts for kids and giveaways.

Marty the robot is used to identify hazards and spills on the floor, allowing associates to focus on customers. When the robot detects a potential hazard on the floor, he notifies store associates who take corrective action.

Marty is from Kentucky and was created by Badger Technologies. He speaks both English and Spanish. On average, he spots 40 spills and potential hazards at each store every day. Marty has more than 300 cousins who also live at Stop & Shop stores across the company's five-state footprint. And Marty's favorite dance move is the robot (naturally).

Richmond Grill changes

The Richmond Grill, a fixture on the North Adams dining scene, has teamed up with Main Street Hospitality to develop a new attitude for the local classic. Located in The Holiday Inn, and owned by Larkin Hospitality in Burlington, Vt., the grill now features a new look, a new feel and a new dining experience thanks to a facelift to its surroundings and new breakfast and dinner menus.

Main Street's vice president of Culinary Development, Brian Alberg, and executive chef Joe Segala, have collaborated on a new menu that celebrates classic grill favorites, as well as fresh new selections such as shrimp scampi risotto. Mel Karakaya, the general manager of the Porches Inn at Mass MoCA, is supporting The Grill's operations in close conjunction with The Holiday Inn team. In addition to her role at Porches, Karakaya and her husband own Pera and Casalina.

Instagram classes

Silo Media and Professionality Consulting are offering a six-week Instagram class for local businesses on Thursdays from noon to 1 p.m. from Feb. 6 to March 12 at ExtraSpecialTeas, 2 Elm St., Great Barrington. Instagram is one of the fastest, most accessible, most effective, and most affordable marketing tools available today. The cost is $35 a class or $180 to prepay for all six classes. To register, email dawn@professionalityconsulting.com or beth@silo-media.com or call 413-429-1176.

Appropriate for artists, individuals, nonprofit professionals and small business owners, the class will cover why people should use Instagram, how to set goals, how to tell a good story, explain hashtags, followers and following, how to take a good photo, how to use Instagram stories, how to link with Facebook and much more.

Spectrum News launched

Spectrum Networks has launched Spectrum News 1, a new 24/7 format for high-quality, hyperlocal news, weather and sports coverage for Spectrum customers in Central and Western Massachusetts. Spectrum News 1 is dedicated to providing compelling local content exclusively for Spectrum viewers in Western and Central Massachusetts. With reporters embedded in the communities of Worcester, Chicopee and Pittsfield, content includes a robust lineup of hyperlocal news, stories and area-specific weather reports, along with political and local sports coverage for viewers across the region.

Big Y donations

In order to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer, all Big Y Supermarkets donated proceeds from their October initiative "Partners of Hope" to 29 local breast cancer support groups throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut. This month-long program reflects the partnership, commitment and support of breast cancer awareness and research that are so vital for many.

The results have finally been tabulated and in October, Big Y raised $215,742.00 for the slate of organizations in Massachusetts and Connecticut, including locally the Berkshire Medical Center Women's Imaging Center in Pittsfield.

Greylock grant

Greylock Federal Credit Union has been awarded $525,000 in grant funds from the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund of the US Treasury Department. The award will expand products for low-income members and increase services that promote financial inclusion. Greylock is the only CDFI credit union in western Massachusetts.

This is the second CDFI grant awarded to Greylock. The first award of $686,500 was received in 2017. Those funds were leveraged to generate over $15 million in special lending in Berkshire County, including New Road Auto loans, Small Business loans and Safety Net loans.

The initial award also supported the program creation at the Community Empowerment Center that opened in Greylock's Kellogg Street branch earlier this fall. The new grant will enhance outreach and education efforts and allow greater flexibility to develop new products that meet the unique needs of the community. The CEC is a safe space where anyone can access the financial tools and resources needed to thrive and grow in the community. It is home to Greylock’s special lending programs, personal financial coaching services, school-based financial literacy curriculum, member education classes, and immigrant and minority services.

Berkshire Computer Repair Award

Berkshire Computer Repair has been selected for the 2020 Best of North Adams Award in the Computer Service & Repair category by the North Adams Award Program.

Each year, the North Adams Award Program identifies companies that have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the North Adams area a great place to live, work and play.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2020 North Adams Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the North Adams Award Program and data provided by third parties.

Pittsfield Celebrates Robert 'Bob' Presutti on Arbor Day

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:33PM / Friday, April 26, 2024

Bob Presutti, right, is presented the Hebert Award in 2017 for his volunteer efforts at Springside Park. He died in 2023 at age 88.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A tree has been planted next to the Berkshire Athenaeum in honor of local "giant" Robert Presutti.

Officials celebrated Arbor Day on Friday by installing a commemorative plaque next to the American elm sapling. This is a tree that James McGrath, the city's park program manager, said Presutti would have been particularly proud of.

"Today is a day where we yes, celebrate trees, but today is also a day where here in the city we intentionally try to acknowledge the good work of folks in our community who spend their time and their efforts and their talents to make Pittsfield a more beautiful place," he said to a crowd of about 20 people.

"Today we are honoring a longtime community volunteer named Bob Presutti. I'm sure a lot of you here know Bob and know his contributions to the city, not only when it comes to trees and parks but also to the Retired Senior Volunteer Program."

The longtime volunteer passed away last year at the age of 88. He contributed more than 10,600 hours to RSVP and had great impacts on the Parks Department over the years from sharing his knowledge and talents to ensuring that workers were safe when working on trees.

"This morning I went through my emails to see how many emails Bob Presutti sent me since the year 2001 when I started with the city. Bob Presutti sent me 14,000 emails and nearly every single one of those was about trees," McGrath said, prompting laughter and smiles from attendees.

One thread struck him as particularly important because it showed Presutti's empathy when it comes to the safety of city workers while caring for trees.

"There were multiple emails from Bob about the need to get the Parks Department maintenance guys into a program learning about chainsaw safety and learning about ladder safety. He was really into making certain that our city workers were well cared for and had all of the instruction that they needed and in fact, he even offered his own time and services after he became certified to teach our city workers," McGrath said.