‘We really wanted to get it done by Christmas,’ but delays prevent opening of new grocery store before the holidays
A new fast-food restaurant and convenience store opens today in Delta Junction, with a grocery store expected to follow. The new grocery will replace one that collapsed under a heavy snow load two years ago.
Workers hustled to get the Subway franchise and gas station mini-market open before the upcoming holidays, but the new grocery store isn’t quite ready.
“We really wanted to get it done by Christmas,” says Jeff Lisac, a manager and right-hand man for business owners Ed and Gayle Larson. He and a half-dozen others were stocking shelves and setting up equipment Monday inside the convenience store in preparation for today’s opening. He hopes to be doing the same thing next month at the new grocery next door.
“Ed and Gail and I wanted to give the town the Christmas present,” he said, “and we’ve done the best we could for our town, and it just didn’t happen. And I’m telling you what -- that was a kick in the gut.”
But it’s not for lack of trying. Lisac and the Larsons began work on what became a two-year project soon after the roof of the old store collapsed under a heavy, wet snowload on the day after Christmas 2021. They quickly ran into the usual challenges of launching a project in the middle of winter, made even more difficult because it required demolition of the old structure.
“We didn’t have a piece of land we purchased and started from scratch,” says Brittany Clark, Ed and Gail’s daughter. “We had to go through the whole demo process, too. And that took a lot longer than we expected.”
Clark manages the Beverage Cellar, the family’s liquor store a couple of doors down from the old IGA Food Cache. She says because the demolition had to be done during the pandemic, they had to deal with supply-chain interruptions that delayed startup of work on the new grocery.
“Coming off of COVID, there was a steel shortage,” she said, “and so we were months behind on the date that we were supposed to receive our steel.”
The steel was finally delivered, and workers began building the frame in late fall of 2022. But Lisac says that and other delays pushed back the grocery store project timeline.
“We were waiting for all kinds of stuff,” he said. “Materials, problems with the builders, contractors, you name it. But, we’re there. We’re at the finish line, we can see it.”
The new building is indeed a major upgrade compared to the old structure.
“It’s a beautiful grocery store,” Lisac said. “The sales floor is a lot bigger. It’s got a big, vaulted ceiling. It’s real open. It’s real modern.”
But when it became obvious the grocery wouldn’t be completed for another four weeks or so, Clark says they decided to accelerate work on the other building they own that houses the sandwich shop and convenience store/gas station, so those could be opened for the holidays.
“When we realized it was going to take so long,” she said, “we started working on the gas station, because we already had our contract in with Subway, and they were patiently waiting. And they have been really, really gracious to us.”
The sandwich shop and the Station 49 convenience store are housed in a building just south of the new grocery store.
About a dozen people showed up Monday afternoon for what Clark called a “soft opening.”
One of them, Nikki Ketscheck, seemed pretty happy about having the franchise in town.
“I think it looks great,” she said, “and it’s an awesome addition to Delta! It’s going to bring jobs, which is important, and it gives us more opportunities to have different places to eat.”
And when the new grocery store opens next month, locals will be able to buy what they need without having to drive a hundred miles to Fairbanks.
Editor's note: This story has been updated.
