New Owner for East Hampton, Montauk I.G.A.s

If you stopped in at the I.G.A. food markets in Montauk or on North Main Street in East Hampton this week, you may not have noticed anything unusual, but behind the scenes a big change was underway: As of Wednesday, Michael A. Bozzuto, the president and C.E.O. of the Connecticut-based Bozzuto’s Inc., a family-owned wholesale distributor of food and household products, is their owner. According to Forbes magazine, the company also operates the Adam’s Super Food Stores in Connecticut and Massachusetts. 

 Robert Stark became the owner of the Montauk I.G.A. in 1996 and the East Hampton one in 1998. “Basically, I’m retiring,” Mr. Stark said this week. “The owner of Bozzuto’s has been a friend of mine for 38 years; it’s a very amicable sale.” 

 Mr. Stark said he had the opportunity to sell the stores to others but made a deal with Bozzuto’s because it said it would keep the stores as they are‚ including maintaining the staff and I.G.A. affiliation. “I wanted to make sure that my people kept their jobs and I’ve been very proud to be an I.G.A. owner, and I want it to stay that way” Mr. Stark said.

Representatives of the new owner  had not responded to a request for an interview by press time, but Mr. Stark had the following message for his customers: “I hope that the consumers who’ve been happy shopping here know that nothing is going to change.”