A lot of value in old memories

It’s not every day that you see coworkers from a high school job get together and reminisce about their time working in a supermarket together.

Yet, that’s exactly what occurred on Jan. 25 at Independence Place in Cranston, where approximately 30 former Valueland employees gathered for a reunion.

Valueland, which was located in Johnston at 1386 Atwood Ave., was a local supermarket chain that advertised themselves as a low-cost supermarket. The food market is now a Burlington Coat Factory.

After two decades in business, the store closed in 1994, due in large part to increased competition from larger supermarkets such as Stop and Shop.

The reunion was organized by Jennifer Cipalone. A former cashier at the store, Cipalone kept contact with a few other members, and went out with some occasionally. The reunion, however, was the first time in a long time that she had seen so many fellow former coworkers in the same place.

“This feels like a wedding in the family,” Cipalone said. “It’s so nice to see everyone reconnecting, and continue the special friendships we’ve had, and that’s why I wanted to get everyone together, especially with the way the world is now.”

The process of getting everyone back together, Cipalone said, was relatively easy. She was able to find most of her fellow former employees on Facebook, and had been in regular contact with others, meeting a few close Valueland friends for dinner multiple times per year. The only real challenge was looking up female coworkers who had since married, but she was still able to track them down using their maiden names.

The bonds created at the store, Cipalone said, were truly special, and still endured even though it had been almost 30 years since many members had seen each other.

Other attendees, such as Fr. Richard Narciso, the pastor of St. Robert Bellarmine Church, attended with friends despite never having worked for Valueland themselves. Fr. Narciso joked he worked for “the enemy,” Stop and Shop, but said that he deeply appreciated that former Valueland employees still had enough love for each other and their old job.

“When I reflect on my time working for the grocery store, beautiful memories, great life skills, family, friends, friendships that were made lasting up until this very day,” Narciso said.

Speaking to the crowd on behalf of Cipalone, Narciso said that the experiences that former Valueland employees took away with them helped make them who they are, and told them to make sure to treasure them.

In total, 22 former employees, as well as a few additional friends, showed up, with one attendee coming from as far as Florida. Another had kept her old name tag from her time working there, and wore it to the event.

All of those little touches, Cipalone said, showed the importance of Valueland in the store’s former employees’ lives, even all these years later. Though life had changed for those who got together again, the nature of the evening resulted in plenty of reminiscing.

Cipalone said that while she was at first worried about low attendance, hosting the event and seeing a room filled with old faces was incredibly rewarding.

“It’s a typical Rhode Island story — everybody knows somebody, and that’s how the word got out,” Cipalone said. “We had a wonderful turnout, and we’re going to do it again.”

After more than 30 years apart, no one was in a rush to leave.