From the amplified sunbeams shining through the Solartube lighting above to the polished floors below, Fairmont's new liquor store is pretty impressive. "It's been very busy," manager Molly Meyer said.
"A lot of people are curious. They've all said how beautiful it is."
And big. That's been another frequent comment. City employees heard some criticism as the building was under construction that it looked as small as the old store, but no one said that after walking into the place.
"It does look bigger from inside than it does from the road," Councilman Wes Clerc said on a tour the City Council took Monday evening.
The new building is about 10,000 square feet - nearly double the old store.
Most of that space is taken up by the sales floor. The building has three checkout lanes, a bar for wine and beer tasting, wine racks, a huge inventory of liquor, and an enormous beer cooler.
"It's the largest beer cooler in southern Minnesota," Meyer said, "and by the time we're done, we'll have the best variety."
The store's inventory has increased about 50 percent. That includes not only new products but new sizes of existing products.
"We've been keeping a lot of customer requests for the last year," Meyer said. "... We're not just buying off the cuff."
The additional space means some prices will be dropping as the store is able to take advantage of merchants' buy-in-bulk specials.
"Having the ability to merchandise things properly is a real advantage for our customers," Meyer said. "And hopefully it should help the bottom line."
In back, the improvements from old to new continue.
"You'll see we've made some significant improvements," City Administrator Zarling said, as he showed the storage space and loading area.
"You can see they've been busy," he said, pointing to a dozen stacks of cardboard bales and empty boxes of liquor still waiting to be compressed.
Meyer figured workers unloaded 633 cases over the weekend, preparing the new store for opening day.
Previously, liquor store staff had to handle every case a minimum of three times. The product was brought into the building with a two-wheeler, and each case was lifted onto a slide to shoot down to the basement, where someone caught it and quickly set it on the floor to catch the next case. After being arranged in the basement, the cases were later carried upstairs as needed to stock the shelves.
"That building was dilapidated and literally falling down around us," Meyer said.
Now, what used to take half a day is done in less than an hour, without all the backaches.
"It is a godsend to my staff and myself and our delivery guys," Meyer said.
Trucks can back up into an interior loading dock, and wheel the product out on pallets. The back door to the beer cooler is wide enough for the pallet jack to drive through.
"Talk about safety - this is way safer than before," said Councilman Andy Lucas.
Built for $1.8 million, including purchasing land off Highway 15, the store will be paid for entirely through revenue from liquor sales.
Some of the bells and whistles that went into the building should ultimately pay for themselves, like the Solartube lights.
"We've tried to make everything as energy efficient as possible," Zarling said.
Excess funds, when available, will help with city projects.
"I can get very passionate about what I do here, because I know where the money goes and how much it helps this community," Meyer said.
