A New Chapter For Glasgow's Albertsons

The new Albertsons store in Glasgow opened its doors to certain members of the public on July 24, including local business owners, Glasgow Area Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture directors and community members, to participate in the Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony of the new Albertsons store, located at 54151 US Highway 2 E, Glasgow, which previously held the Shopko building.

The Grand Opening event started off with speakers from the corporate level of Albertsons including Albertsons President of the Intermountain Division John Colgrove, Facilities and Compliance and Operations of the Albertsons Company Tom McIntyre and Albertsons Intermountain Division District Manager Chris Slaght as well as Glasgow Mayor Rod Karst and Glasgow Store Manage Jameson Fercho.

"This is the day that we really close the chapter of our book that we're writing and start another chapter of our book tomorrow," stated Colgrove. According to Colgrove, the previous Albertsons store has been a part of the Glasgow community for about 75 years where it was built as a Safeway store, and then transitioned to a Buttrey grocery store. In the late 90's Albertsons purchased Buttrey, and the Glasgow store transitioned.

"The store's been around a long time and has serviced this community for many years. I know a lot of you probably have had a lot of experiences in there. Probably some personal relationships were developed. There're so many wonderful things that happened because it's not just a grocery store," explained Colgrove. "We are so, so excited to bring this community, Glasgow, Mont., so excited to bring our best to your community. We may have changed stores, but we're never going to change our service and our commitment to making sure that we bring a great grocery store to you."

The process of a new Albertsons store in Glasgow started at the end of 2019 / beginning of 2020, before the COVID pandemic. A special warranty deed was filed with the Valley County Clerk and Recorder's Office in Jan 2020, stating the property had been transferred to Albertson, LLC. The pandemic delayed construction as well as the after effects of the pandemic including high construction costs. There were also other plans within the Albertsons company and divisions that had other priorities which would have resulted in the opening continuing to get pushed back if it wasn't for senior members of the company as well as Glasgow manager Fercho advocating for the store.

Though this new store has been years in the process, according to Fercho, it's been worth the wait. With the new store being double the size, the various departments of the grocery store have also grown. "We have an expanded hot case, now offering mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, stuff for snacks, grab-and-goes. The produce section is huge, we are almost tripe the size in our wet rack. The meat department is double the size, and then we are now offering the Butcher Block, which just brings a whole other aspect to it. We have just been able to bring a lot more offerings," explained Fercho.

In addition to the new offerings of food, the new store also includes a Starbucks and an eventual pharmacy, which is still in the progress of being completed to open to the public. When the pharmacy does open, it will also provide a drive-thru option on the side of the building.

Glasgow native and current Albertsons Facilities Compliance and Operations employee Tom McIntyre was also present at the grand opening celebration and had the opportunity to speak about how far the Glasgow store has come. "If you think about it, a 15,000 square foot box down the street, now this 25,000. We got Starbucks, we got a butcher block, amazing offerings for this community and fresh items," he explained. "I do work with a team that builds boxes like this and maintains them. But we rate the stage. We're the ones that build the stage but the real stars are the products and the people and the services that we provide."

Prior to the ribbon cutting event, Albertsons provided $3,000 each to the local community including the Glasgow Fire, Long Run Fire, Glasgow Police Department, Special Olympics and Glasgow Public Schools. "Our company was built on a foundation of giving back to the communities it serves and we are proud to continue that tradition. Supporting those who tirelessly improve the lives of others. So, it's my pleasure to be able to award some of these checks today," expressed Fercho.

After the speeches and accolades of how hard the team has worked, how hard Fercho has worked and been supported by his family in this endeavor, the ribbon cutting ceremony occurred with Fercho cutting the ribbon with Albertsons staff and the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture Executive Director Lisa Koski.

Doors to the store officially opened the morning of July 25 and the store has constantly stayed busy since.

"As you step through the doors, we want to make sure that you guys know that we're committed to giving the best customer shopping experience we possible can. The heart of our Glasgow store is the incredible team store associates and members in your community as well. They'll continue to go above and beyond to make sure that your visits are exciting, that they're easy and that they're always friendly as well," stated Slaght.

The new store will be open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday through Saturday, which is an hour earlier than the previous store. The change of hours is to be able to accommodate Starbucks which is currently open Monday through Saturday. The new address is 54151 US Hwy 2 E, Glasgow, MT 59230.