Doors opened at 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, April 22, to a line hundreds of customers long, all waiting for the unveiling of the new Kroger Marketplace. Situated adjacent to the old Kroger grocery store, this new establishment drew the attention of many community members.

    "The first 500 customers received coupons for free chicken," said Maria Espinoza, a new store manager at the Marketplace. Among those shoppers were several Dunbar seniors who stopped by before heading to their EBCE sites or CATS shadowing project locations.

    "I’d say there were at least 700 people!" said senior Hannah Chung. "I even saw a celebrity! The Old Folks Country Sausage Man! You know, the one who says ‘It’s Goo-ood’! And the Kool Aid Man, Tony the Tiger, Mr. Peanut, and Finn the Goldfish," Chung said. These mascots had come for the opening event to promote and distribute their products.

    "And then there was the Keeneland man who blows the trumpet and a random horse ran across the parking lot!" added senior Azita Bahrami, who accompanied Chung on opening day. "It was the Kroger horse with a Kroger jockey! Yeah, it was crazy!"

    The original store closed at 6 p.m. on Tuesday evening and employees worked through the night stocking shelves and moving merchandise to the new store.

    "It’s been something to get used to for the employees but the customers seem to like it," said Espinoza, who just completed Kroger Management training and has taken on this Marketplace as her first assignment. Because the store is nearly twice as large as the old one and includes many additional departments, employees have had to learn the new locations of products while navigating through the hustle and bustle brought on by the grand opening.

    "First response, no one knows where anything is, including the employees," said Dunbar senior Andrew Hancock, who has worked at Kroger since February.

    "It’s been crazy and really busy," said Espinoza, "but we’ve gotten a really good response." The Kroger Marketplace not only has groceries but also includes departments from Home Fashions and Toys to Fred Meyer’s jewelry and Nature’s Market organic produce. "Dude, they have an olive bar! I didn’t even know there were more than two types of olives!" said junior Ranajay Sen.

    Droves of customers continue to pour in, as people come to check out the new store. "There’s been a consistent amount of customers coming in," said Hancock who worked at the old store and has been moved to the new one.

    Shoppers, especially those accustomed to the former layout, say it will certainly be an adjustment learning where everything is in the new store. Upon entering, they are now handed a map to navigate. However some do not know if they will ever be a fan of the bigger store.

    "It seems like they’ve put everything on ‘sale’ but items are still the same price as before," said senior Stuart Ewen. "Not to mention it took me 40 minutes to find stuff to make a pizza."

    Overall, the Kroger Marketplace is a step up from an ordinary grocery store. "The Marketplace has raised the standard," said Espinoza. "We have so far been compared to Wal-Mart but customers have said we have better quality." And still over a week later, the parking lot continues to overflow with interested customers.

    "I think it’s a good thing," concluded sophomore Myles Durbin, who works at the Leestown Kroger. "After a while people will get used to it and really enjoy not having to drive far to Wal-Mart or another store."