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• New County Market caters to CU

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Walking into the new County Market located at 331 Stoughton St. in Campustown has a similar feeling to walking into a corner grocery in Chicago. Set to open today, the new County Market is half the size of its usual floor plan; however, from characteristics such as smaller grocery carts to slightly narrower aisles, the organization makes it perfect for regular grocery shopping or a quick grab-and-go. In order to cater to the college demographic, County Market has added more hot food options made to order as well as meals to go.

Director of Deli Operations Tim Fink described some of these: “Chicken will be a big part of that, chicken tenders. There will be a casserole of the day, a hot sandwich of the day and the sides that go with that.” Fink added: “In addition to that, we are going to be doing a made-to-order grill offer, which will include a third-pound Angus hamburger or cheeseburger. Then we will offer a rib-eye sandwich, pork tenderloin and then the traditional grilled chicken and breaded chicken sandwiches.” Besides the option to order grilled food, County Market will be bringing something else back to campus. Fink said, “We are going to be offering Garcia’s pizza by the slice. Garcia’s recently left the campus area, so we are going to be able to bring it back.”

If you think the deli sounds pretty complete, it is not done yet. Fink described the other two offers: “There will be five different sandwiches on a couple different breads with some unique twists. They are not really unusual, but they are different.” Then, if you are not the grill, sandwich or pizza type of person and are looking for something equally satisfying but perhaps more healthy, the deli is your stop, too. Fink said, “We are also doing a hand-tossed salad bar. They are large salads that are packed as a meal; it is not a side salad. I’m sure you have eaten a salad where you get about halfway through and all you have left is greens; in this case, because we hand toss it, all of the ingredients get mixed through as well as the dressing.”

So you get the idea that the deli counter at County Market will be more than just that. Not only will there be numerous options for a fresh made-to-order meal but it is reasonably priced. Fink said, “We understand that students are always under the gun for dollars, but with the economy the way it is, we are trying to be sensible to everybody as well.” If you are not looking to grab a quick bite to eat on the spot, don’t worry ... you were not forgotten. Fink said, “In our self-service refrigerated case, we are also going to have what we call our ‘cookout meals to go.’ Whether it be fresh sides or fresh turkey, there will be a lot of things there that you can take home and pop in your microwave. Again, they are not leftovers. Everything is made fresh to order, and then we chill it so you have really good quality food to go home to late at night.”

As you can see, a lot of thought went into how to cater to the needs of County Market’s new location. Director of Operations Tod Engle talked about County Market’s direction with the Stoughton Street location, “We have some different deli items we really don’t do in most of our stores, but we thought it fit this crowd very well, so we are fine-tuning our staff with that right now.”

The pleasant organization and quick food options will make this grocery store a one-stop shop for many students. Engle said, “You can get things done, eat, drink coffee and we have the WiFi and power for people and their laptops.”

County Market is bustling with employees putting the final touches on the floor. Regarding the interior design, Engle said, “That is our biggest concern, opening a store that is this pretty. We are concerned that they may walk in and see this beautiful store and think this place must be high priced, but County Market in town is known for its low prices; we are very competitive. We want to make people understand that this place will be on the same price structure as our other stores.”