By KEVIN NEVERS

By 7:30 a.m. they were standing in line in the cold to be one of the first 200 shoppers and receive a certificate for a free bag of groceries.

By 8:30 a.m. the lot was full to capacity and they were parking wherever they could find a space: along street curbs, next to traffic islands.

Inside the aisles were jammed, shoppers were weaving their carts through and around the throngs, and smartly dressed men in suits were wheeling grocery bags to customers’ cars.

The new WiseWay Foods at 1560 Pioneer Trail opened for business today, and Dunelanders swarmed it early in search of good deals, cool giveaways, and a glimpse at what 63,000 square feet will get them.

A lot.

In fact, WiseWay President Don Weiss told the Chesterton Tribune, the new store is exactly three times larger than the old one at 801 Broadway.

Shoppers familiar with the old WiseWay will quickly notice an improved layout. For one thing, the total number of check-out lines has doubled, from six to 12. Gone are the choke points in produce, and there is plenty of room now to maneuver in the area of the delicatessen and bakery. The aisles are slightly wider and much longer, the freezers are more rationally disposed, and the general flow of the store is vastly smoother.

But it’s the increased selection which customers may appreciate the most: a produce section at least three times larger than the old one, a discounted foods section also much increased in size, a seafood counter, a smokehouse, a sprawling natural foods section, and a floral department.

Look for some small but nice touches too. Have a taste for olives? There’s a bar full of them in produce. Some fine cheese? There’s a dedicated cooler stocked with imports by the deli. And if you’re finding your shopping trip a bit tiring, take a seat and have a cup of coffee on the house in the customer lounge.

Weiss was clearly delighted with the turnout. “This is the best opening we’ve ever had,” he said.

Customers appeared to be delighted too. “I think it’s great thing for Duneland,” said Jeff Trout, a member of the Chesterton Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals. “WiseWay has proven to be a community-minded business and they’ve done a great job with the store.”

“I got here early today and the line was already so long,” said Bonnie Trout, executive director of the Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce. “People are so excited. I’m so excited. There’s a wonderful selection here.”

A huge selection actually, and Mary Dunlap of Chesterton did take note of one immediate disadvantage of the new store’s size. “It’s hard to get to know because it’s so big, “she said. “But we’re liking the prices. It’s great.”

Maggie Hultman of Porter was equally enthusiastic, although sad as well to see the Broadway location shuttered. “I think it’s great,” she said. “I am sorry. The other end of town needs a grocery store and I’m sorry the old one was closed. But this is a great store. I love the natural foods. And the floral department.

The Broadway location may not be vacant forever, though. At some point it could be the home of “a different kind of food store,” Weiss said. “As we’ve said before, we’ve got to take a breath and see how things are going here. We’re considering re-opening it in a different format. What that might be, I’m not willing to talk about right now.”

“We loved that other little store,” he added. “If we could have gotten the real estate and doubled its size we would have. That would have been the easy thing to do. But it wouldn’t have been the best thing to do for our customers or the neighborhood.”

WiseWay is not unmindful of the seniors who—without access to vehicles—were able to walk to the Broadway location. And as part of its “Giving Back to the Community We Serve” campaign during February, WiseWay will donate to local organizations $1 for each customer who visits the store every Wednesday, up to 1,000 customers. Today’s recipient will be the Porter County Council on Aging, which in turn will use that donation to make 1,000 passes available to seniors for bus rides to and from the new WiseWay.

“We really care about the customers who live around the old store,” said Sandy Horne, director of human resources for WiseWay.

The other three recipients: Feb. 9, the Duneland YMCA; Feb. 16, the Duneland School Corporation; and Feb. 23, the Chesterton Volunteer Fire Department.

WiseWay is holding one other special promotion to celebrate the grand opening: sweepstakes drawings in which lucky customers will win, among other things, a 2005 Harley Davidson 883 Sportster, a big screen television, a three-day/two-night weekend getaway to one of more than 100 hotels and resorts and $250 in spending money, and four 18-speed bicycles.

The new WiseWay is open 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.

Posted 2/2/2005