At a ribbon-cutting on Park Avenue in Derby with the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce and members of the Pan Gregorian restaurant association.
DERBY — A building formerly occupied by a bait and tackle shop on Park Avenue is the new headquarters for Pan Gregorian Enterprises of New England.
Pan Gregorian is a restaurant association. Its membership includes independent restaurant owners who leverage their buying power to get discounted pricing and rebates on food and supplies. The New England chapter includes owners of restaurants, bakeries, delis, diners, pizzerias, and bars throughout Connecticut, with plans to branch out into Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Led by Zois Pizza (Seymour) owner Jim Tzepos as its board president, the nonprofit has grown to 265 members since the New England chapter was established in 1990.
Moving from its former office in New Haven to a larger, 11,000 square-foot space in Derby at 1 Park Ave. will enable the group to expand its outreach, hold vendor events and more. The new digs are across the street from the Dew Drop Inn on North Avenue and behind Apollo Pizza.
The group’s office administrator, Hrysoula Trimpalis, said the Derby location is a great fit.
“The space was already renovated, and our landlord added a small kitchenette,” she said. “Derby is a much better location than where we were. It is also a more central location for our meetings.”
Tzepos said when the New England chapter was formed, it was known as a “Greek-only organization,” because most of the members were the “Greek diner guys of Connecticut.” That has since changed. Tzepos said membership was opened up to all independent restaurant owners, which allowed membership to more than double. Members include everyone from Donut Crazy and Kickstart Café in Shelton to Cheshire Pizza, to the Valley Diner in Derby.
Tzepos said the members are able to negotiate contracts with major food and supply distributors and manufacturers, like Pepsi, and enjoy discounts, rebates and other perks to help their businesses.
“Our organization is set up to help our members compete against the franchises and national chains, through negotiating, promoting and educating our members about our programs,” Tzepos said. “It is a simple concept, but also challenging in that all of our members’ businesses are not made up of the same cookie-cutter mold the franchises are. This is why we encourage independent establishments to join our group.”
Pan Gregorian Enterprises was first established in 1983 as a food cooperative to serve the independently owned restaurant industry in New Jersey.
Derby’s new economic development director Roger Salway is pleased Pan Gregorian chose Derby.
“The organization has expanded rapidly in terms of participating restaurateurs across the state and needed a location that would enable them to meet as a group and for their regular board meetings,” Salway said via an email to the Valley Indy. “Restaurants have been challenged during the pandemic and cost savings on supplies and food is increasingly important today.”
Independent restaurateurs interested in joining Pan Gregorian can contact Trimpalis at 203 – 389-6115. More information can be found online at https://pg-ne.com/
