WESTPORT — Renovations transforming a Post Road East commercial space from a one-time bookstore into the town’s newest food outlet are well underway.

With Big Y expected to open a supermarket at 1076 Post Road East by the end of next month, features of the remodel are evident at the site of a former Barnes & Noble store, which closed at the end of 2020 and moved downtown.

Shelving and cash-register stations are installed, signs designating categories of merchandise are posted, rows of shopping carts are lined up and, most prominently, the store’s red, circular “Big Y” sign is posted on the facade.

Although store officials have not publicly identified the date set for opening the supermarket, a spokeswoman said last week, “We don’t have the exact date of the soft opening yet, but we are still planning for late October …”

Meanwhile, hiring of more than 100 employees continues for the new store on site through Oct. 18, from 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays to Fridays.

Owners of the Post Plaza shopping center and Big Y officials announced last January that the New England-based grocery chain planned to open a new store at the site once planned for an Amazon Fresh store.

The Amazon project, announced two years earlier, had stalled for about 18 months after the retailing behemoth began refitting the space to accommodate its new food-sales concept equipped with technology for “cashier-less checkout,” digital billing and numerous online shopping options.

The Big Y supermarket in Westport is the chain’s first foray into southwestern Fairfield County, with its nearest stores in Stratford, Monroe, Shelton and Milford.