WOODBURY, CT — Fresh produce from Connecticut was featured prominently at the LaBonne’s Market store here in mid-July, and the retailer said that it will stay featured throughout the summer, much to the delight of the store’s shoppers who look forward to enjoying produce from their home state.

The LaBonne’s Market store in Woodbury, CT. (Photo by Gordon M. Hochberg)When shoppers come into this store, they walk directly into the produce department, which is actually a separate room, before continuing to the rest of the supermarket. Fresh flowers were to their left, and when The Produce News visited here on a sunny July 10, local blueberries were to their right. A beautiful display of local items — tomatoes, sweet corn, peas, yellow squash, green squash and green beans — was set up in front, drawing customers into the rest of the produce department.

The blueberries had started to arrive the first week in July, according to Mark Zotti, produce director at the Woodbury store. “They’re sweet and juicy,” he said. Being locally grown, they have ample time to stay on the vines before being harvested, so they have “more sugar and are tastier.”

Some rains in June hampered the local strawberry season, so “quality was just fair,” he said. But drier weather has prevailed since, so Mr. Zotti was seeing “very good quality” on all other local items and was anticipating excellent quality to continue on all the produce that the state has to offer, including two of the Nutmeg State’s signature items — sweet corn and tomatoes.

That’s good news for shoppers at the store here in Woodbury, an upscale area in the western part of the state, marked by antique stores, old-fashioned general stores, historic churches and green lawns that combine to give a “New England” feel to the community.

“Shoppers do request locally grown” fresh produce, said Mr. Zotti, who spent many years in retail and nine years at wholesale grocer Bozzuto’s Inc. before joining LaBonne’s Markets about two-and-a-half years ago. “Shoppers like to support their neighbors. I do all I can to reach out to local farmers in season” for items such as pumpkins, sweet corn and some varieties of apples.

Bozzuto’s Inc., headquartered in Cheshire, CT, supplies the LaBonne’s Markets chain with the vast majority of its fresh produce. Dan McAllister, a sales manager at Bozzuto’s, visits the four locations that comprise the LaBonne’s Markets chain on a regular basis and works with the chain on merchandising ideas.

Mr. McAllister noted that the unusually warm winter and early spring in Connecticut were making for excellent quality on the state’s produce, with the season running ahead of normal.

LaBonne’s Markets is a family operation, with roots going way back. Photos of some past family members adorn the walls of the store, along with some family history. One sign for example reads: “The LaBonne family has been in the food business for five consecutive generations.”

Robert LaBonne Jr., president and chief executive officer, represents the third generation. Sitting at his desk in an office at the store here, he told The Produce News that his grandfather opened the family’s first retail store in Watertown, CT, back in 1962. The Woodbury store opened in 1987, the Salisbury, CT, store opened in 1989, and the fourth store, in Southbury, CT, just opened June 18, 2012.

Asked if it was too soon to talk about any plans for the future, Mr. LaBonne replied, “We have aggressive plans for the future. We plan to open four more [stores] in the next six years.”

Asked if he was limiting expansion to his home state, he quipped, “We kind of have a rule of thumb” to limit future locations to “an hour-and-a-half from my house,” which is in Morris, CT, a community of about 2,300 people. Morris is located in northwestern Connecticut, so the possibility exists that future expansion could extend just over the border to either eastern New York or southern Massachusetts and still abide by Mr. LaBonne’s rule of thumb. Only time will tell.

One thing for sure, declared Mr. LaBonne: His retail chain will never get so big that it loses the close relationship it has always enjoyed with its customers and employees. As he put it, “We don’t want to lose that personal touch, both on the associate side and the customer side. I want to be able to know their names.”

The chain certainly takes advantage of expansion when the right opportunity arises, of course. A couple of years ago, LaBonne’s purchased what had been a small dry cleaning establishment directly adjacent to the Woodbury store. That area, which now serves as the store’s produce department, opened in April 2010, “and the store has just taken off,” said Mr. LaBonne.

After the addition opened, produce sales jumped 30 percent the first year and jumped another 15 percent the following year, Mr. LaBonne said with pride.

The Woodbury store is now 11,000 square feet, including about 1,200 square feet for the produce department. Produce sales represent about 16 percent of total store sales, according to Mr. LaBonne.

In the very near future, the company plans to remodel the produce and deli departments at its Southbury location this September. “We’re looking to double the size of the produce department,” said Mr. LaBonne.

In a nod to the chain’s ongoing support of the locally grown trend, LaBonne’s Markets is inviting about 10 farmers to take part in two “farmers market events” in the parking lot of the retailer’s Watertown location. The first will be held Sunday, Aug. 5, and the second will be held Sunday, Sept. 9.

LaBonne’s will not be charging any fees or taking any commission from the farmers’ sales during those events. “This is just a way to promote the local [produce],” said Mr. LaBonne. “Just a way to raise awareness of buying local.”

The retail executive gave the credit for successful growth, especially in produce, to his team — singling out Mr. Zotti as well as his longtime wholesale supplier, Bozzuto’s.

“I am blessed with a great crew — Mark and the entire team,” said Mr. LaBonne. “He has re-energized the whole team. We’re really looking to grow.”

As to wholesale grocer Bozzuto’s Inc., Mr. LaBonne stated: “Everyone there is very helpful, especially Dan. They work their tails off.” LaBonne’s gets deliveries from Bozzuto’s six days per week, which helps keeps the retailer’s produce as fresh as possible.

Referring to Greg Veneziano, vice president of perishables at Bozzuto’s, Mr. LaBonne said, “As far as going out and finding products for us, he’s offered all the resources he can to get those products. There’s nobody who works harder for his customers than Greg.”