MORAN After months of drumming up financial support to buy Morans only grocery store, the Marmaton Market is officially in business.
The community-owned Marmaton Market opened its doors Wednesday after purchasing the old Stubs Market.
Since then, store manager Rachel McDonald has overseen a Herculean task to rearrange merchandise, get the stores inventory reestablished and acquire the necessary licensing for such things as alcohol and tobacco products.
We knew the first month, there would be a lot of questions about getting ourselves established and getting our groove going, McDonald said.
The key, she stressed, is that the Marmaton Market is staying open during the changeover.
We really wanted our changes to be visible while keeping the store open as much as possible, she said. It does a disservice to the community to shut down the store without a place to shop, and its a disservice to the employees.
To allow for some of the major changes moving shelves, for example the market is opening each day at 10 a.m. instead of the regular 8 oclock.
That gives us a couple of more hours in the morning about developing a strategy about how we want to proceed, McDonald said.
Several changes are already noticeable.
Automotive and household items previously displayed in the stores front wall have been relocated to a center aisle, along with other personal care products and cleaners the markets non-edible aisle, McDonald said.
The stores layout also is changing so like products are grouped together.
For example, the old layout had two sections for soda and soft drinks, at opposite corners of the building.
In the coming days and weeks, the produce section area will feature additional healthy food options, McDonald said.
Displays at the end of each aisle also are being reconfigured to better match the shelving.
The net benefit should be a more appealing layout thats easier for buyers to navigate.
Its one of the things a lay person may not consciously notice, but from a grocery merchandisers standpoint, you want like items near each other, she said.
A bank of freezers that no longer work will be removed, so a second set of freezers situated near the front corner of the store can be moved.
