By Michael Bushnell
Northeast News
May 25, 2016

With three weeks of operations back under their belt after a six-month closure, management and staff at Snyder’s Supermarket at Independence and Prospect are planning a blowout grand re-opening celebration this Saturday that promises festivities and events galore.

“We’ve re-vamped the store from the outside walls in,” said General Manager Jennelle James, who’s overseen the clean up and rebuilding of the store. “We’ve quadrupled the size of our meat case and more than doubled the amount of dairy and frozen items we carry. This is a new era for Snyder’s.”

In addition to hundreds of discounts in this week’s sale ad, Saturday’s grand re-opening will include a ribbon cutting by Mayor Sly James along with officials from the Northeast Chamber of Commerce and the Independence Avenue CID. Hot 103 Jamz will be broadcasting live from noon until 3 p.m., and Lutfi’s Fried Fish will be offering samples of their delicious fish and smoked chicken.

Bobbi Baker-Hughes, President of the Northeast Chamber, is excited to have Snyder’s back online.

“We’re especially pleased the James family chose to make this kind of investment in the Historic Northeast,” Baker-Hughes said. “We’re excited to have them back as part of the new landscape on Independence Avenue.”

“Snyder’s Grocery has been a great civic partner for many years,” added KCMO City Manager Troy Schulte. “In a situation where others would have pulled up stakes, the City appreciates the decision to remain and reinvest in the Northeast community. We extend our congratulations on the re-opening of the store.”

Store owner Jerry James will be cooking up free hotdogs, and there will be pony rides, free ice cream and cake for the kids, and hourly giveaways throughout the celebration.

“We’ve made a number of changes in operations to better serve the Historic Northeast community,” said James. “We’re going to be more aggressive in our pricing and offering more sale items on a weekly basis. We’ve even hired Chris Kavadas to come in and really get us back on track.”

Kavadas has a long and successful history of fine-tuning urban grocery operations with strategic sales planning and customer service. Grand Opening festivities start this Saturday, May 28th at noon and run through 3 p.m. Snyder’s is located at 2620 Independence Boulevard.