Big Y Foods’ proposed 45,000-square-foot World Class Market and pharmacy in the Berkshire County town of Lee, Mass., will represent a new prototype for the New England grocery chain. In addition to such familiar World Class Market features as specialty items and extra conveniences in each department to save shoppers time, energy and money, the Big Y Pharmacy and Wellness Center at the new location will offer a wide variety of screenings, including blood pressure and bone density testing, body composition analysis, and glucometer demonstrations, as well as prescriptions transferred and filled by specially trained registered pharmacists.

Among the format’s other highlights are prepared meals such as freshly made pizzas, rotisserie chicken dinners, and fresh cooked-to-order fish and chips; a broad selection of specialty foods, including organic and gluten-free foods; a full-service butcher shop; seafood direct from New England piers, and a huge department offering over 500 items, including organics and locally grown fruits and vegetables.

The location of the proposed store, which will employ between 125 and 150 people, is the former site of Diesel Dan’s, which was purchased by F.L. Roberts & Co., Inc./SS Cousins, Inc. in the late 1990s and has been a fueling facility ever since. Big Y has had a presence in the area for over 25 years, when it bought the former Adams Super Markets in 1984.

According to Big Y president and COO Charles L. D’Amour, the new store would provide “world-class service, quality and selection to shoppers” in the region, which encompasses the towns of Lee, Lenox and Stockbridge.

“The Lee site was purchased with the intention to rebuild it,” explained Steven Roberts, president of Springfield, Mass.-based F.L. Roberts & Co. “Although we received permits to rebuild the Lee site, some of the uses were not in Roberts’ core business model. We therefore decided to sell to Big Y with the intent to use the sale proceeds to expand and rebuild [our] company’s retail core business operations, its fueling facilities, convenience stores, Jiffy lubes and car washes.”

Slated to open in summer 2011, the $15 million market will be Big Y’s 57th store. The Springfield-based grocer operates stores in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and employs over 9,100 associates.