At the corner of Clarkson and Clayton Roads, the vacant Straub’s was replaced with a new grocery store, Lucky’s Market, that opened on July 28.

According to their website, their goal is “to offer the best quality for the finest value from our family of stores to your family. Responsibly. Sustainably. Remarkably.”

The first Lucky’s Market  grocery store opened in 2003 in Boulder, Colorado. It recently came to Columbia, Missouri, and is now close to home in Ellisville. They highly support local farmers and organic foods.

Orlando Sledge, store director at Lucky’s Market, deals mainly with store conditions, sales, and customer service. He said the associates and customers in the store create a great environment.

“I really like the culture of the store,” Sledge said. “It’s very free flowing and feel good.

In superiority over other local grocery stores like Schnucks and Dierbergs, Sledge said the overall look and associate interactions are better, and the customer feedback they have gotten has been very positive.

Lucky’s Market is trying to become a leader in the business and get involved with the community, and being in the local heart of the city helps a lot.

“Having Lifetime Fitness next to us is a big help and a big draw for sales,” Sledge said. “We want to do more events and get more involved with the community.”

Danny Mazzier, junior, has shopped at Lucky’s Market multiple times since it opened in July.

“It’s an extravagant grocery store,” Mazzier said. “The food is really healthy, yet still very good, so it makes me feel great.”

Mazzier said the atmosphere makes him feel welcomed and happy.

“Everyone who works there is really laid back and nice,” Mazzier said. “They have happy music playing in the background all the time.”

On the other hand, Tyler Morris, junior, had a different opinion of the new grocery store. He didn’t like the openness of the store, and he said it seemed unorganized.

“When I went there it was hard to tell who was an employee because all they were wearing was a black apron,” Morris said. “It didn’t seem very uniform.”

Morris also said the workers didn’t seem very friendly, and the store didn’t have as many popular brands and options as other grocery stores like Schnucks and Dierbergs.

However, Morris said the upper level of the store was laid out nice and really helped to better the atmosphere.