Fareway opens new store in Ogden, continues business model to include small-town locations

Three years ago, the lot on the corner of Walnut and Third streets in downtown Ogden was the charred rubble of Clark's Food Mart.

On Tuesday, dozens of local residents and leaders from the community gathered to celebrate the ribbon-cutting of a new Fareway store on the site. Now, Ogden residents can purchase groceries in their own community instead of taking the 30-minute round trip to nearby Boone.

“(It’s been) 1,108 days since we stood here where there were groceries. It’s been three years since we had a grocery store here in Ogden,” said Craig Christensen, president of Ogden Legacy, the local economic development group.

With 8,700 square feet of new construction, the store is smaller than Fareway’s business model for larger communities, which average about 21,000 square feet.

A fairly new foray for Fareway, the Ogden store is the third store in a smaller community. The first location was in Colfax and the second was in Rockwell City.

More:Boone voters will be asked again to fund a wellness center, this time at McHose Park

Despite its smaller footprint, the Ogden store has a full-service meat counter and produce department.

“It’s a small store with a big selection,” said Jeff Keinroth, Fareway supervisor. “It turned out really nice — we’re thrilled with it.”

The store has two full-service checkout stands, which feature Fareway’s famous to-your-car carryout service. There also is a self-checkout option, and online ordering with curbside pickup is available at Shop.Fareway.com. Customers can save on their first online order by using the code, OGDENFIVE, to receive a $5 discount through Dec. 31.

Ogden leaders did a lot of groundwork, research and market assessment to spur the project. Christensen credited CyBIZ, the Iowa State extension service and the Boone Chamber of Commerce with assisting with that foundational work.

He also thanked Brent and Sherry Clark, longtime owners of Clark’s Food Mart. “After the store burned, they were willing to work with Legacy and the city to help get this project going,” Christensen said.

“I never dreamed this would happen,” Brent Clark said after the ribbon-cutting. “After the store burned down, I thought that was it. I’m very impressed with the new store — the variety and the cleanliness and the brightness.”

Boone County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mike Hammond said the success of the Fareway project is due to the work of community visionaries.

“We look forward to seeing both Fareway and the city of Ogden continue to grow in the years to come,” Hammond said.

Fareway's agreement with Ogden requires building more homes

Community growth is factored into the agreement between the city and the grocery store chain. It involves a commitment from the community to add about 150 homes over the next 15 years.

That might sound like a big ask for a town with a population of about 2,000 people, but Christensen said Ogden is already seeing results.

More:Fareway makes foray into small communities, adds Venmo, PayPal to all stores

“In the past year, we’ve had 25 homes that have either been built, are under construction or are permitted in our school district,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of developers talking to us. Right now, there’s a lot of interest and it’s happening, so that’s cool.”

That synergy is part of what makes Fareway CEO Reynolds Cramer interested in opening Fareway stores in communities that are smaller than the company’s traditional market.

“It’s creating a bigger community in this county, all striving for the same mission,” Cramer said. “That is to bring people here, to create homes, jobs, services, great restaurants, on and on. We hope that we can just be a catalyst in this community to continue what you’ve already started and grow it and grow it and grow it.”

“Thank you, Fareway. I know you build stores all over the Midwest, but when you build one in a small town like ours, there’s a lot more to it than just getting groceries sold,” Christensen said. “This is going to help our community, help our school, help our businesses, help our surrounding area, and keep our town thriving.”

A young Fareway fan helps with the ribbon-cutting

Three-year-old Clark Lage was riding in the car with his mom one day several months ago and saw the construction going on at the new Fareway site.

On his way to preschool, Clark, the son of Brian and Mikael Lage, would roll his window down and yell a greeting to the construction workers at the site.

“All the Dean Snyder Construction guys would wave back and yell, ‘Good morning,'” Mikael said. “It just made his day.”

She emailed the company to thank them for the lovely difference they were making.

Clark was invited to visit the construction site and was given his own hard hat with his name on the front, which he wore for the ribbon-cutting. Clark, who turns 4 on Friday, was held by Cramer and helped hold one end of the ribbon as it was being cut.

The new store’s grand opening is Wednesday. The store is managed by Quentin Holder, grocery manager, and Nathan Campbell, market manager. Located at 302 W. Walnut St., the store’s hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Ronna Faaborg covers business and the arts for the Ames Tribune. You can reach her at rlawless@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Fareway opens in Ogden at site of burned down Clark's Food Mart