There’s once again a grocery store open in the former Marsh building on McGalliard Avenue.  The Kroger-owned Pay Less is the first of two that will locate in Muncie.  And, as IPR’s Brittney Ermon reports, many Pay Less employees helping customers have familiar faces.

Of the 100 associates hired at Pay Less, 48 worked previously at Marsh. One of them is Matt Jones.  Jones is the Pay Less store manager and says he gave 22 years to the now-closed grocery store.  He’s excited to move forward.

“There’s a lot of emotion. I’m looking forward to most is getting started and feeding the human spirit. Which by the way is what Kroger is all about. By feeding the human spirit to our customers through a zero-shrink that we have. We don’t want to waste our food we want it to go to the community. Not only that, we want to feed our employees through positive reinforcement.”

Pay Less workers ready the McGalliard Ave. location for opening earlier this week.

District Manager Bryant Clayton described the transition from Marsh to Kroger as smooth with the help of the associates and staff. He stressed Kroger’s excited to give back to the Muncie Community and develop a good relationship.

“We feel so happy and honored to offer so many positions to bring so many people in the workforce in the Muncie community.”

The company started by giving to several area non-profits.  The Salvation Army received a check for $25,000.  Miller Poultry, a Kroger supplier, donated 6,800 pounds of poultry products to the Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana.

The soon-to-be two Pay Less locations won’t be the only new choices in town, with a Fresh Thyme store being completed just a few blocks away on the same road.  Clayton says he’s not worried about competition.

“Customers have anywhere they choose to shop for, but I want to make them have an experience at this store that makes them want to return. By making sure they can come in, we back our ads 100 percent, they get what they want plus a little, and we always have associates that are engaged with friendly faces and develop good relationship with our customers”

Muncie Mayor Dennis Tyler says he’s excited about the new business in town.

Products waiting for new customers earlier this week.

“I’m really looking forward to Kroger and Pay Less being a great community partner. They’re already doing a great job with a lot of things throughout the community. I love the choices that they’re bringing to our city and everything we have here.”

The new Pay Less store will be open every day from 6:00 AM to midnight.  The company’s second location on Tillotson Avenue is expected to open sometime in March.