City Market expands services, facilities

Regular shoppers at City Market will have noticed some recent changes, such as the new display shelving for the store’s produce department.

Implemented over Presidents Day weekend in February, store owner Benn Curtis explained that the change is part of a wider update to space management. In the case of the produce department, an additional 15 linear feet of shelving were added. Meanwhile, the beverage cases in aisle one have been consolidated and moved to the other side of the store, replaced by a new cooler for dairy and dressings.

Curtis explained the changes are necessary to keep up with consumers’ broadening tastes. For many products, shoppers expect alternatives such as organics, sugar- and gluten-free varieties. This means more shelf space is needed to accommodate, which in turn requires changes in how displays are organized.

“Thirty to forty years ago, you’d be lucky to have one brand of yogurt in six flavors. Now there’s hundreds,” Curtis commented. “There’ll be more coming.”

On the other end of the store near the service counter, shelves have been disappearing in preparation for the addition of a new deli counter. That part of the project is running behind schedule. An initial opening had been planned for April 1, but due to delays in the delivery of equipment, it will be another six to eight weeks before the department is set up.

“We’ve got a lot more work to do in this area,” Curtis explained. Once built, the deli will offer a variety of hot foods, with changing daily specials. “Different things to keep the variety going.”

The relocation of the beverage coolers to the area will make the task of shopping for lunch more convenient.

Other changes may not be as noticeable to most shoppers. Foundations for a new receiving area and warehouse were laid last June behind City Market to the southwest.

An 80-by-30-foot building was finished after the new year, housing a new 24-by- 40-foot freezer and 24-by-30-foot dairy cooler. The flooring in the cooler is 18 inches thick, with six inches of insulation sandwiched between layers of concrete.

The building uses “drawbridge connections” to the main store, with wider avenues for ease of movement and additional storage. A second floor was added for offices, a more comfortable break room and a new conference room.

All around, Curtis explained the additions serve to make the store’s operations more efficient. For instance, a van pit in back now allows workers to unload deliveries directly off the truck, instead of wheeling them in from outside.

Wrangell’s City Market has been in the Curtis family for 80 years, and he has been working for it for over 50, since 1964. He expects the additions to be the biggest change since building Sentry Hardware across the street in 1988.

The store was located at its present spot in 1954, where the current liquor department stands. Additions and expansions followed in subsequent decades as the business offered new services.

“We kind of just grew in all directions,” Curtis said. As work continues, minor repairs around the store will be addressed as well.