A new grocery store is opening in Kotzebue. Company representatives say it will have twice as much floor space as the existing store, and lots of new amenities.
Kyle Hill, president of the Alaska Commercial Company, said that after several years of work, the company is finally installing the store’s new equipment.
“It's gone from concept to piles being driven to concrete being poured to walls being put up to now,” he said.
Besides expanding food options, the managers of the new AC store plan to offer fresh flowers, in-person banking and even snow machines under the same roof.
The new store is across the street from Kotzebue’s current AC store. Hill says it will have an expanded frozen and chilled food section, a floral section and a full-service deli and bakery with made-to-order items. The new store will also be the first AC in Alaska to have self-checkout lanes.
Hill said the expansion and extra features won’t affect the cost of groceries.
“Even though we built this brand new building and obviously made that investment, there's no plan to change any prices in the store,” Hill said.
AC general manager Walter Pickett said the extra floor space will allow for larger ticket items.
“We also have an area designed for motorized machines, so we'll actually have Hondas, Polaris snow machines on the sales floor,” Pickett said. “We will also be looking for an area where we'll have furniture and appliances readily available, for our customers.”
According to Pickett, the retail area will be entirely on the store’s first floor. He said the building is designed with environmentally friendly features including energy-efficient equipment and bathrooms. The company is working with Kotzebue Electric Association to potentially add solar panels, too.
Pickett said the company. is also looking for warehouse space in town, which could help keep prices low.
“One of the few options that we have is taking advantage of the summer barge and actually storing it in the community, because the barge rates are so much cheaper than air freight or even bypass mail rates,” he said.
The store will also have a Credit Union 1 branch, giving Kotzebue its second brick-and-mortar banking option.
The grand opening for the new AC store is set for Nov. 16. Representatives from the company said the event will include giveaways, sale items and deli samples.
