A shopping spree of grand proportions
Around 200 shoppers showed up Monday evening to celebrate the grand re-opening of Carleton Co-Op in Florenceville
It's not often supermarket customers have to wait at the cash-out just to get a cart from someone who has finished shopping. But that was the case earlier this week as some 200 people packed into the Carleton Co-Op in Florenceville to celebrate the stores grand re-opening.
On Monday night, June 2, the Carleton Co-Op opened its doors to a crowd eager to see the stores new look and scope out the new selection.
Since November the Co-Op has undergone renovations to expand aisles and produce bunkers.
"We wanted to provide more variety to customers," said Doug Thomson, the office manager.
Between the new storage building and the actual store floor, 3,600 square feet of space was added to the business.
Thomson said the aisles were made 24 feet longer and their freezer space doubled, now boasting 31 freezer doors.
The store remained open throughout the entire process. It was closed on Monday, however, to stock and shine up for the big night.
"The number of people here beats anything we could have imagined," Thomson told the Bugle-Observer.
It was standing room only inside the Co-Op as customers covered the main floor and packed the aisles. And there were still more people waiting outside to get in.
Thomson said brighter colours and better lighting is intended to create a "fresher and more appealing shopping experience."
The store now provides more selection to customers, especially in the number of frozen foods and organic products offered.
"It will make us more competitive in the 21st century," said Thomson.
The grand re-opening certainly wasn't dull.
After a few brief speeches and pats on the back from managers and people from head office, the fun began.
Everyone who came filled out a ballot, and the ballots were drawn from a bingo cage.
The first three names drawn were invited to "keep what you can carry."
The lucky customers loaded up a staff member with as many groceries as he could carry in two minutes, and kept the haul.
The crowd cheered encouragingly as the three winners frantically ran about the store, tossing everything they could get their hands on to a pile reaching well over poor grocer Bill Groves' head.
Sharon Kilfoil, who went straight for the meat section, gathered $264 worth of groceries in her two minutes.
Then many names were drawn for gift certificates and random prizes, including a five-pound chocolate bar that went to young Brandon Lloyd.
After the draws, the shopping began.
There weren't enough carts to go around at first, and within 20 minutes a line had formed from the cash registers straight around the outline of the store.
Thomson said there will be a number of grand re-opening deals on throughout the week.
There will also be a daily draw for gift certificates and a grand prize bicycle given away each day this week.
Every customer who came to Monday night's event was given a free environmentally-friendly thermal grocery bag.
Thomson said he couldn't be happier with the turnout and the excitement pumping out of the crowd.
"That's the thing about small communities, people like the store and want to support it," he said.
"So that's why we renovated, to offer more variety to keep our customers shopping in their own backyard."
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