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Piggly Wiggly in Evansville expanding

Photo

Photo by Lukas Keapproth

A construction crew from Choice Building Systems installs steel trusses onto the side of Evansville's Piggly Wiggly.

EVANSVILLE — A 7,200-square-foot addition to Kopecky’s Piggly Wiggly in Evansville will expand all departments in the store and allow for a larger product line, the owner said.

Customers have requested items that the store did have room to stock, owner Jim Kopecky said.

“There’s just not enough space,” he said. “This addition is going to remedy that to a great extent.

“The other thing is if you’re not improving, you’re standing still, you’re moving backwards,” he said. “We just think in the end (this is) something that will attract and keep our customers in Evansville and bring in some additional customers to our store from the community of Evansville.”

The construction marks the fourth move or expansion the store has made in Evansville in the 30 years the Kopecky family has run the Piggly Wiggly. The grocery store started downtown in the Grange building and moved to the south end of town before the current store was built 14 years ago.

Construction on the north side of the building is expected to be finished by mid-July, but the rest of store also is being remodeled, he said. The whole project is slated to be done by the end of October.

The store will remain open during the work.

The expansion from about 23,000 square feet to more than 30,000 square feet means selection will improve, including new departments for organic and gluten-free products. The beer, wine and liquor department will get a “pretty substantial enlargement,” and the dairy and frozen food department will be 50 percent bigger, he said.

If all goes as planned, the store will add staff, but for now it might mean additional hours for current staff, he said.