Jerry’s Thriftway expansion now complete

Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
PRICE CHECK — Jerry’s Thriftway owner Jerry Violette checks the prices on the new line of hardware  items recently added to his Island Falls store. The expansion added about 1,000 square feet to the grocery store, located at 63 Houlton St.
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    ISLAND FALLS — For 23 years, Jerry’s Thriftway owner Jerry Violette has looked for new ways to provide the best possible service to his customers. That service has included adding new product lines and expanding the building over the years.
    This past winter, Violette started, what he hopes to be, the final expansion at his grocery store when he added about 1,000 square feet to the building. The space was formerly used as the Horn of Plenty restaurant, but has been vacant for some time. Instead of trying to find another potential suitor, Violette decided the best use would be to expand his grocery store. The new area features an extensive line of hardware items, particularly plumbing material.
    “We have a lot of campers in the area,” he said. “We had more and more calls for items like this, so we finally did it. We just seem to keep adding and adding.”
    Jerry’s Thriftway now covers the entire building located at 63 Houlton St. As stores located in the plaza have gone out of business over the years, he has expanded his grocery store to include just about everything a person could want. Viollete owns the block, but with no other space left to take over, further additions may not be looming on the horizon.
    Violette said he left the most recent spot empty for nearly a year, with no serious inquires, so he ultimately decided to expand his grocery store instead of leaving it vacant. Aside from the usual grocery items, Jerry’s Thriftway also has a pizza/deli area with items made to order; a large selection of movies on DVD; and a wide array of liquor and wines.
    Violette did a lot of the construction work for the renovation project with staff members, which helped reduce the cost considerably. The shelving for the new area came from a business in Fort Fairfield, which was going out of business.
    “It kept us busy during the winter,” he said.
    Violette got his start in the grocery business in 1977 as a grocery bagger working for Jerry and Bud Bell. In 1988, he bought Al Ellis’ store and that was the beginning of Jerry’s Thriftway in Island Falls.
    Jerry’s Thriftway continues to meet the grocery needs of the Island Falls area. The frozen food section has grown considerably over the years from 10 to 32 freezer doors with a large selection of popular items for customers. The store also has an expanded beer case with a large selection of imported and domestic beers.
    The pizza oven was put in about five years ago as a way to draw more customers to the store.
    “We expanded the deli and decided to put in fresh pizza when the place up the road closed,” he said. “They were buying all of the items to make their pizza, so I decided ‘Why not make them ourselves?’ Some nights, it’s just crazy the way pizza sells.”
    Recently, Violette had to find a new supplier for groceries when Associated Growers of Maine went out of business. For about 10 days, the store was without a supplier of fresh groceries, which caused the shelves to thin dramatically. The store is now dealing with Associated Growers of New England, which allows for even more products to be obtained, he said.
    “A lot of the items that we had lost over the years from AG of Maine we found were available from AG-New England,” he said. “So we were able to bring back a lot of items people used to like and added a whole lot more.”
    Jerry’s Thriftway has nine employees and is open Monday-Wednesday from 7 a.m.-6 p.m.; Thursday-Saturday from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.; and Sunday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. For information call, 463-2828.