GARRETT — A ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday celebrated the official opening of Miller’s Market in Garrett.
The LaGrange-based family business purchased Garrett New Market at 1350 S. Randolph Street in early May.
The interior has been extensively remodeled in the last six weeks; refrigeration has been replaced, and a hot food department has been added. Aisles are wider and the layout has been changed with the aim of creating a better shopping experience.
DeKalb Health has committed to add a pharmacy at the store, with work to begin in the next week or two, according to Miller’s owner and President Garry Miller.
Garrett joins nine other Miller’s Market locations in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan, all primarily supplied by SuperValu, based in Fort Wayne.
Shoppers lined the checkout lanes following the opening Friday, but business had been brisk all week, according to manager Chris Hoeffel. Sales at the store set a record by midweek, with three days to go, he said.
“The customers are great!” said Garry Miller. “They have shown lots of support.”
Miller thanked Mayor Todd Fiandt and City Planner Milton Otero, the City of Garrett and family members among others following the ceremony.
“We are very appreciative and glad to have them here,” Fiandt said about Miller’s Markets. “We are excited to have a wonderful grocery store with many new additions. I’m sure they will have plenty of support from the community, and they will give back to the community, as well.”
Miller’s Markets was founded in 1958 in Wauseon, Ohio, by the late Joseph Miller. His son, Garry, began working for his father as a teenager and assumed control of his own store in LaGrange in 1973.
As opportunities arose, the Millers purchased stores in smaller communities in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana and a management team was put in place. Current locations include LaGrange, Rome City and Nappanee in Indiana; Battle Creek, Michigan; and Montpelier, Genoa, Clyde, New London and Lodi in Ohio.
Garry Miller’s children, Jennifer Wooster, Joe Miller and Mike Miller, joined the company several years ago to assume greater management authority. Third-generation grocers Joe and Mike Miller are vice presidents with the company. All three attended Friday’s opening, along with many family members who have been busy working on the changeover of the Garrett store.
The former Foodland Market in Garrett, owned and operated by Tom Caprino of Marion, Ohio, was built in 1965. That 7,000 square-foot building now houses the NAPA store on South Randolph Street.
In April 1981, Caprino opened the doors to the new, 11,500 square-foot, Caprino Foods just north of the original site, built at a reported cost of $1 million. The store later became Lance’s SuperValu and Garrett New Market.