Palmer Fred Meyer opens

PALMER -- The much-anticipated Palmer Fred Meyer opened its doors Wednesday. To celebrate, the company not only had sales to benefit shoppers that visited the new store, but also donated $5,000 to local organizations to benefit the community.

From underwear to fresh Alaska Grown produce, the 70,000-square-foot Palmer Fred Meyer celebrated its grand opening with a 350-pound cake-cutting ceremony where the store director, John Mayer, and the corporate community relations coordinator, Judi Luchsinger, presented a donation of $2,500 to the Mat-Su Miners for a cart to transport disabled and elderly fans from the parking lot to the games, a $1,500 donation to the American Red Cross of Alaska to help install carbon monoxide detectors in low-income Valley homes and a third donation of $1,000 to the Palmer Little League to further support baseball in Palmer.

"I guess I am speechless," said American Red Cross of Alaska Mat-Su branch programs manager Tanya Larrabee after accepting the donation. "I love how much they have done for the community and their employees."

Long-time Palmer resident Mary Combs of Combs Insurance performed the ceremonial cutting of the cake during the grand opening celebration, a job done by Miss Alaska during the openings of Alaska's other Fred Meyer locations. Combs said she was honored to be chosen. Palmer Mayor Jim Cooper suggested Combs when Fred Meyer was planning the celebration.

"I'm really pleased with what they've brought to Palmer," Combs said. "I think it is wonderful."

Cooper, who has already purchased his first Fred Meyer packet of underwear, said he thinks the store is a success. Much has been made of the fact that the store will sell undergarments, which have previously not been carried by a retail outlet in Palmer. The fact that Palmer residents will now be able to buy underwear close to home has even made the national news.

"This is a long time coming," Cooper said of the grand opening. "If you've ever seen the movie 'Good Morning Vietnam' this is 'Good Morning Fred Meyer.'"

Brad Hanson, the treasurer of Palmer Little League, said the Fred Meyer donation will help tremendously, as the league needs upwards of $50,000 a year to operate. Unlike the CO donation, which was requested by Cooper after a family of five perished in Anchorage from CO poisoning, the league donation came as a surprise out of the blue.

"We feel blessed. There are a lot of organizations in this community that need money, and we're just thankful of Fred Meyer's generosity; these guys are fantastic," Hanson said.

The Mat-Su Miner donation comes at a time of great need, according to Miners general manager Pete Christopher. The walk from the parking lot ticket booth to the box seats is approximately 700 feet, and the golf cart that Christopher will purchase next week will help a lot of fans that may otherwise have trouble getting to the game. The cart will have 'license plates' that say "I'd rather be shopping at Fred Meyer." Christopher, who is also a member of the Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce Executive Board, spoke to the importance of supporting the new store, which brought 130 jobs -- 109 of them hired locally -- into Palmer.

"I think the community can support this place, because it seems like they'll support this community," Christopher said.

The Palmer Fred Meyer uses a Fred Meyer Marketplace format, which means it is primarily a supermarket with a limited selection of nonfood products, such as kitchen gadgets, small appliances, camping and RV gear, seasonal sporting goods, pet supplies, home electronic items and pharmaceuticals. The store is the 11th Fred Meyer in Alaska, the 135th Fred Meyer in the nation, and the first and smallest Marketplace to be built from scratch. The company worked with the city of Palmer and Palmer residents in the design of the building, which has architectural features like color masonry blocks instead of painted blocks, and windows in the front of the store and the deli seating area with views of the mountains. The store's departments include produce, food products, the pharmacy, a nutrition center, service deli, fresh sushi bar, pet place, customer service desk and a liquor store. The produce section mimics other Fred Meyer stores with its farmer's market approach to produce, and the vice president of the food group Mark Van Buskirk promised employees earlier this week that the new store would live up to Palmer's expectations of farmed goods.

"Nobody is going to be better than us at Alaskan Grown," Van Buskirk said.

The store will continue its grand opening celebration throughout the month. Sales and promotional events are planned through April 3. Store hours are 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. in the winter and 7 a.m. to midnight in the summer, seven days a week.