New flooring, coolers highlight upgrades

By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

If you’ve stepped inside Mills Country Market in the past few weeks, you’ve likely seen the sleek new look to the dairy and meat sections of the grocery store on Miller Street in New York Mills. The Muehler family, Tim and Terri with son Tyler, decided it was time for an upgrade to their aging cooler systems.

“We replaced the dairy case and added on to it,” said owner Tim Muehler. “We replaced the meat case and unplugged seven pop machines to save energy. We couldn’t match the tile floors, so we did the same flooring of the produce and part of the meat area that we did a couple years ago.”

Muehler said that the planning for the updates starting in January during this past year’s unseasonably warm and snowless winter. Once the plans were in place, the quotes for equipment and supplies were in and the grant from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture was approved, Mills Country Market was abuzz with activity starting in early October.

“Actually it was really quick,” said Muehler. “October 7 is when they first took out our old dairy case. Tuesday the 8th is when all of our cases showed up. By Tuesday afternoon, the dairy case and pop cooler was running already and we filled it up the next day. The morning of the 9th is when they took out the old meat cooler. By 3 o’clock that afternoon, that meat case was running.

“Then Thursday, we filled the meat cooler up,” he continued. “Then the flooring was the week of the 21st. Tyler and I pulled out the tile and then the 17th is when they came in to coat the floor to get it prepped. The laid the floor in a day and a half, the 21st and 22nd of October. By the 22nd, we were completely done.”

Muehler said the need for the updates was because of the aging equipment and the need for more space for additional items as well as to increase the energy efficiency of the building’s coolers.

“The old dairy case was a 1973 case,” said Muehler, “Dean Simpson said that was original to this building. We have never had air conditioning in the store, we’ve never had to have it because the loss of energy of the open cases cooled the whole store down all summer. We never had to have it since we bought the store seven years ago.

“There isn’t much to the cases with the fans and the shelves, but with the loss of the energy and everything else, that was the 24 feet that we replaced and we actually added on 20 feet, for a total of 44 feet of the case,” he continued. “It takes a fifth less energy than the other one.”

Muehler said that since the installation, there has been an uptick in store visitors, as well as a lot of positive feedback on the new coolers. With over 50 new items stocked in the dairy cooler and 20 in the meat case, the selection has never been better at Mills Country Market.

“There’s two things we can’t control,” said Muehler. “The people walking in the door and energy—if we can cut back energy somewhere, this should be substantial. The energy savings, not only with the new cases but unplugging seven pop machines.”

Muehler said that with the replacement of the leaking coolers, he anticipates the need for air conditioning for the building by next summer. There are three AC units outside the grocery store’s building, but they have gone unused. He said that he is also looking into the use of the cooler compressors to do that job for him.

“Our compressors run 24/7 to cool everything down,” he explained. “So in the wintertime, we have reclaimed heat off those compressors that we recycle. Last winter, we never used a stitch of gas or electricity to heat this building, it was all from the compressors.

“They have new ways of doing the air conditioning from the freon that goes through the compressors too,” he continued. “So we’re going to be looking at that. That would be basically free air conditioning, but it would be more economical air conditioning.”

Muehler wanted to especially thank the teams from Winkels Carpet Center, Graham Refrigeration, and Schik Electric for their professional and timely installation, as well as Mason Brothers Wholesale and his own team at Mills Country Market for their job working around the construction and making sure everything was stocked in time for customers to see the new updates. He also mentioned his wife Terri’s support in the whole process as a keystone to the success of the business as a whole, as well as his son Tyler’s contributions and visions for the future of the store.

“Terri and I are very much pro-New York Mills and want to make sure this store stays,” said Muehler. “We’re trying to get this set up for Tyler to take over because we want it for the community and we want it to stay. We hope it helps for people to stay in town and offering more things so they don’t have to travel out of town.”

With the holiday season rolling in, Mills Country Market will be hosting a Taste of the Seasons from 3-6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13. A variety of the new products the store has stocked will be available to taste and purchase as well as a few vendors who will be showcasing their unique products, perfect for holiday meals or for something quick to much on at home.