Dillons stores continue to thrive in Springfield market

While the supermarket scene seems to be undergoing continual change in Springfield, one constant has been Dillons Food Stores.

Dillons opened its first Springfield store in November 1977. That store, which was on South Campbell Avenue, has since relocated to 1707 W. Battle-field Road.

"Now there are five stores in Spring-field and one in Joplin," said Dennis Gaschler, executive director of administration for Dillons. Gaschler said there are no definite plans for any future Springfield area stores at this time.

The most recent Dillons store to enter the Springfield market was the one at 220 W. Plainview Road, which opened in August 1999. Other locations are: 2843 E. Sunshine St., 1260 St. Louis St., and 1831 W. Kearney St. "The store on East Sunshine opened in 1979, and we just recently completed a remodel of that store," Gaschler said.

Dillons is one on Springfield's largest employers with 581 employees in the Ozarks, according to the 2002 Spring-field Business Journal Book of Lists.

Along with a pharmacy, deli and bakery, some newer Dillons stores include Chinese kitchens and expanded delis, as well as fresh seafood cases and full service meat departments in the larger stores.

"We continue to implement the one-stop shopping concept and we do very well with that," Gaschler said. "We pay special attention to our salad and soup bars. For people who need quick, nutritious meals on the go, it's a great convenience factor."

Many stores also have pharmacy drive-throughs, and Dillons leases space to banks to provide added convenience for shoppers, he said. "All of our new stores and many remodeled stores have branch banks."

Still more developments are in the works to further accommodate Dillons shoppers. Some of the Kansas stores now have fuel centers, although none are planned for Missouri stores at this time. "We're also in the process of installing self-checkout lanes," he said. "That allows people to take control of their time by checking out their own groceries."

All of these time saving features provide convenience, Gaschler said, "which is a necessity for consumers today."

Based in Hutchinson, Kan., Dillons has 110 stores, primarily in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, with one store in Oklahoma and one in Arkansas.

In Missouri there are 18 stores in 10 towns, Gaschler said. "Seven are under the Dillons banner, while the others are under the Gerbes banner." The Gerbes stores are located in central Missouri and Columbia. The majority of Dillons stores are located in Kansas, with 74 stores in 33 towns across the state.

Dillons has been a division of the Kroger Company since 1983 when Kroger purchased Dillons Company, said Gaschler. With its headquarters in Cin-cinnati, Ohio, the Kroger Company (NYSE:KR) is one of the nation's largest grocery retailers, with fiscal 2001 sales of $50.1 billion, according to the company's Web site.

"Kroger has 2,418 stores operating under about two dozen different banners," said Gary Rhodes, spokesman for Kroger Company. Kroger also has 41 manufacturing plants for its private label products. "We have between 4,000 and 5,000 private label items in our stores, most of which we make ourselves," he said.

Rhodes explained that the economic downturn has played a role in consumer shopping habits. "In weak economic times, shoppers tend to buy private label products, because they see they are as good as or better than brand name products, at a lower cost," he said. "Our private label sales have increased significantly over the last several years."