Middlebury grocery store to close permanently

#MiddleburyCT #FourCorners

Middlebury’s only grocery store – Dinova’s Four Corners Grocery Store – is closing permanently. It has been operated for decades by generations of Dinovas. (Marjorie Needham photo)

Facebook began buzzing April 9 with news that Middlebury’s only grocery store – Dinova’s Four Corners Grocery Store –would be closing. Was it true, people asked? Residents who have shopped there for years expressed sadness and dismay at the idea of losing what has for decades been an integral part of the community. Their question was answered April 10 when Dinova’s Four Corners posted a statement that it was closing permanently. Everything in the store except for alcohol and cigarettes would be on sale at 25% off starting April 10.

ShawnaLee Kwashnak makes her way through Dinova’s grocery store April 10, loading her cart with foods her family loves. Among them are meat from the meat counter and milk from Arethusa Farm. (Marjorie Needham photo)

We dropped by the store April 10 to find a number of people wheeling carts up and down the aisles. ShawnaLee Kwashnak was among them. She said she had been shopping there since she and her family moved to town in 2001. She said she particularly liked their deli meat and meats from the meat counter. “I know their meat won’t make my kids sick,” she said. She said Dinova’s stocked her kids’ favorite milk from Arethusa Farm, and the kids were concerned Dinova’s closing meant there would no longer be a place in Middlebury to buy it.

Kwashnak said she had noticed small changes in advance of the notice. For example, the bottle return machines that once sat in the entryway outside the front door went away and were not replaced. “I wondered what was happening, she said.

Shopper Moria Mehmet said she was sad to see the store close. “They’ve been here a long time, but I understand they need to retire,” she said. Mehmet said she had lived in town for 39 years, and her children had gone to school with store owners Joe and Lucy Dinova’s children. “I wish them the best of luck,” she said.

Deli employee Logan Montalto said he believed Joe made the decision to close last Friday. Glancing at the shoppers in the store, he said, “This is the busiest the store has been since Christmas.” He said of Joe, “He’s put a lot of heart and soul into this store. It’s about time for him to step back.” Asked whether he knew what type of business might move into the space, he said he thought it would be another grocery store, possibly an IGA.

This is a developing story that will be updated. There hasn’t yet been time to schedule an interview with Joe and Lucy Dinova