Fresh Retail Directions:<br />First-Ever Byerly’s Begins Anew
After nine months in the making, Edina, Minn.-based Lund Food Holdings Inc. (LFI) — the family-owned operator of 10 Lunds and 11 Byerly’s supermarkets throughout the Twin Cities and their surrounding area, celebrated the grand reopening of the first-ever Byerly’s store at 5725 Duluth Street in Golden Valley, Minn., this week, after an extensive and extreme makeover.
Situated roughly five miles west from downtown Minneapolis, the headline attraction of the 42,000-square-foot supermarket is Byerly’s Creations, a new prepared foods area encompassing all dayparts. A signature component of the section is an extensive rotisserie station offering such items as chicken, turkey, ham and ribs.
An abundant use of self-service bars for chicken wings, desserts, salads, and hot and prepared foods will factor heavily in the Byerly’s Creations lineup, which will also feature made-to-order stations for pizza and pasta, sandwiches, sliders, and Chicago-style hot dogs. Additionally, during breakfast and brunch hours, customers will be able to enjoy such favorites as eggs, pancakes, strata and waffles.
When the store debuted in 1968 as the first of 11 Byerly’s now found throughout the Twin Cities market, it was heralded as the largest supermarket in Minnesota and received national recognition for concepts such as an in-store bakery and deli, service meat and seafood departments, a full-time home economist on staff, in-store recipe development, parcel pickup, and extra-wide, carpeted aisles.
“At Lunds and Byerly’s, we take a tremendous amount of pride in continuing to be regarded as an innovator in the grocery industry,” said Tres Lund, chairman and CEO of LFI. “In keeping with that earned reputation, we’re looking forward to providing residents and businesses in and around Golden Valley with a shopping experience that is truly second to none.”
Other highlights of Byerly’s new and improved Golden Valley location include:
—A revamped and expanded shopping area featuring an improved self-service and service deli, a bakery, a meat and seafood area, and a farmers’ market-inspired produce department
—A new exterior façade and interior décor, including carpeting, floor finishes and accent lighting
—Café seating for about 70 inside, and 20 on the outside patio
—A community room that will be available to local groups and businesses at no charge
—A Big Bowl Chinese Express restaurant
—Hisho Sushi
—A remodeled Wines & Spirits Shop and a wine-tasting bar
—Sixty percent more organic and natural offerings
—Caribou Coffee, Bachman’s Floral and a US Bank branch.
The store’s new décor package includes carpeting, floor finishes and accent lighting, while among the renovations to the store’s exterior are a new façade, signage and additional windows.
A number of eco-friendly, energy-efficient upgrades have also been made, such as:
—A refrigeration system that uses a more environmentally friendly refrigerant
—Retrofitted existing lighting to become more energy-efficient (the location went from a four-light system to a two-light system while maintaining the same level of lighting throughout the store)
—Night shades on all open refrigerated cases (these types of cases can be found in the dairy, produce, deli and meat and seafood departments). The shades are pulled down during the overnight hours to conserve energy
—A new energy management system that automatically dials back lighting during overnight hours and controls heating and cooling at all hours of the day and night
A final cool component that caught my eye: Byerly’s Creations to-go foods will be packed up in sustainable packaging applications that feature Twin Cities-based Ultra Green products. What’s more, “tree-free” sugar cane-based recyclable plastic lids will also be offered.
Hats off to everyone involved in transforming the original Byerly’s location into a top-flight food emporium that local customers — and visitors from afar — will truly relish!