PG EXCLUSIVE: Schnucks Cuts Ribbon on Downtown Concept Culinaria Store

Downtown St. Louis residents, commuters and tourists now have a new full-service grocery store and pharmacy at the corner of 9th and Olive Streets, thanks to the opening of Schnucks’ long awaited new concept store, Culinaria.

As he watched customers excitedly moving aisle-to-aisle on the Aug. 11 grand opening, Scott Schnuck, chairman and CEO of the eponymous family held chain, said, “It’s taken us more than three years to get here. It’s gratifying to finally be able to see our customers’ reaction to Culinaria, the first full-service downtown store we have been able to build from the ground up. Everything -- from the building design to the goods and services offered -- was decided with input from customers and associates, but it’s still a work in progress. We knew from the moment we cut the ribbon, the store would continue to evolve as we work to meet the needs of all types of shoppers,” Schnuck added.

Store manager Tom Collora, a 40-year Schnucks veteran, leads Culinaria’s 71-member store team, including co-manager Nathan Eickermann, perishable manager Joe Brennecke, prepared foods manager Marian Fiore, center store manager Bruce Marchi, customer service manager Jeff Sessen, pharmacy manager Kelly Ertmann and store administrator Dan Loehr.

The 21,000-square-foot store, located on the ground floor of the Ninth Street Garage (315 N. 9th Street), includes a 6,000 square-foot mezzanine featuring a wine bar and customer seating area. Although only about one-third the size of a typical Schnucks store, Culinaria stocks more than 22,000 products including its brand new ultra-premium Culinaria line of products.

“Most of the prepared foods are cooked in our store daily,” said Collora said. “Culinaria’s service meat and seafood, hot and cold food bars, made-to-order sandwiches, salad and pizza (whole or by the slice) and made-from-scratch side dishes make it possible for our customers to do their complete grocery shopping at Culinaria.”

Grocery receipts will include complimentary customer parking in the Ninth Street Garage for up to one hour during weekdays and up to two hours during evenings and weekends, Collora said, noting that the store is also equipped with a special cooler that allows customers to make their purchases during the day and pick them up in the evening on their way home from work.

The ninth Schnucks store located in the City of St. Louis (67th in the St Louis metropolitan area), Culinaria is open 6 a.m. – 10 p.m. daily. The store also boasts St. Louis’ only full-service pharmacy offering downtown delivery; the pharmacy hours are weekdays 7 a.m. – 7 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Schnuck Markets, Inc. operates 106 stores (including five Logli stores) and 103 pharmacies in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Tennessee and Mississippi.
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