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On Wednesday, Publix at Merganser Commons officially opened for business and many customers eagerly went shopping, happy to have the grocery store on that side of town.

Located at 2200 Vernon Road, the 46,000 square-foot store offers departments for grocery, dairy, frozen food, seafood, meat and fresh produce as well as a full-service bakery, deli and pharmacy with a drive-thru.

“We are very excited for the opening of our newest Publix at Merganser Commons at Hills and Dales Farm,” said Nicole Krauss, Publix media relations manager. “We look forward to continuing to provide premier service and quality products to long-time customers and welcome new ones from the community of LaGrange.”

Store Manager Dale Smith said the store is excited to be open for business.

“We’re so happy to finally be open. We’ve been looking forward to this new store for a year now, and it’s great to finally get the doors open for our treasured customers,” Smith said.

Smith worked previously as the store manager of the Commerce Ave. Publix.

“I’m very familiar with the customers that have been coming in from my time over at the Commerce Ave. location. We’ve been talking a lot to customers, and they are so excited that we were going to be over here so that they don’t have to travel through the traffic to the middle of town to get to us anymore,” Smith said. “I am very excited I get to come over here and still see a lot of the customers I know.”

Opening day of Publix at Merganser Commons at Hills and Dales Farm was met with many local customers who were excited about having a Publix closer to home.

Abbie Hubert said the new location is a great convenience for her shopping needs.

“I’m excited about the new Publix opening, it is convenient for the area, and it’s really exciting that we have a new store in town that everyone loves and is accustomed to,” Hubert said.

Billie Ann Baker said she’s happy she doesn’t have to travel across town to get to Publix anymore.

“It’s nice not to have to go across town. With the Chick-fil-A here close by, I am excited about what else may be coming,” Baker said.

Ethel Kelly said with the new Publix in her neighborhood she’s excited about other stores coming.

“This opening of the new Publix is wonderful. It’s absolutely wonderful and convenient. I can’t tell you how nice it is not having to go all the way in town to get to the other one or to go to Walmart to get quality food and produce. I am very excited for what this area is shaping up to really be like, and I can’t wait to see what other stores may come to the area,” Kelley said.

Upon seeing the support of the community, Smith said it felt good to get such a positive response to the opening.

“George Jenkins, our founder, was very big on community support. He has always given back to the community, and we’ve kept that going for 93 years. We give to the community and our community really supports us — it’s a two-way street. We do everything we can to support the community, and they’ve really turned out and supported us nicely today,” Smith said.