Southwest Missouri News--Hollister

by Carol Harris, Branson area, and Mary Engler-Guccione, Joplin area

The 22nd Consumers Food & Drug Store is scheduled to open Sept. 27 on U.S. Highway 65 in Hollister. Dave Miller, president of Consumers, which has its headquarters in Springfield, said the 43,000-square-foot store was furnished at a cost of about $1.5 million.

The new Consumers is the anchor store in phase I of a seven-phase project under development by local businessman Steve Redford.

Miller said the store has a 20-year lease plus options with Redford, and Fall Creek Construction of Branson is the contractor for the development.

About 120 part-time and full-time employees have been hired, most of them from the Hollister area, he said.

Among the store's features are a six-restaurant food court with in-store seating and take-out meals, a fresh seafood department, a floral department and a

full-service pharmacy which includes a blood pressure monitor and customer seating.

"Each department is its own entity," Miller said. "More square footage is also dedicated to perishable fresh food presentations than the traditional grocery store."

Customer services will include Western Union money orders and money transfers, an ATM machine, state hunting and fishing licenses, lottery tickets, pre-paid phone cards and a mail depot.