Progress is underway on the new Edwards Food Giant grocery store in the former Stein Mart building in North Little Rock’s Lakewood Village Shopping Park. Gary Proffitt, vice president of operations for the Arkansas-based grocery company’s GES Inc., said the target opening date for the new store is Wednesday, April 3.
Rhett BrinkleyThis will be the company’s ninth Food Giant store. GES Inc. operates four in Little Rock, and one each in Bryant, Brinkley, Marianna and Harrisburg. The company also operates six Cash Saver supermarkets that feature cost-plus pricing (items priced at cost with 10% added at checkout). In 2018 Arkansas Times raved about the Edwards Cash Saver in downtown Little Rock at the corner of 17th and Main streets, calling it dependable, welcoming and “hands-down the cheapest place to buy beer in town. Best of all: Edwards is home to an outstanding hot deli counter on the right-hand side of the store.”
North Little Rock’s Levy neighborhood has a Cash Saver at 3801 Camp Robinson Road.
Proffitt said the company’s decision to open a North Little Rock Food Giant came down to the location. Lakewood Village, located just off McCain Boulevard, is a highly trafficked retail area. Many tenants of the complex have come and gone over the years (Lakewood 8 movie theater, Tuesday Morning, Books-A-Million, Mexico Chiquito, Dixie Cafe, to name a few), but some have been there for decades (CiCi’s Pizza, Fridays, Olive Garden, Orient Express, TCBY). Owned by the Ashley Group, the retail center landed some well-known tenants in 2023 that include Crumbl Cookies, Rock N Roll Sushi and Brewski’s Pub & Grub.
Edwards is known for its meat department, which features a Pick 5 program (mix and match five meat items for $19.99) and its reliable daily hot plate lunch specials. Proffitt said the company’s new outlet is allocating a lot of space in the 34,000 square-foot store to perishable items like meat and produce, and will take the opportunity to try out some new ideas and trends. The deli area will feature a traditional olive bar, as well as a burrito bar and an Italian section with fresh take-and-bake pizzas and pasta dishes. They’ve partnered with a new vendor for sushi, and a chef will be preparing it on site.
The store’s butcher department features two specialized coolers in an effort to upgrade their dry-aged beef offerings. The coolers are designed to run at 38 degrees, and they will age the meat for an optimal 28 days, Proffitt said.
There is also a space at the front of the store with its own entrance and coolers devoted to online shopping orders.
“This is the first time we’ve been able to dedicate space to online shopping and do it from the ground up and do it right,” Proffitt said.
The new store also has offices upstairs. Proffitt has already moved in.
“I was in an office space behind the Cantrell/Mississippi store. We’ve outgrown it,” he said.
If you’ve been watching the space for a while, it might seem like progress on the store has been drawn out. When asked about the timeline for construction, Proffitt said that at one point in late 2022, production halted so Edwards could focus on getting the new Cash Saver open on Colonel Glenn Road to replace the Kroger that shut down in August 2022. That Cash Saver store opened in March of last year.
Proffitt said he expects the North Little Rock store will hit the April 3 target opening date.
