Late-June opening for new Du Quoin grocery

Bottom Dollar Cost Plus grocery owner Tom Schmutz was in Du Quoin Tuesday, meeting with contractors and vendors as work continues on the new Du Quoin store.

The store is now scheduled to tentatively open June 18.The only thing that could delay that opening is the completion of the exterior.

Schmutz took time Tuesday to give the newspaper a first look at plans for the store. Work will begin in the coming days to give the front a whole new look. The five checkout lanes that were in the Kroger store are being replaced by six new smart-looking, ergonomic checkout lanes that increase visibility all around the cashiers.

A portion of the old Customer Service area near the front doors is being taken out and replaced with an area to house the battery operated handicapped shopping carts and "kiddie" carts.

As shoppers pass to the right of the new checkouts they will see a beautiful produce area. There will be $2 produce specials or three for $5. You will then begin to see the 124 feet of Costco restaurant value-sized big pack item shelving. In the floor space in between there will be 30 product bins of popular and value-priced items.

As you make the first turn to the left in the southwest corner of the store beer lovers will run into the cold "beer cave" and on the outer wall of that beer cave a "growler" station with 24 taps where you can fill both large and mini growlers with specialty beers. You can get the bottles there or bring back empty growler bottles for refills. A store employee will cap and tape the beers you select. "We are using a special nitrogen and CO2 tap system guaranteed to keep the same taste for five days or longer," Schmutz smiled. "Every time you unscrew the cap you will hear that familiar 'wooosh' from the bottle," he said. Most of the beers will be micro-brewery varieties you can't get anywhere else.

"It's like buying keg beer without having to buy the whole keg," Schmutz said.

As you move across the back of the store you will notice a lot of "six for" deals. Six packages of lunch meats for $26. Six frozen meats for $26. Six fresh meats for $26.

"When we talked about this, the one thing Du Quoin wanted was the best selection of fresh meats," Schmutz said Tuesday. Wishes granted. Schmutz said the store promises a great meat department with butchers on staff all the time.

Frozen food cases that were installed by Kroger only two years before closing are in like-new condition with hundreds of favorite frozen food items inside. Grocery aisles will "have it all."

The deli has been taken out, but Schmutz said the store will feature things like rotisserie chicken and fried chicken. There will be baked items. "Our store will have fresh Amish baked items," he said.

Most of the management team has either worked for store under Kroger ownership, is from Du Quoin, or has family in Du Quoin. Employees will be from Du Quoin and the surrounding area. "This will be Du Quoin's grocery store," he said. "It is the DU QUOIN Bottom Dollar Cost Plus Store," he said.

He said the store will open with a huge sense of community, supporting the community at every turn and networking with the Du Quoin State Fair to be inviting to campers, RV groups and families in Du Quoin for weekend events. In an earlier story, he said that if, by chance, the store does not carry an item you like, he will do everything he can to try and get it.

It's a bold, courageous and challenging agenda, but Schmutz said he and store personnel are up to that challenge. In return, he asks only that Du Quoin support the new grocery.

It doesn't take a long memory to know the heartache and loss the town felt when Kroger announced in January of 2013 that it was leaving Du Quoin after a 99-year history here.

No one wants that to happen again and this new store gives Du Quoin plenty to look forward to. Schmutz said, "We don't want shoppers to go somewhere else if they find ONE item that's a dime cheaper." Overall, he said Du Quoin-area shoppers will find value in the new Bottom Dollar Cost Plus Store. Du Quoin economic development director Jeff Ashauer told the newspaper Tuesday that all parties signed off on the last of the funding pieces last week. Bottom Dollar Cost Plus held a job fair in Du Quoin two weeks ago to begin identifying the remaining staff for the new store.