New Shop ‘n Save store opening Sunday
DUNBAR TWP. – Workers were busy Wednesday completing renovations to Fayette County’s newest grocery store in preparation for its grand opening Sunday at its site at Laurel Mall, north of Uniontown. Owners Tom and Debbie Jamieson will hold a ribbon-cutting at 8 a.m. Sunday at their new Shop ‘n Save, located in the former Montgomery Ward store at the mall.
The new store will employ about 100 people and be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.
“Shop ‘n Save is proud to bring this significant economic impact to Fayette County. Shoppers will find an ample supply of space, products and personal assistance throughout our 50,000-square-foot store,’ Tom Jamieson said.
The Laurel Mall site becomes the 87th Shop ‘n Save location, with stores in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and West Virginia.
The new mall store will feature department staples such as a butcher shop, deli, baked-goods shop, fish, produce, flowers and a one-hour film processing center. The site also will have its own MEDMART pharmacy and buffet-style pizza. Utility payments also will be accepted at the store.
The store will offer the new S&H Greenpoints and Shop n’ Save Rewards card. Announced in January, the Shop ‘n Save Rewards card program with S&H Greenpoints offers consumers an opportunity to accumulate Rewards points based on their purchases both in the Shop ‘n Save stores, and with merchants linked through the Shop ‘n Save and Greenpoints Web sites, Jamieson said.
“We are also adding something unique,’ Jamieson said, turning down one aisle in the new store displaying rows of candles, decorative bags and other goods. “These are all $1. We searched all over the country for the best people for this. We found five suppliers,’ whose wares – including tools, greeting cards, baby items, kitchen gadgets and toys – will be sold.
The layout of the store is also a proven design, he said, adding that “I have built nine of these stores from the ground up and this is the design I started with.’
While a ribbon-cutting will mark the opening Sunday, the grand opening will run for about six weeks, Jamieson said. Customers can register at the new Laurel Mall store, Uniontown, Connellsville or Fairchance locations to get 1,000 Greenpoints given away every hour of the day through July 20 by using their Rewards card. Customers who get a new or transfer a prescription to MEDMART also will receive an additional 10,000 Greenpoints.
Jamieson said moving into the mall will be good for his business.
“There always seemed to be a void between the Uniontown and Connellsville Shop ‘n Saves. I wanted to have one in between for a long time, and this meets that goal.
“The type of store, size and department offerings were determined by the surveys, as well. This store was designed around the best opportunities of the market and the industry, and will be developed, equipped and operated to best meet the needs of the customers within the primary market area surrounding the store,’ he said.
Jamieson said his surveys showed the store will “fit very well into the market and retail environment.
“We do not make this level of investment without confidence of the ability of both the store and market to support it.
“Normally, grocery shoppers stay within a radius of about two miles.
“The nearest Shop ‘n Saves are more than six miles away in Connellsville and seven miles away in Uniontown.’
Jamieson has 29 years’ experience in the grocery business, beginning his work as a stock boy and working through the ranks.
He has served as a meat department employee and manager, produce manager and assistant store manager and then went to SuperValu as a retail counselor for the Shop ‘n Save line.
He acquired his first store about 12 years ago as an independent owner.
Jamieson Family Foods owns the Shop ‘n Save stores at Cherry Tree Plaza, Uniontown, and in Fairchance, and the Save A Lot store on West Penn Boulevard in North Union Township.
The company also owns seven grocery stores in West Virginia.
With the addition of the new store, Jamieson will employ about 300 people in Fayette County.
“It will make Shop ‘n Save one of the largest employers in Fayette County,’ he said.
MaraCom Construction of Uniontown has done the renovations to the Laurel Mall-Montgomery Ward store site. Montgomery Ward Co. closed its store there in 2001 after operating in the mall for nearly 30 years. The closure came after Montgomery Ward Co. declared bankruptcy.
Laurel Mall was built in the early 1970s and was Fayette County’s first enclosed mall.
The 332,000-square-foot mall contains 35 stores. The mall has recently repaved its parking lot, installed a new roof and inserted light poles.
Shop ‘n Save will join tenants at the mall that include Dollar General, Carmike Cinemas IV, Burger King and Cut-N-Curl Beauty Shop.