Lifelong Benny’s
customers mourn store’s impending closing.
Groton — Throughout the Benny’s at Plaza Court, some shelves look as though they were raided by the Grinch — the Grinch, in this case, being changes in the hardware and home goods industries, and the proliferation of online retailers.
Anyone in the store on Wednesday would have been hard-pressed to find tarps, terry towels, power bit sets, ponchos, lunchboxes and Gladware.
“I came in today and I’m going, ‘Where’d everything go?’” said Ed Nichols, who was purchasing screening, a can of lithium grease, window cleaner and Scotch tape.
He also came full-circle by buying one of the first things he ever purchased from Benny’s, years ago: a hobby knife. Nichols said he comes to Benny’s about once a week, and he does a lot of masking for his work as a painter, but he didn’t need that knife. He bought it just because it’s from Benny’s.
Benny’s — which has stores in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts — announced on Sept. 8 that it would close its 31 stores by the end of the year. The Associated Press reported early this month that the Bromberg family, which owns the chain, is retiring. The company said the decision was “strongly influenced by the changing face of retailing today and the dominance of online retailers like Amazon and others.”
Employees at the Groton store said they’re not sure when the location is closing but are taking it day by day.
Because of the closing, store hours have changed to 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays. The merchandise now is 40 percent off.
But many customers are too sad about the store’s closing to be rejoicing at savings. They’re sad at the loss of a regional family-owned treasure, and they’re sad at the loss of a place where they’ve been shopping for decades. They’re also sad at the loss of place that yielded unique finds at good prices.
And they’re sad to part with that distinctive Benny’s smell.
Groton resident Julie Kenny said that if someone set up a smell test and asked people to identify the store by its smell, people would say: Benny’s smells like rubber.
“Benny’s has been around since I was a kid, and we’d always go to Benny’s to get our sleds, and toys,” she said.
Angel Segarra said the closure is not going to leave many options other than Walmart. He said Benny’s was a go-to place for any kind of thing.
He came in with his girlfriend, Myranda Ray, to buy wood stain, but they would be leaving with a G.I. helicopter set for Segarra’s nephew and a sprinkler to replace one that broke.
“I was knee-high to a grasshopper when I first went into a Benny’s,” said Moodus resident William Lee, 64.
He was buying some things to close out his pool, and doing some Christmas shopping. He likes the variety of items for sale, and when asked where he’ll shop instead, he replied, “Who knows?”
Lee looked across the store and fixated his eyes.
“I’m looking over there and I’m saying, we could use a couple new birdfeeders,” he said. To him, helping Benny’s “clean house” was the least he could do.