The Dillons store on 10th Street in Great Bend celebrated its grand re-opening on Wednesday to showcase a new look and feel of the store along with the celebration of a new Starbucks Coffee Shop inside the store. The celebration included a ribbon cutting, presentation of $16,500 in donations and an ribbon cutting for the $3 million renovation.
The original store was built in 1981.
“It is a great honor to have this grand re-opening of the store,” Store Manager Ryan Streck said. “I am so proud of the company to invest money into our community and make the store a great place for our customers. I am very excited to be leading the team.”
The store features new cases and energy saving cold cases, along with new produce tables and flooring, not to mention the new pharmacy and a Starbucks Coffee Shop which is located inside the store just as you walk in.
“This has been a wall-to-wall transformation for this location in Great Bend,” Dillons spokeswoman Sheila Lowrie said. “I can’t believe how beautiful the store looks. It is so amazing.”
With the remodel, the store also has the new look of Dillons with new colors and signage to welcome its customers.
“This is a new look for us,” Lowrie said “This is the first store to carry the new decor and it looks amazing. This look will be part of all new remodels in the future. It is very exciting to have it here in the Great Bend store.”
As is traditional with Dillons re-openings, Lowrie said, the community became part of the celebration. Employees were asked what local organizations they would like to see a donation made to and three in Great Bend were chosen.
The United Way of Central Kansas received a donation for $15,500. The Great Bend Police Department and the Great Bend Fire Department each received $500 donations for special programs.
“This is just a way for us to give back to the community and if it was not for our employees and their kind hearts this would not be possible,” Lowrie said. “So I would like to thank all of our employees for all their hard work during this remodel and all they do for our customers.”