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| Fireworks Make People Happy |
FILED 11 p.m., Dec. 17, 2008
Cubby's Marketplace Opened
At the Y on Dec. 17
By John R. Moses
ALASKA PIONEER PRESS
SUNSHINE – By the end of the day it seemed that half the
region's residents had been through the Upper Susitna Valley's first
full service grocery store. The store's owner had not slept for about
40 hours by the close of business, working through the previous
night to get things ready.
And were they. Shelves were mostly stocked, a deli counter was
up and running and fresh meat and produce was for sale along with
dry goods. Fresh Napa cabbage and unfrozen three-rib beef roasts
are part of the region's grocery offerings.
A week or two before things didn't look as together as they did on
Dec. 17. Some groceries were on the shelves, the ones that were
built, that is, as owner Greg Pearson and a small crew spent the first
weeks of December turning an empty building into the first full-
service supermarket ever to serve the Upper Susitna Valley.
The low-key, “soft” opening of Cubby’s Marketplace happens
Dec. 17. Pearson was scrambling in early December to make sure
the refrigeration systems worked, the heat was on and stock made
it to lines of shelving units that sprouted from the 8,300-square-foot
concrete sales floor.
Light snow from approaching storm systems swirled outside in his
freshly-plowed parking lot lit by new parking lot lights on Dec. 3 as
Pearson’s crew dealt with a blizzard of last-minute details inside.
The next day Pearson was off to Wasilla to bring back more
shelving units. By Dec. 12 Pearson and his crew were still stocking
shelves and building displays.
“We’re getting there. We’re 90- 95-percent finished,” said
Pearson. “It’s a work in progress.”
Opening a grocery store’s doors barely two weeks after the nation’
s economy was officially declared in a recession wasn’t in Pearson’
s original game plan, but the soon-to-be-47-year-old adult softball
league player is taking economic curveballs in stride.
The veteran grocery manager has already negotiated perilous loan
application waters, lined up a checkout system compatible with his
computerized inventory system and dealt with nightmarish
contracting logistics.
Cubby’s opening is the proverbial ripple in a pond, a crowded retail
pond. Its northern edge until now stopped at Meadow Lakes
where a new Three Bears grocery outlet opened in late February.
To the south is a crowd of chain retailers; two Carrs supermarkets,
two Fred Meyer superstores and a Wal-Mart superstore. In
November a Target superstore joined the mix, and beside it a new
Walgreens Drug Store will compete with large and small
pharmacies.
The new grocery outlet in Sunshine may affect the business levels at
grocery stores in the Wasilla area, the nearest of which is a newest
of the Alaskan-owned Three Bears stores at Pittman Road in
Meadow Lakes.
Three Bears may be impacted a little by the new market, said
David A. Weisz, the stores’ president and chief operating officer.
But Weisz said the Meadow Lakes location also serves a large
surrounding community, and carries family pack and bulk items that
should still be in demand.
The good news, for some, is that more people are considering
moving to the Upper Susitna Valley now that a large grocery store
has joined the existing mix of businesses and health services.
Realtor Diana Pesta lives in the Talkeetna area and works with her
husband Paul for Willow’s Trapline Realty. She said interest in area
properties is high, and just recently a customer brought up the new
store’s opening.
“They were very excited, asking when they were going to open,”
Diana Pesta said. Pesta said as area residents she and her husband
both welcome the store.
The story was the same at Talkeetna’s McKinley View Realty,
where agent John Connolly said he’s had inquiries from people in
Anchorage and the Wasilla area who are excited about a new store
so close to recreational properties.
“My wife and I are both very happy,” said Connolly. “I just hope
he makes it.”
Connolly said one thing going in Pearson’s favor is that he doesn’t
have to equal Wasilla prices to attract shoppers who otherwise
would spend a tank of gas to drive to Meadow Lakes or Wasilla.
Pearson, however, is very concerned about keeping prices
affordable.
Cubby's Marketplace Opened
At the Y on Dec. 17
By John R. Moses
ALASKA PIONEER PRESS
SUNSHINE – By the end of the day it seemed that half the
region's residents had been through the Upper Susitna Valley's first
full service grocery store. The store's owner had not slept for about
40 hours by the close of business, working through the previous
night to get things ready.
And were they. Shelves were mostly stocked, a deli counter was
up and running and fresh meat and produce was for sale along with
dry goods. Fresh Napa cabbage and unfrozen three-rib beef roasts
are part of the region's grocery offerings.
A week or two before things didn't look as together as they did on
Dec. 17. Some groceries were on the shelves, the ones that were
built, that is, as owner Greg Pearson and a small crew spent the first
weeks of December turning an empty building into the first full-
service supermarket ever to serve the Upper Susitna Valley.
The low-key, “soft” opening of Cubby’s Marketplace happens
Dec. 17. Pearson was scrambling in early December to make sure
the refrigeration systems worked, the heat was on and stock made
it to lines of shelving units that sprouted from the 8,300-square-foot
concrete sales floor.
Light snow from approaching storm systems swirled outside in his
freshly-plowed parking lot lit by new parking lot lights on Dec. 3 as
Pearson’s crew dealt with a blizzard of last-minute details inside.
The next day Pearson was off to Wasilla to bring back more
shelving units. By Dec. 12 Pearson and his crew were still stocking
shelves and building displays.
“We’re getting there. We’re 90- 95-percent finished,” said
Pearson. “It’s a work in progress.”
Opening a grocery store’s doors barely two weeks after the nation’
s economy was officially declared in a recession wasn’t in Pearson’
s original game plan, but the soon-to-be-47-year-old adult softball
league player is taking economic curveballs in stride.
The veteran grocery manager has already negotiated perilous loan
application waters, lined up a checkout system compatible with his
computerized inventory system and dealt with nightmarish
contracting logistics.
Cubby’s opening is the proverbial ripple in a pond, a crowded retail
pond. Its northern edge until now stopped at Meadow Lakes
where a new Three Bears grocery outlet opened in late February.
To the south is a crowd of chain retailers; two Carrs supermarkets,
two Fred Meyer superstores and a Wal-Mart superstore. In
November a Target superstore joined the mix, and beside it a new
Walgreens Drug Store will compete with large and small
pharmacies.
The new grocery outlet in Sunshine may affect the business levels at
grocery stores in the Wasilla area, the nearest of which is a newest
of the Alaskan-owned Three Bears stores at Pittman Road in
Meadow Lakes.
Three Bears may be impacted a little by the new market, said
David A. Weisz, the stores’ president and chief operating officer.
But Weisz said the Meadow Lakes location also serves a large
surrounding community, and carries family pack and bulk items that
should still be in demand.
The good news, for some, is that more people are considering
moving to the Upper Susitna Valley now that a large grocery store
has joined the existing mix of businesses and health services.
Realtor Diana Pesta lives in the Talkeetna area and works with her
husband Paul for Willow’s Trapline Realty. She said interest in area
properties is high, and just recently a customer brought up the new
store’s opening.
“They were very excited, asking when they were going to open,”
Diana Pesta said. Pesta said as area residents she and her husband
both welcome the store.
The story was the same at Talkeetna’s McKinley View Realty,
where agent John Connolly said he’s had inquiries from people in
Anchorage and the Wasilla area who are excited about a new store
so close to recreational properties.
“My wife and I are both very happy,” said Connolly. “I just hope
he makes it.”
Connolly said one thing going in Pearson’s favor is that he doesn’t
have to equal Wasilla prices to attract shoppers who otherwise
would spend a tank of gas to drive to Meadow Lakes or Wasilla.
Pearson, however, is very concerned about keeping prices
affordable.
