SUPPLY
ADDITIONS
Keepingup
As demand expands, so does store
u
By Rachael Eilts
and more apparent.
nited Ag customers will soon
see their shopping experience
transformed. Instead of browsing the crowded aisles of a 6,000 square foot
space, they will be greeted by a store that will
be more than twice as big with several new
features, and a lot more to choose from.
Roppolo said that many customers are
not aware of all of the products United Ag
has available because there is no shelf space
for them. “In our farm supply store now,
we have many items that are not displayed,
therefore customers do not know to ask for
them,” he said.
Work is currently underway for the new
store, which will be located in the area that
once housed the fencing supplies at the current location.
Not only will United Ag be able to display
more of its current products, it plans to expand its variety of inventory. “Pex plumbing
fittings, hot water heaters, archery supplies,
fishing supplies, chicken supplies, cookware,
pool supplies, RV supplies, solar water wells,
more ag parts and a home décor section are
just some of the new products we will carry,”
Rodgers said.
Kurt Rodgers, the manager of the farm
supply store, and Jimmy Roppolo, general
manager of United Ag, both agreed that the
change was necessary — the current location
was getting way too small.
“The need to expand our store has been
long in coming, especially for customer service and the space to show what we have for
sale,” Roppolo said.
With a constantly growing customer base,
the need for expansion was becoming more
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The new store will also house an outdoor
lawn and garden department.
More inventory is not the only change customers will see. Rodgers said plans include
new departments, more space between aisles,
four checkout counters and a two-lane drive
thru between the store and warehouse.
Roppolo said the added space gives United
Ag the chance to provide more customer service. “The extra room will allow us to put on
seminars for different phases of the season, like
fertilizer, planting, gardening and lawn care.”
Ken Shanks is the architect and BLS Construction of El Campo is doing the work on
the building. BLS was chosen after a bidding
process during which seven firms submitted
bids. “BLS is a local company that has years of
experience and a good reputation,” Rodgers
said. “They also did our first expansion of our
current retail store.”
Construction is coming along at a steady
pace, and the projected timeline for completion of the project is spring of 2014. Roppolo
said Shanks, BLS and United Ag meet about
every two weeks to discuss progress and
handle any conce