Big Y in the News
Headquartered in Springfield, MA, Big Y is one of the largest independently owned supermarket chains in New England. Proud to be family owned and operated, we operate almost 80 stores throughout Connecticut and Massachusetts with over 11,000 employees. Big Y has been named a 2015 Employer of Choice by the Employers Association of the Northeast. Founded in 1936 by brothers Paul and Gerald D'Amour, the store was named after an intersection in Chicopee, Massachusetts where two roads converge to form a "Y".
Big Y in the News contains excerpts from press releases that have been sent to local media.
Big Y Appoints VP
SPRINGFIELD, MA (September 9, 2020)
The Board of Directors of Big Y Foods, Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael R. Cormier as Vice President of Center Store. In his new role as Vice President of center store for Big Y, he is responsible for all center store sales, marketing and merchandising including grocery, health and beauty care, pharmacy, general merchandise, frozen, dairy, retail pricing and space management departments for the 70-store chain. He reports to Guy W. McFarlane, senior vice president of sales and marketing.
Michael R. Cormier has worked in the grocery business throughout New England and New York for over 23 years after working in both his family’s restaurant and construction businesses and also serving in the military. In 1996, he started full time on the grocery night crew at Price Chopper Supermarkets in CT. One year later, he was promoted to grocery manager and then continued on to additional roles such as assistant store manager and ultimately store manager. In 2001, he became store manager for Adams Hometown Markets in their West Hartford store before becoming grocery category sales manager and then director of retail sales for their 35 markets. Cormier then moved from retailer to wholesaler positions through his appointment as grocery category sales manager for Bozzuto’s Inc wholesale distributor from CT serving retailers in New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. By 2008, Cormier moved back to Price Chopper as a grocery department category sales manager for the chain and continued on to other capacities such as director of center store, vice president of own brands and in 2013, vice president of center store. In 2016, he was appointed senior director of customer development for C & S Wholesale Grocers of Keene, NH, the largest wholesale grocery supply company in the U.S. until his appointment at Big Y in 2019 as Senior Director of Center Store.
Cormier served in the United States Navy both here and abroad as a Hospital Corpsman and was honorably discharged in 1990. He is a member of the American Legion. In 1998, he served as a selectman for the town of Sandisfield, MA. He has completed Cornell University’s Food Executive Program, has attended the University of North Carolina and is the recipient of several supermarket merchandising awards.
He and his wife, Kiren, reside in Halfmoon, NY