A sneak peek at downtown Ames' new Fareway

Finishing touches on downtown Ames' new Fareway store are nearly complete, as employees race to stock its shelves in preparation for its opening day on Wednesday.

The new store, located at 619 Burnett Ave., has been much anticipated by many downtown residents since plans for the store were announced in September 2018. The new 24,000-square-foot building replaces the existing 19,000-square-foot store on the property, which will be closed Tuesday and demolished over the next few months.

Gary Linahon, grocery manager, said he has been eagerly awaiting opening day, and is excited to finally welcome the Ames community inside.

“I look at this as, it's going to be a nice reward for our customers, and it will be a great, great improvement for them,” said Linahon, who has worked for the Boone-based Fareway Stores company for 46 years, and has worked at the Ames location for roughly 26 years. “It's a little sentimental, but it's nice that the customers we've had have been very loyal, and stuck with us through thick and thin. I'm excited for them.”

When customers first walk into the store, they will enter a large vegetable and produce area. Along the east wall, a “grab and go” section offers ready to eat food options. The rest of the store features 17 aisles filled with all the foods and products sold at the existing store, but with expanded selections, according to market manager Jeff Blum.

The meat counter, for example, is 4 feet longer than previously, which, according to Blum, allowed them to expand both the deli and seafood sections. The freezer and dairy section now has an additional 18 doors, an increase of roughly 25 percent. Liquor expanded by 40-50 items, and the beer section more than doubled.

Customers will also notice dairy products such as milk, cheese, yogurt and sour cream are behind refrigerated doors rather than on a shelf like in other stores. According to officials with the Boone-based company, the switch is 20 to 30 percent more energy efficient than refrigerated shelving.

Then, as customers finish their shopping, they will have the option of using one of four self-checkout “fast lanes.” The new store is the seventh location to offer this option, according to officials.

In preparation for the opening, employees have been working to fully stock all of the shelves. Robert Baxter, manager of retail business and processes, said it is a four-day process where, “it goes from empty to full; from nothing on the shelf to completely full.”

Once the new store opens at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, the next step will be demolition of the old building. According to officials, the building will start to come down in late February. The space will then be converted to parking, which Linahon hopes will complete by mid-April, “if mother nature is good to us.”

“One of the biggest hurdles is our parking lot. People have been really good about it, but we lost well over half of our parking lot during the process,” Linahon said. “We will still have a small parking lot for opening and for about three or four months, but once that opens up, they're really going to see a big change.”

Blum, who has worked for the Fareway company for 41 years, and has worked at the Ames location for 21 years, said it will be bittersweet to see the old building, which was built in 1969, come down, but he also thinks “it was time for an update” and he has enjoyed watching the new space come together.

“It was fun to watch from the beginning,” Blum said. “It's been an exciting adventure to see it all the way through.”

Linahon agreed.

“We've remodeled, remodeled, remodeled and remodeled, but the other store was tired and it was time for a fresh new look,” Linahon said. “From the check stands to the beautiful market, I don't think there is going to be anything that people are not going to love. It's just going to be very exciting for the community.”

There are 122 Fareway stores in five states, according to company officials, who will host a VIP event Tuesday evening to show off the store to invited guests.

“Our customer base is very excited, and we're ready to show it all off,” Blum said.