The Armata’s Family

Written by Michael Trecker
Photos by Sendra Productions

Sponsored by East Village Place

Published in Longmeadow Neighbors (April 2022)

If you live in or around Longmeadow, chances are you have heard of Armata’s. It is an extremely popular locally owned grocery store in town. As a staple of Longmeadow, many consider Armata’s synonymous with the town itself. What makes the store so significant to so many residents is that Alexis Vallides, the owner, and her employees try to foster a familial environment, not only with each other as coworkers, but also with the customers. The fire that burned down the store last November definitely put that family to the test. Nevertheless, they came together to deliver on their Thanksgiving orders right away, and are continuing business off-site today. Not every family has to be related by blood, and the Armata’s family only epitomizes that idea.

Jim Vallides purchased the store nearly two decades ago in 2004, and his daughter, Alexis, stepped into the leadership role there two years after graduating from college. She attended Babson College out in Wellesley, Massachusetts for a business degree specifically so she could take over the family business. She ran the store for a few years after graduating before becoming president of Armata’s in 2014. Her biggest challenge in eight years of running the store, however, came just before Thanksgiving when Armata’s unexpectedly burned down. “That morning of the fire, a good portion of the staff was gathered right across the street. I was very out of it, kind of in a fog,” Alexis said. “At some point, some of the staff kind of came together and went to my brother and I and said ‘What are we going to do for the turkey dinners and the orders for Thanksgiving?’ Alexis recalls, “I kind of looked at them, still sort of hopeless about the situation [when] all of a sudden my brother said something and I said something, and we just formulated this plan and we were able to fulfill about 150 orders of fresh turkeys and cooked dinners. That was the first thing that we did after the fire.” For once, a lack of required storage space came in handy, as a lot of the pre-cooked turkeys and sides were already off-site when the fire hit, for the simple reason that there was not enough space for them in the main building, but some turkeys and sides were still lost to the flames.

“We had to scramble to get the other sides. The mashed potatoes and stuffing sides were at Armata’s during the fire. We ran to a restaurant depot, grabbed the equipment and ingredients we needed and rented out a commercial kitchen for the day. We also worked on getting some fresh turkeys from our supplier. Some of us went to New York at like 2 o’clock in the morning on Wednesday to get these turkeys, but we got them and we were able to fulfill most of the orders that we had.” While the situation still was not by any means good, in the aftermath Alexis and her Armata’s family were still able to make it work for the immediate problem at hand. The next problem they faced was where to go from there. One thing that Alexis has made abundantly clear is that she is absolutely committed to rebuilding in Longmeadow.

Alexis feels extremely close to the community after managing the store for almost a decade, and loves Longmeadow as well as the people who live here. Armata’s had a lot of regular customers, so she was definitely brought closer to the community through working there. “I worked six days a week, always on-site at Armata’s, so I got to know a lot of people in town. From the fire department to police department to the long-standing residents that come in a lot, there are so many people that are great. They are kind, friendly, helpful and welcoming,” she said. “Armata’s is the type of store that you would go to maybe two, three, four times a week shopping, so it’s one of those things that lets you really get to know people. You say hello to them, you think you don’t really know them but after seeing them for a few months, they all cross your mind. I will see someone who looks like a good customer of mine and I will think ‘oh I wonder how they are doing.’ I keep my eye out on Facebook, and when I see a familiar customer, I friend them on Facebook just to say ‘hey how are you doing?’ because that small talk that I had day in and day out with people, I certainly miss it.”

Aside from the customers, she has come to care about, Alexis is also very passionate about the quality of her staff. “There is a husband and wife duo, a father-daughter duo. It is definitely a kind of family dynamic. I do have some long-standing employees that have been working there for five-plus years, which is a lot because I am still newer myself, especially as an owner. They are the heart and soul of the company,” Alexis said. “They have just as much, maybe even more of a rapport with the customers than I do. We have so many customers that come in multiple days a week, and a lot of them really come to know the employees by name. We didn’t have big turnover Armata’s currently has a temporary kitchen set up for catering orders, and they have also been making bakery items and selling them in other locations. As far as returning to the store goes, Alexis said, “We definitely first and foremost are committed to rebuilding in Longmeadow. That is priority number one for myself. It is going to be a long road, and there aren’t any concrete plans, but the landlord has made a commitment and we have told them very clearly that we plan to be there. Right now, the site is still being cleaned up, but there should be some determinations in the next few weeks as to which direction they are going to go in building-wise. From there we can get a little bit more of a concrete plan formulated.” Alexis and her family are always pitching different ideas about what they can do in the interim between now and when Armata’s gets rebuilt, but one thing is certain, and it is that they will be coming back.