ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- If you’ve been looking for a place to fill your craft beer growlers, stock up on your own custom blend of coffee and grab a pizza or bowl of ramen for dinner, Lucky’s Market has you covered.
The new grocery store at 6765 22nd Ave. N in the revamped outdoor shopping area of Tyrone Square Mall had a soft opening on Tuesday. The chain of markets was founded by two Colorado chefs in 2003 and now has dozens of stores around the country, including 15 in Florida.
Its anthem says the company believes “good food shouldn’t be a luxury, it should be a right” and each store puts an emphasis on connecting to the community by giving back to local charities and offering local products.
The store in St. Petersburg, which marks its grand opening with a bacon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, is the first Lucky’s store to get rid of plastic straws in favor of biodegradable paper straws.
Here’s everything you need to know about the new Lucky’s Market.
Drink while you shop
Grab a cart with a cup holder and take a right as soon as you walk into the store because the cafe has $2 pints of beer and $3 glasses of wine to sip while you shop. This week their tap list includes brews from Florida Avenue Brewing and Green Bench Brewing.
Snack while you shop
Offering samples of food at grocery stores isn’t a new concept, but it’s an underrated marketing tactic. Around Lucky’s are rotating samples of products like cheese, fruit and even their bacon. Just try not buying that bacon after getting a taste.
Pun while you shop
The designers with Lucky’s clearly like to have fun and want customers to have a good laugh at the store, even if it’s just over a bag of frozen peaches. Much of the Lucky’s brand products have jokes or puns on the packages like “grasping at strawberries” and “99 problems but a peach ain’t one” on frozen fruit. The department signs get in on the action, too, like “you ferment for me” in the yogurt section.
Award-winning bacon
Lucky’s house-smoked bacon took home accolades from the 2015 Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival in Iowa. At the St. Petersburg store, bacon is always $6.99 a pound and comes in flavors like original, peppered, honey orange and paleo sugar-free. Store director Curt Rotrock said there are always free samples. You can also get it as a topping on maple bacon doughnuts, which are always 99 cents.
Create your own coffee, candy mixes, trail mix and more
The new store has an aisle of different coffee beans that you can grind and mix up the varieties to create a custom brew. The same goes for the candy and bulk stations, where you can craft trail mixes with nuts and fruits. Or you can just bring home an extra-large bag of gummy bears. You do you.
Stations for juices, smoothies, pizza, ramen and sushi
In addition to the traditional deli buffets and salad bars, the store has stations for daily-pressed juices and smoothies with grab and go options. The ramen and sushi bar also had grab and go plates and options for custom noodle bowls and rolls. At the pizza station and the cafe, you can grab two slices and a pint of beer of $5.
Local is the way to go
Rotrock said Lucky’s loves to show off its local products, and the St. Petersburg store is no different. Almost every department has some sort of locally-sourced or created product and they all have a brown label and sign explaining where they’re from. Rotrock said the availability of certain local products like produce depends on the season and availability. On Tuesday, some local products available were fresh basil and Old Florida Gourmet potato chips.
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