Plymouth Township Grocers Tout Benefits of Recent Renovations

Two Plymouth Township grocers' recent renovations could help provide a cornucopia of goods for local shoppers.

A recently completed expansion to the Plymouth Township Kroger store, unveiled to patrons at a grand reopening Wednesday, increases the store's shopping space to about 80,000 square feet, allowing additional produce selection and a seating area for the in-store Starbucks.

Just across town, Busch's Fresh Food Market is touting its own renovations, a complete reconfiguration of the store to expand its wine and produce areas, among other additions within the store's existing footprint. The store had its grand reopening in November.

"It looks like we added 3,000 square feet," Busch's Store Manager Gary Winters said. "The owner of the company, John Busch, is committed to the State of Michigan and reinvesting in the building we already have."

Both stores remained open while undergoing renovations this year—Kroger being a 10-month project and Busch's taking just more than two months—but both businesses made an effort to not let the ongoing work negatively impact shoppers.

"We didn't lose any customers," Kroger Associate Manager Rex Reed said. "We kept it shoppable."

Winters said a bulk of the work on Busch's took place during employees' third shifts to avoid interrupting shoppers.

Kroger's expansion also included razing a nearby Big Boy restaurant and adjacent shopping plaza and situating the plaza's existing businesses on the endcap of the new Kroger expansion facing Ann Arbor Road. The move helped open up a cluttered parking lot by adding 90 parking spaces and added a new Kroger gas station across the lot at the corner of Ann Arbor and Sheldon roads. 

Plymouth Township Treasurer Ron Edwards, who attended the Kroger grand reopening Tuesday with Plymouth Township trustees Robert Doroshewitz, Charles Curmi and Michael Kelly and Clerk Nancy Conzelman, said the Kroger renovations had been a two-year process. He said he was pleased with the results.

"This is fantastic for the community," Edwards said, adding the improvements can have a positive impact on promoting the Ann Arbor Road corridor. 

Both companies' improvements made the Plymouth Township locations the model stores for each business.

Reed said the Plymouth Township Kroger now ranks among the largest in the area, and Winters said the Plymouth Township Busch's is the model configuration for future stores, including a new Canton location expected to open by April 2013.