Armata’s Market, destroyed by 2024 fire, will not be returning to Longmeadow

On Nov. 23, 2021, a fire originating in the wide-open attic space above the Shaker Road strip plaza destroyed neighboring businesses: Armata’s, the Bottle Shop package store, Iron Chef Chinese Restaurant, a hair salon and a nail salon.

With an estimated $5 million in damage, the fire was the largest in Longmeadow history. The four-alarm fire also left more than 70 employees out of work on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
Since the fire, Armata’s found ways to fill the gaps in business left empty by the devastation of its store. In the days after the fire, the staff rallied to follow through on the market’s Thanksgiving food orders, delivering more than 100 cooked meals cooked offsite.
“No one expected us to do this today. And that’s why we’re doing it,” owner and manager Alexis Vallides said the day before Thanksgiving. “We want to come through for everybody and show them what Armata’s is all about.”The business retained about 15 employees after the fire and continued serving meals-to-go and catering from a rented kitchen at the former Longmeadow senior center.
It has also posted video cooking demonstrations and recipes on Facebook to keep in contact with customers, and in September took ownership of Hampden’s Village Food Mart.
“This is so sad, but not totally unexpected. As a former employee it was truly one of the best PT jobs I held,” one person commented on Armata’s Facebook post. “Loved the store as both employee and customer! Will be missed by so many.”

The owners of the Maple Center Shopping Plaza, home to Armata’s Market, submitted designs to rebuild the property to the Longmeadow Planning Board by Capital Studio Architects, of East Hartford in November 2022.The plaza’s landlord, Westfield-based Pun Longmeadow Realty, was proposing to rebuild and renovate the building with a new design and upgrade to the adjacent parking lot. Documents submitted to the Longmeadow Planning Board showed a fresh look for the key shopping center.

Sad to hear this news but I wish nothing but the best to these remarkable people I’ve been lucky to know personally,” another former employee commented. “I can honestly say it was the best growing experience for me; the people are amazing and I couldn’t have asked for a better boss. Sending love and light to these remarkable people and wishing the best always to them

The Long Meadow Volunteer Fire Company, known as Station 27, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. The department serves a first-due geographic area of 14.2 square miles with a population of 9,116. This suburban area is comprised of 4,000 households and 350 businesses. Station 27, which has been in operations since 1971, currently has 45 volunteer responders, 15 administrative members, and 8 part-time driver/firefighters.

The firehouse is located at 19307 Longmeadow Road, Hagerstown, Maryland in the heart of the Paramount community. We are directly across the street from Paramount Feed & Supply and beside the CSX railroad tracks. We are within walking distance to a school, churches, and numerous businesses.

Our members are local citizens from all walks of life who are committed to serving their community. The original desire of the founders was to have better fire protection by having a faster response to alarms in the Long Meadow and Paramount area. Today’s first responders continue to execute this goal by participating in the live-in program at the station.

The department regularly schedules team-building exercises, drills, and training to keep their skills honed. Additionally, the firefighters join mutual aid training drills and continue to seek out and increase their certifications. The station is served by a volunteer board of directors responsible for the administrative and business aspects of the organization. Additionally, the station is provided support by the volunteer auxiliary

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