Joe Dinova stood in front of his deli on a recent afternoon with his shelves getting barer by the minute. Customer after customer came up to the longtime store owner to wish him well.
The Middlebury staple business, Four Corners Grocery Store, announced last weekend that the store will be closing after 83 years, and word quickly spread around town.
Dinova, 70, who is the third-generation owner and who employed 32 people at the 600 Middlebury Road store, decided it was time to retire.
Dinova’s grandfather opened the business in 1941 and his father, Gus, followed suit by being in charge for several decades.
Dinova recently accepted an offer to lease the land to Dollar General and will be fully moved out by May 1 – although it’s likely the store will be closed before with a 35 percent sale — with some exceptions — this upcoming week.
“The pandemic hit, and it changed everything,” Dinova said. “We didn’t get the same customer count anymore. It’s not that they didn’t want to come to see you – their lives just changed.”
“All of a sudden they had more varieties and more options,” he said. “I would have never thought of calling my favorite restaurant and asking them to put some meals together and I can come pick them up.
“That became another factor, and you have to remember that there’s only 21 dinners a week. The question is how many do you get? You have McDonald’s, you have pizza places, and you have grinder places,” he said. “Then you have to factor in Uber Eats and Grub Hub.”
Dinova said the customers stayed loyal during the pandemic with curbside orders, but the price of doing business has also gone up. Dinova said its expensive to run a small business, especially a one-store operation. Four Corners has been in its current location since 1982.
“Minimum wage going up in Connecticut didn’t help at all,” Dinova said. “It went up to $15 and now it’s at $15.69. Electric bills aren’t any cheaper and insurance prices have gone through the roof and taxes aren’t any better. You are squeezing your margin every day.
“When your sales slow down and you’re not bringing enough money in…,” he said. “Don’t forget the credit card companies. They are everyone’s partner now and they get 2.2 percent of everyone’s gig. Everyone becomes your partner, the banks, insurance companies, credit card companies and the government. It never stops.”
A change across Connecticut
In stepped in Dollar General with an offer to Dinova that he decided to accept.
“They made me an offer,” Dinova said. “My equipment is old. I was looking at a remodel myself. This stuff isn’t cheap anymore. Just the compressor system to run the store is a quarter of a million dollars. It’s 70 years old and it was going to be big bucks.”
Dinova said Dollar General Markets will move in. Dollar General Markets are typically double the size of standard Dollar General locations. Another big difference is that they sell produce, dairy products, perishable foods and meats, according to the company.
Dinova was told by Dollar General that five DGM locations are at various stages of moving into the state. In addition to Middlebury, locations are expected in Essex, Thomaston, Litchfield and Manchester. The Essex location at 125 Westbrook Road opened earlier this year.
Dinova informed his workers, including nine full-timers, of the news last weekend.
“I’ve had people with me as many as 30 years,” Dinova said. “My people are the best and I’m going to miss them the most. They were sad. They all said they would stay with me until the end. We’ve developed a good bond.”
Naugatuck resident Dawn Sirois has worked at the store for 22 years and recently found out about the store closing. She’s mainly worked in the deli/kitchen.
“Joe treated me like family from Day 1,” Sirois said. “They also helped me whenever I needed a day off. It was a special place. I’m going to miss working there.”
Dinova is part of the fabric of the community; the lifelong Middlebury resident seems to know everyone in town. Why wouldn’t he? He started his work at the store as a 9-year-old.
Many of his workers are the children of people he’s seen his entire life. He said the outpouring of phone calls and well wishes have made him feel good.
“It’s been very touching,” Dinova said. “I grew up in the grocery business. This was my grandfather and father’s store. I’ve seen so many generations coming through. Then they had kids, and I would hire their kids. I’m 70 years old and I started basically when I was 9. So, you just know everybody.”
“They all come in and say how happy they are for me because they know how hard we work,” he said. “This is a seven-day-a-week job. You are here every holiday. I’ve never experienced a family holiday. By the time you get done you are exhausted and want to sleep. You wake up in the morning and do some festivities and the next morning you come back and open up.”
Although he will still oversee the property, Dinova said his wife, Lucy, is happy the couple will be able to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas together for the first time. They also plan to travel.
The couple has two daughters, Stephanie and Emily. Stephanie previously worked in the store and ran the kitchen. Her husband, Tim, ran the meat department.
“It’s an end of an era for my family,” Dinova said. “We put a lot of time into this. It’s bittersweet. You know all the customers. If you do something for so long – you don’t know if you can do anything else.”
Longtime customer Barbara Henson of Middlebury said she was sad to hear the store was closing.
“This store has been here since I was kid. It’s always sad when you lose something in your hometown. It will be missed,” Henson said. “Joe’s family, and the people that worked here made it special. It was a great local store where everybody saw everybody. It was nice. It was a great place, and we are all sad to see it go.”
Fellow Middlebury resident Jennifer Tramontano said Four Corners was always the place to go.
“It was family-owned and operated, and everyone was friendly. There is always fresh meat at the deli. We are all going to miss it,” Tramontano said.