Familiar name behind new Bethel food store
On the heels of Caraluzzi’s opening a new wine store in Wilton, surprise competition has surfaced at another location it recently vacated in Bethel — a grocery store to compete with the nearby Caraluzzi’s Bethel Food Market.
In the works for a year, workers are completing finishing work and stocking shelves at La Placita Bethel Market at 289 Greenwood Ave., less than a mile south of Danbury. The new store has yet to publicize a target opening date.
The store’s produce-basket logo is identical to that of La Placita Fresh Market in New Rochelle, N.Y., which carries both mainstream groceries and the foods of Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Guatemala, Argentina and Ecuador among others, including Latin American herbs and cheeses, and fresh bread and prepared fare.
According to a commercial brokerage listing, more than 4,000 houses and apartments in Bethel and Danbury are situated within a mile of the plaza.
In a filing with the Connecticut secretary of the state’s office, La Placita Bethel Market lists Wilson Narvaez as its principal and its mailing address at a CTown Supermarket in Peekskill, N.Y., which Narvaez runs. Narvaez could not be reached for details on the new Bethel store.
On his LinkedIn page, Narvaez cites the goal of expanding the family business into a national brand. CTown has independently operated locations in Danbury, Norwalk and Stratford on the Bridgeport line, as well as in Hartford and New Britain.
Translated as “the plate” from Spanish, the La Placita name has been used by a number of small neighborhood grocery and convenience stores including in Bridgeport, New Haven, Norwalk and Stamford. On Tuesday afternoon, the secretary of the state posted incorporation papers for another La Placita grocery store in Norwalk, with an email to organizers not generating an immediate response Wednesday.
Located just off Grassy Plain Street and owned since 2014 by Greenwich-based Urstadt Biddle Properties, the Bethel Hub Center plaza includes a RiteAid pharmacy and a handful of smaller tenants. After shuttering at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bethel Cinema next door is nearing a grand reopening under new ownership.
Caraluzzi’s Wine & Spirits long occupied La Placita’s 14,000-square-foot space before moving into a newly constructed building adjacent to Caraluzzi’s Bethel Market at the opposite end of Greenwood Avenue. The company dates back to 1949 in Bethel.
Prior to Caraluzzi’s Wine & Spirits, the former Finast Supermarkets chain had a location at the Bethel Hub Center.
“The clientele here is pretty loyal to the Caraluzzi family and they run a pretty good operation,” said Matt Knickerbocker, first selectman. “It’s a good addition for downtown Bethel — [La Placita] has a particular focus in terms of the clientele they are marketing to.”
Caraluzzi’s is accustomed to head-to-head competition — or in Newtown, eye-to-eye, with its store ithere across the street from a Big Y World Class Market. Another Caraluzzi’s supermarket is under construction in Danbury, just off Interstate 84 on Mill Plain Road, which will vie with Stop & Shop, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods stores nearby.
In December, Caraluzzi’s opened its latest liquor store in a former Chase bank branch adjacent to its Georgetown store on Route 7 at the crossroads of Redding, Wilton, Weston and Ridgefield. Downtown Weston is nearing the reincaration of the former Peter’s Market as Lily’s Weston Market, as reported in August by Weston Today.