Hundreds of people formed a line all the way down the strip center at Gateway Plaza this morning to be the first shoppers at Farm Fresh Food & Pharmacy.
"I can't believe there's this many people out here," said Debbie Glover, who waited in line to buy some of the sale items and see what else the store offered.
"I'm looking for a bargain. The way gas is going up, I need a bargain," she said with a laugh.
Inside the 46,000 square-foot store, customers pushed around the green shopping carts around the new store. For being the first shoppers, they got free reusable shopping bags filled with a gift of grocery and health and beauty care items.
Back in the meat department, Ron Dennis, the president and CEO of Farm Fresh, mingled with customers and talked about the quality of the meat products. He surprised one shopper when he tore open a package to show him the way the meat was fresh and high quality on both sides.
"We couldn't be more excited about being in Wilson," Dennis said. "We think northeastern North Carolina is the future of our business."
A Rocky Mount store will open this summer.
"I think it's nice. Good prices so far," said Melissa Coppedge, who was in the beauty care section.
Shopper Brenda Peacock of Stantonsburg, who was in produce, called the store beautiful and "humongous."
"It looked like a casino when I walked in. I didn't know which place to go to -- there's so much going on," she said.
This is the second big opening for a grocery store in Wilson in the last week. Last Wednesday, Harris Teeter opened its new store at Heritage Crossing.
Farm Fresh, which remodeled the former Winn-Dixie Marketplace and hired 190 people, does have a lot going on.
Of course with a name like Farm Fresh, it might be expected the store promotes its extensive selection of fresh produce.
But that's not all to Farm Fresh.
There's a wing bar, rotisserie and fresh fried chicken, fresh subs, sandwiches, paninis, wraps, and soup and salad bars.
The full-service deli has Boar's Head products. There's a health food department. There's a bake shop, a cheese shop with more than 400 varieties of cheeses from around the world, an olive bar and handmade Gelato imported from Italy.
The wine depot has a wine steward.
For seafood lovers, the Fisherman's Choice Fresh Seafood Department offers free steaming and seasoning of its various crab, lobster and shrimp products.
The store also has film processing, a FTD floral department, Redbox DVD movie rental kiosk, Traveler's Express/MoneyGram, bill pay service, lottery tickets, money orders and "Internet Express" an on-line grocery ordering service.
For schools and places of worship with educational programs, an ABC's Program redeems store receipts for free educational equipment.
Farm Fresh is open daily 6 a.m. to midnight. Pharmacy hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
keeter@wilsontimes.com | 265-7817