Rapid City, S.D. – Natural Grocers was packed to the brim Wednesday for the grand opening of the newest grocery store in Rapid City.
This is the second Natural Grocers in South Dakota, the first being in Sioux Falls and now Rapid City.
It’s located at 855 Omaha, which is the old Albertsons building, and specializes in organic foods and specialty diets.
Katie Macarelli, the Director of Personal Relations for Natural Grocers, said, “People are excited about our 100% organic produce. We work with a lot of folks that are gluten-free or vegetarian or keto. Folks that are really into supplements. So people are excited that we’re here and we’re offering additional options that might not have been here before.”
People waited in long lines during the grand opening to get a chance at some gift cards, sweepstakes for an e-bike, and free bags for the first 500 customers.
The store officially opened at 8:27 a.m. this morning—a very specific time—with a specific reason behind it.
Macarelli went on to say, “We cut the ribbon and let folks in this morning at 8:27 a.m. That is our normal opening hour, our normal time. We like to give you a few extra minutes, so instead of 8:30, maybe you got to get to work, and those three extra minutes really count. So you can come in at 8:27 a.m. and then on the other side it’s 8:36 p.m. So you get six extra minutes at night.”
Natural Grocers also partners with Feeding South Dakota, donating $2,500 during their grand opening. They will also be donating 5 cents for every reusable shopping bag a customer brings in.
Aaron grew up in Farmington Minnesota, just south of the Twin Cities. He went to college in Orlando Florida at Full Sail University studying sports broadcasting.
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