End Of An Era As Beloved Enfield Supermarket Changes Hands

ENFIELD, CT — A decade in the grocery business in Enfield ended Saturday night for one generous family, but they intend to continue operating their other businesses and exploring additional philanthropic ventures to help support the local community.

Saturday marked the final day of the Miller family's ownership of ShopRite of Enfield in Brookside Plaza. The business has been sold to Harry Garafolo, owner of six other ShopRite locations along the Connecticut shoreline.

Raymond Miller, founder of a 60-plus acre Christmas tree farm in upstate New York called Miller Farms, worked for Wakefern Food Corp., the governing co-op for ShopRite Supermarkets, for 35 years. In 2009, he was invited into co-op membership and formed Miller Farms Family Markets, The ShopRite of Enfield with his daughter MaryBeth Duffy and son Charles. The Enfield store opened in 2010 in the space formerly occupied by Shaw's.

Neither of Miller's children had experience within the supermarket industry, aside from stints in their teenage years working in and around ShopRites. Duffy had owned and operated Presto Travel LLC, a full service travel agency, while Charles Miller owned and operated Happy Miller Homes Inc. and Miller Contractors and Design LLC in Tacoma, Washington. However, both had the entrepreneurial spirit needed to take on such an endeavor.

"We are honored and humbled over the welcome that was given to our family by Enfield and the surrounding communities, and for over 10 years proudly served and participated in the region," Charles Miller told Patch. "It immediately stood out to us that Enfield embodied and held a collaborative spirit, and it was touching to see and participate in the numerous ways the community chose to support one another. This characteristic does not exist everywhere, and gives this region a charm that many other places lack or cannot produce genuinely."

Since opening in Enfield a decade ago, the Millers have been highly active in the community. Charles Miller is president of the North Central Connecticut Chamber of Commerce, and he and his wife have been co-chairs of the Asnuntuck Community College Foundation's annual murder-mystery dinner. The family has also been extremely generous to non-profit organizations seeking help with fundraisers.

Among the programs the family created and participated in throughout the years include an annual pasta dinner to benefit the Enfield Food Shelf, the North Central Act of Kindness Award, yearly food drives around Thanksgiving, and Help Bag Hunger.

Rich Tkacz, owner of Rich's Oil, Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning and a past chamber president, told Patch, "I've known the Millers both personally and professionally. You couldn't ask for a more benevolent family. It's been a pleasure working with them."

"Although the community openly embraced us and we were determined and felt obligated to reciprocate their support, our business did not go without the trials and tribulations that all business is affected by," Miller said. "Whether they be legislative changes, environmental compliance procedures, the ebbs and flows of staffing fulfillment, the technological advancements and nuances to customer shopping behaviors or changes to consumer demand. All of these in some way have altered and evolved over the last decade of our service. To our benefit, we have had one of the best teams, from management straight down to our part-time clerks, to help navigate through these changes. It is them and our loyal customers we will miss the most."

Despite their passion for the grocery business, significant changes in the industry prompted the family to decide to pursue other ventures.

"Although our passion for the industry and our people never waned, the time did present itself for us to exit," Miller said. "The grocery industry, as a whole, is undergoing systemic changes with the unstoppable growth of e-commerce and new value stores popping up almost overnight. Today, everyone sells some form of groceries; it could be your local corner store, your pharmacy, the big box retailers, the dollar stores and value outlets, the club stores and not to forget the host of online retailers who want in on the industry. This last year in particular has not only grown The ShopRite and other like versions of online grocery ordering to new heights, but has forced many consumers to an online platform for the sake of ease and security. This will not revert and will remain a large portion of the future market share. All of these competitive concerns and gradual small bites out of industry that has already seen a dramatic decline in categories such as pet supplies, office supplies and other nonfood commodities creates a burden for independent grocers that can only be thwarted by growth. Unfortunately for the Miller family, that growth potential was not there, and without additional support from our co-op and significant restructuring and investment from the Millers, could not be obtained. I can foresee further consolidation amongst the grocery industry leaders in the near future and over the next decade the landscape will continue to change with additional mergers and less independents on the field. The space for the local merchant needs to exist and there is a great call for supporting and purchasing local, but sadly they exist in this sort of microcosm and within certain industries they are no longer viable or capable of competing."

Miller and his family will remain in the region for the time being, and continue to operate their other businesses and explore additional philanthropic ventures to help support the community.

"The last 10 years have been remarkable for my family and me," he said. "We have seen our family expand and grow closer. We have become part of a community that is dear to us and plan on furthering our involvement in the region, albeit through different outlets."

Duffy is continuing with her family’s business, Duffy Movers, a three-generation trucking and storage company that operates across the eastern seaboard. Raymond Miller has set his eyes on continuing to oversee his Christmas tree farm and spend much valued time with his grandchildren. Robyn Miller, owner and CEO at MorningBird Media, was recently chosen to be a speaker at the upcoming Podfest Global Summit.

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