Woody's expands selection

Walter Sprague
Art and Culture Reporter
 
When the coffin freezer units broke down several months ago at Woody’s Food Center, gone was the store’s varied selection of ice cream. The few items Woody’s continued to sell moved to a couple of shelves in the meat section. 
“We went down from 24 feet of freezer space for the ice cream to two doors,” said Kelly Wood, owner of Woody’s. “And that did not even fill those two spaces.” 
That has now changed because brand new freezer sections have been installed and restocked with an expanded selection, and not just of ice cream but many of the frozen foods.
“Now we will increase that to five doors, top to bottom of just ice cream,” said Wood.
And it is not just the coffin freezer section along that back wall. The two isles of frozen food in the middle of the store are also new.
“The coffin cases are really a thing of the past,” said Wood, “We could have had the coils of the old freezers rebuilt, but the added cost of Freon and energy costs – it didn’t make sense.” 
The new units use less coolant and significantly less electricity, making them much more cost efficient. Wood said that even the freezers that still worked in the middle of the store used 38 horsepower to run. The new ones use only 17. And he is excited that the new units will increase the volume and selection of all frozen products, but especially the ice cream, which seemed to be something people were missing the most.
“These new units also are easier to maintain,” he said. “And with the LED lighting, it is a lot easier to see the items.”
On Sunday, Woody’s customer Jennifer Smith said that she is really looking forward to the ice cream coming back. This sentiment was echoed by another customer, Stacey VanHelsing, who also said she is excited to see more desserts and better quality in the selections. Michelle Cisar thought that the units looked fresh, and she was impressed with the lighting, making the items much easier to see.
With the expanded space, the higher efficiency of the units and the improved visual impact of the freezers, Wood said, he and his wife, Heidi, are delighted to bring in more frozen items for his customers.
“If there’s something a customer wants that we don’t carry,” he said, “all they have to do is ask one of our employees. We will always check into that and see if we can get it.” 
He laughed.
“But what we hear about most is the missing ice cream. I’m glad we can bring that back and then some,” he said.