LE CLAIRE, Iowa — LeClaire residents will have a new place to get their favorite foods starting Wednesday.
A new Fareway grocery store will be opening, located at 1301 Eagle Ridge Rd. It's the same location that used to house Slagle's Foods, which closed in 2019 following the owners' retirement. Since then, LeClaire residents haven't had access to a full-service grocery store.
The new Fareway will offer butcher counters, farm-fresh produce, to-your-car carry-out, self-service checkout, online shopping and curbside grocery pick-up.
On Tuesday's ribbon cutting, customers got to shop early, enjoying the fresh offerings already.
"This is great," LeClaire resident Buzz Rekers said. "We've been waiting a long time for this."
Rekers had a sliced loaf of bread in hand while talking to News 8's Jonathan Fong, claiming the tasty goods will be his downfall. When asked if he plans on coming to the store every week, he replied, "Maybe more than once a week, when that bakery smell comes up."
Sara Gravert was at the store with her kids and usually has to drive out of town for groceries.
"Just into Bettendorf, but that's 20 minutes, so it's nice to have something here," she said.
Like Rekers, she is looking forward to the freshness.
"Especially the meat case — it'll be really nice for after work, to just be able to grab something and take it home, and grill it," Gravert said.
It might also mean a future for her family. "It's great for the kids to get their first job, so we're excited," she said.
Their journey might end up being similar to market manager Justin Neilson's. "When I was 14, I was working on the grocery side of the company, just carrying out groceries for customers," he said.
Neilson and his family were at the ribbon cutting. They've traveled across Iowa as Neilson worked at seven different stores before ending up back in Davenport. "Lucky enough, they built one in our backyard here in LeClaire, and now we're part of this community."
The store will open to in-person shoppers at 7 a.m. on Aug. 30, but the store is already taking online orders that can be picked up on opening day. Normal hours will be 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
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