They built it and they came.
The long-awaited opening of a new Market Basket supermarket in north Concord on Friday brought droves of shoppers who packed the parking lot soon after the store opened at 7 a.m.
The crush was expected to be so intense that Market Basket employees were called in from as far away as Massachusetts to help with the launch.
Cashier Kathleen Wright came from Chelmsford, Mass., to work at the new store on Friday and Saturday.
On Friday morning, Wright was helping Emily Wible load her groceries in her car.
“I’ve always been a Hannaford girl,” Wible said. “But I’ve been really disappointed since the pandemic with how Hannaford’s stock has been, so I’m new a believer.”
Wright was happy to point out that Market Basket is known for lower prices than competing supermarkets and for keeping its stores stocked.
The supermarket, which is located off Exit 17 of Interstate 93 at a new shopping plaza called Merchants Way, includes more amenities than Concord’s other two Market Basket stores, like a sit-down cafe with wi-fi and a larger selection of prepared and ready-to-eat food. However, the biggest thing that sets this store apart from the other two in Concord is space.
At 81,000 square feet, the new store is two-thirds bigger than the Market Basket at Fort Eddy Road and nearly triple the size of the one on Storrs Street.
Wible said she was wowed by the new store.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” Wible said. “I’m a switcher. I’m going to be switching.”