Behind 21 Glenville Street, signs now point drivers around the building to a larger rear lot and the main entrance of DeCicco & Sons. A new tower rises above the roofline of what used to be the Stop & Shop. The market opened on Wednesday, September 9. It is the family-owned grocer's first store in Connecticut and its first outside New York.
The cafés, the ice cream shop, the restaurant by the waterfall and the rebuilt road all came first. The center filled in around a large empty space for more than three years. The anchor tenant was the final piece, not the first.
The order things actually happened in
Stop & Shop's last day in Glenville was June 15, 2023. The company told CT Insider that the store "was not meeting financial expectations." About 60 employees were offered transfers to other stores. When the doors closed, neighboring merchants told Greenwich Time they expected fewer customers until a replacement arrived.
A replacement took a long time. Here is what happened in Glenville between the closing and this fall:
| When | What changed | Where |
|---|---|---|
| June 15, 2023 | Stop & Shop closes | 21 Glenville Street |
| October 2024 | Planning & Zoning approves DeCicco & Sons | 21 Glenville Street |
| March 31, 2025 | Corridor construction begins | Glen Ridge Road to Weaver Street |
| April 2025 | Green & Tonic and Longford's Ice Cream open | 21 Glen Ridge Road |
| June 2026 | Overnight paving scheduled for June 21 to 25 | Glenville Road |
| July 15, 2026 | Greenwich Grill opens | 328 Pemberwick Road |
| September 9, 2026 | DeCicco & Sons opens | 21 Glenville Street |
| October 6, 2026 | Abilis Gardens & Gifts reopens | 50 Glenville Street |
From the Stop & Shop closing to the DeCicco opening is three years and almost three months. Nearly every other change in the table happened during that stretch.
What filled in while the big space sat empty
The former post office building in the shopping center was renovated, and food businesses moved in. Greenwich Free Press described the whole center as transformed. Each tenant there has its own local roots.
Luca's Pizzeria and Italian Kitchen is a family-run pizza and Italian restaurant founded by Joe Criscuolo. His father started Pizza Post in Cos Cob.
Bluebird Taqueria serves Mexican food and comes from Greenwich chef Mike Pietrafeso.
Green & Tonic opened at 21 Glen Ridge Road in the first week of April 2025. It serves breakfast and lunch, smoothies, salads and prepared meals.
Longford's Ice Cream opened its scoop shop at the same address on April 5, 2025. The Round Hill Association reported that it took over the space from Sweet Notes, a short-lived candy and ice cream shop.
Green & Tonic and Longford's opened while the largest storefront in the center was still dark. They were betting on a Glenville that did not exist yet, one where people come for groceries and stay for lunch. DeCicco & Sons gives them the steady weekday traffic that the old supermarket used to bring.
The new market overlaps with its neighbors more than a typical grocery store would. Its plans include hot food and salad bars, a chopped salad station, a fresh juice bar, locally brewed coffee, fresh sushi, house-made baked goods and the company's Signature Series prepared foods. It also offers catering and event services. Seafood is delivered daily, and the craft beer selection is international. The store is open 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Sunday. Those hours make early coffee and a late prepared dinner possible from the same lot.
The road was rebuilt on the same timeline
The second big change sits right outside the parking lots. The Glenville Corridor Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Project covers about 1,500 feet from the Glen Ridge Road and Glenville Street intersection to Weaver Street. It retimes traffic signals, adds sidewalks and reworks intersections. After years of delays and a funding shortfall, the Connecticut Department of Transportation awarded $6.5 million in state funds to cover the full cost. When the project was planned in 2019, the town estimated that about 15,000 vehicles used the corridor each day. Traffic includes trips to Glenville School, to King Street, to Westchester Airport, to Route 684 and to Greenwich Hospital.
The road work and the store opening were tied together from the start. At the Selectmen's May 28 meeting, Selectwoman Rachel Khanna said the paving timing was ideal because DeCicco & Sons would open soon. Greenwich Free Press reported her hopes for the finished corridor:
"I'm hopeful once the paving is done, the re-striping is done and the lights are synchronized that some of the bottlenecks we're seeing are going to be alleviated. It's been a long time coming."
The most visible change is in front of Glenville Pizza at 243 Glenville Road. For decades, cars parked on a slope along the curve there. That shoulder is now an extended curb with grass and a sidewalk, with room for picnic tables. Parallel parking is just west of the restaurant. More new sidewalk runs along Glenville Road at the spot where a crosswalk was planned. In July, a new signal at Glenville Road and Pemberwick Road ran a one-week flashing test before switching to regular operation.
A November loop, from the rear lot outward
Put together, the changes make Glenville a place for more than one errand. Here is a route through it as the season turns:
- Park behind DeCicco & Sons. The expanded lot and main entrance are at the rear of 21 Glenville Street. The deli counter, cheese case, bakery and hot bar make it practical to pick up dinner and Thanksgiving-week basics in one stop. The company also plans a school rebate program for Greenwich shoppers.
- Cross to the old post office building. Green & Tonic is there for a morning smoothie or salad. Luca's and Bluebird Taqueria cover lunch or an early dinner. Longford's Ice Cream is the last stop for anyone not done with dessert just because the weather turned.
- Stop at Abilis Gardens & Gifts at 50 Glenville Street. The shop reopened October 6 in a renovated building. It replaces a greenhouse that was not insulated well enough for year-round use. The shop stocks handmade soaps, candles, bath and body products, jewelry and grab-and-go flower arrangements. It is also a retail training site for adults with disabilities in the Abilis Employment program. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, during the same hours, Abilis runs a pop-up in the lobby of Greenwich Town Hall at 101 Field Point Road. Holiday gift shopping can start here on any weekday.
- Pick up a pie at Glenville Pizza. It has been popular for decades, and the new sidewalk and picnic-table space have replaced the old sloped curbside parking.
- End at Greenwich Grill, 328 Pemberwick Road. It opened July 15 in the former Centro space. It serves American food and cocktails, and its patio overlooks the Glenville mill waterfall. The restaurant's own site lists dinner hours starting at 5 p.m. every night, with service until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
In 2023, this list would have been short. Glenville Pizza and a dark supermarket were the main draws. Most of the other stops opened or reopened while the big space sat empty or after DeCicco arrived. The new road connects them all.
If you live near Glenville and are thinking about how this year's changes shape your own plans, whether you are staying put, updating a house or eventually making a move, I'm glad to talk it through over coffee somewhere on Glenville Street. Rachel Walsh works with homeowners across Greenwich and lower Fairfield County. Book an appointment whenever it suits you.