Grocery store will open soon at local center
By Bonnie Edwards
Published in News on July 31, 2008 1:46 PM
A new IGA grocery store is going up at the site of the former Key Foods store on Wayne Memorial Drive.
Carlie C's is part of the Independent Grocers Alliance, which is made up of more than 4,000 stores nationwide.
News-Argus/Bobby Williams
Carlie C’s IGA will be opening on Sept. 3 inside the old Key Foods building on Wayne Memorial Drive. The independent grocery store will likely employ more than 100 people.
Carlie C's is a chain of a more than a dozen stores in the state. Company president Mack McLamb said he expects to hire about 110 people to work at the new store, which is expected to open Sept. 3, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
Employment applications are being accepted at the store today and Friday. Applications will be accepted every Thursday and Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
The company's headquarters is in Dunn, where McLamb's parents opened their first store.
"Our business was started with my father running the meat department and my mother running the cash register, and they are still active in the business today," McLamb said. "We are really looking forward to serving the Goldsboro community, and we want to be an integral part of the community because we are 'Hometown Proud.'"
"Hometown Proud" is the IGA motto.
At Carlie C's, stocker-baggers like Bradly Mullens and Alan Pennington, who were hired last week, will continue what McLamb describes as the independent store's long-time tradition of having bagger carrying groceries out to customers' vehicles.
He said customers at Carlie C's will also find signature items unavailable in other supermarkets, such as an in-store-made nine-layer chocolate cake, and "heat-n-eat" items such as "Uncle Bob's Collards" made with country ham seasoning.
The store also will make Carlie C's famous sausage on-site, as well as a pecan pie made from scratch that McLamb describes as "incredible."
They also will offer fried chicken made from "fresh chickens instead of pre battered frozen chickens."
In addition, McLamb plans to buy an assortment of local produce brought in directly from Wayne and surrounding counties, and cut his beef and pork every day, on site, with no preservatives or marinades added.
"You just pay for the meat and nothing else," he said.
Other amenities will include a pharmacy where customers can drop off their prescriptions while they shop.