Popularized by the movie “Field of Dreams,” the phrase “if you build it, they will come” could apply to the new Hannaford supermarket in Duanesburg.
Thousands flocked to the store’s opening on Saturday, including some who beat other early birds by camping out the night before.
The new market, on Route 20 just across Schoharie Creek from Esperance, drew a curious and eager crowd from as far away as Jefferson, Summit and Schenectady––and Cobleskill, Middleburgh and Schoharie as well.
“We were expecting a lot, but I’m not quite sure this many,” said store manager Gene Prout, looking at the three-deep line of customers that stretched across the front of the store, through the full parking lot and out onto Route 20.
And that was at 6:50am.
The ribbon-cutting had been just five minutes before, but by then, parked cars already lined both sides of Route 20, along Route 30, on nearby Youngs Road and in a farmer’s field across from the market.
Though Mr. Prout was a little surprised by the crushing turnout, Kevin Hill, Hannaford’s vice president of retail operations, wasn’t surprised at all.
“We do very well in areas like this, that are a little under-served,” Mr. Hill said. “We offer a unique service, and this clearly shows a need.”
Mr. Prout noted that Hannaford’s night crew reported customers setting up outside at 11:35pm Friday. Their wait was rewarded with handfuls of coupons and the first glimpse of the new market.
Smaller than most, the store still has plenty of specialty departments––deli, seafood, bakery, butcher shop and pharmacy.
Those departments were popular Saturday, with swarms of customers taking service numbers at the deli counter. But there were others doing their standard weekly shopping.
When Hannaford announced plans for the store a year ago, company officials said they hoped to serve nearby communities but also commuters on Routes 20 and 30.
The store, however, is located far from any other grocery; the Hannaford in Guilderland and Price Chopper in Cobleskill are each 15 to 20 miles away.
It’s that under-served area that Mr. Hill pointed to.
“We’ve gone into areas like this before,” he said. “I’m not surprised by the response.”
“We go to the Hannaford in Guilderland,” said an Esperance resident near the end of the long outdoor line. “Now we don’t have to.”
Hannaford touts the 35,000-square-foot store as “environmentally advanced,” with advanced refrigeration, iceless seafood cases to save water, high efficiency lighting, advanced filtration for storm water runoff and special parking for alternative vehicles.
Mr. Prout described himself as excited, not only because of the new store, but also because he no longer must commute from his home in Duanesburg to Maine––Hannaford’s headquarters––several times a week.
“Now I can shop and work six and a half miles from home,” Mr. Prout said. “I love it.”