Welcome to Village Foods…
We are the new owners, but you will notice all your favorite employees are still here. We kept everyone employed – and we’ve added some more people too.
Village Foods is locally owned. We live right here in Brazos County with you. (Did you know that for every $1 you spend locally, 45 cents stays in the community? If you shop at a chain, the community only keeps 14 cents.*)
If you have been shopping at AppleTree on Briarcrest Drive for the last 20 years (or any portion of that), then you may be worried about what we are going to do with your store. Well, we hope to continue to provide all the things you wanted before – and to provide great options in case you would like to eat a little (or a lot) better.
Most of the merchandise we offer will be the very same as you have been buying. We have consolidated space (and eliminated low-demand items) so we could add more than 7,000 new natural, organic, or better-for-you items.
Our intent is for this assortment to save you time by allowing you to get everything you need in one trip, to one store. (We believe it will improve and extend your life too, but you may not be ready to hear about that yet.)
The old freezers have been replaced. The new equipment holds more merchandise and it is much more energy efficient.
We’ve added a bulk natural foods department. This allows you to buy healthy items in exactly the quantities you want – at the lowest possible prices.
We’ve added an enormous Gluten-Free department. 1 out of every 133 people in America has some degree of wheat intolerance. We want to make sure you have the very best assortment to choose from if this is something that impacts you or someone in your family.
We’ve improved our deli seating area by replacing the old tables and putting in new flooring. (My Dad also built a cool pergola to cover everything.)
Our new deli sandwich prep station is the same as what you would see at Publix in Florida or Georgia. We buy locally roasted coffee. The equipment we use to make our Latte's and such was so expensive that I reckon it must have come from another planet.
Our pharmacy can now accept e-scrips. (Did you know our pharmacist has won four World Championship titles in Taekwondo? He’s so humble. We can’t help but brag about him.)
Our new cash registers are faster. The credit card readers actually work. (Sometimes it’s the little things that are so exciting, right?) They even save paper by printing the receipts on both sides.
Not everything is new. We are still the only grocery store in town that unloads your groceries for you, rings them up, bags them, and then takes them to your car and puts them in your trunk. Heck, if you invite us over, we may even help you eat them. (THAT would be new.)
Our store isn’t as big as the chains build them. But we’re big enough to be able to carry everything you want – and not so big that you have to spend half your day walking from one side to the other.
We couldn’t afford to decorate ours like they can either. (We call our décor, "Mom & Pop Rustic.") Local Texas Aggie Artist Benjamin Knox (’90) worked with us to make the store look nicer. You will have to come see our huge murals of some of his most popular work. They truly reflect the history – and the spirit – of Aggieland.
All things considered; our décor still exposes us as an honest –to-goodness, mom-and-pop grocery store. And that is what we are.
We are so appreciative of those who have shopped at the AppleTree on Briarcrest Drive for the last 20 years. We hope you will be as excited as we are about the new direction for this store – and we humbly ask that you tell us how we are doing – the good, and especially the things you think we can do better.
We are locals, serving locals. We are here to serve YOU.
Sincerely,
Jim, Melora, Lynnsey & Cassie Lewis
PS – We can’t leave without taking this opportunity to tell you that the our Farmer’s Markets are every Wednesday from 4-7pm right in front of the store. We want to do everything we can to support local growers and producers.
*SOURCE: simple-green-frugal.blogspot.com
