SHARON — The opening date for the Sharon Farm Market hasn’t been firmly set yet, but owner Chris Choe (pronounced Choy) seems confident that his renovation of what used to be Trotta’s market will be complete by mid-June.
Choe and a team of friends and helpers has been at the store almost daily for the past few weeks, pulling down the old metal shelves, replacing worn vinyl tiles and replacing the old refrigerator units with new ones. A handicapped-accessible bathroom has been added in the back.
The old shelves are neatly stacked around the cavernous space. Soon they’ll be picked up by a scrap metal recycler, who will pay for the metal and take it all away, making room for clean new shelves.
Joseph “Skip� Trotta, who owned and operated Trotta’s market for some 25 years, has been a great friend to Choe, working with him late into the night to figure out the most efficient ways to renovate and upgrade the store.
Also offering constant help and guidance are the Carroll brothers of Amenia, Bill and Philip, who are responsible for enticing the Choe family to move up here from Long Island, N.Y., and take over what had been for nearly a year an empty retail space. Chris Choe had been traveling up to Dutchess County for nearly two decades to hunt deer and turkey and to fish. On one of his trips, he met and befriended Philip Carroll, and their friendship turned into a semi-business relationship; Carroll had a wholesale business, delivering cut firewood to stores in New York. Choe and his family owned a grocery store and sushi restaurant on Long Island.
It was Carroll who told Choe that the Trotta’s space was available, and convinced him to move up with his wife, Annie (who will help out at the store, and be in charge of what promises to be a large cut-flower department).
The Choe’s are going to sell their Long Island businesses and will move here full time (Chris Choe is already renting a house in Sharon and staying up here while he oversees the work at the store).
“It was a good time to move,� Choe said. “My son just graduated from the University of Maryland last year. My daughter will graduate May 16 from Carnegie Mellon.
“She finished in three years,� he added proudly. “She’s going to study law.�
In addition to refurbishing the physical plant of the store, Choe has been busy finding partners for the store (the meat, seafood and bakery departments will be run by independent suppliers, who will essentially rent space in the store) and fielding applications for jobs. So far he has 30 to 40 people seeking the 10 jobs he has available. No one can be hired, he said, until the store gets the OK from the health department.
Sushi chef Michael Suh is already on board, and in fact has been helping with the renovations.
The new store will have a heavy emphasis on fresh produce. Choe said he is seeking local sources for fruits and vegetables (farmers and other suppliers are invited to call the store at 860-364-5629) but he also will go on buying expeditions to New York City several days each week to shop for fruit.
“That way, there’s no middle man, everything is fresh. We sell it right away.�
There will be an extensive salad bar, he said, and packages of prepared fruit such as sliced mango that can be easily purchased and eaten right away (tables and chairs will be placed in the front near the store windows — which will be protected from wayward cars by several big posts in front of the building).
Fans of Asian cuisine will be happy to know that, in addition to the sushi bar, there will be many Asian foods for sale.
And the many artists in the area will be interested to know that the former pharmacy section of the grocery is probably going to become a mini art gallery.
