And in early 2015, a kitchen in the grocery store’s basement, where foods are prepared for the store’s deli case, will be extensively renovated at a cost of about $300,000, Mayne said.
Earlier this year, DLM purchased a new $180,000 oven imported from Germany to bake its crusty European-style breads adjacent to its Washington Twp. store, and is in the early planning stages of expanding its operations there to build out a 7,000-square-foot addition where DLM’s popular “Killer Brownies” would be produced, Mayne said.
The improvements at DLM come as competition in the grocery market intensifies, especially in suburbs south of Dayton, already home to Kroger, Dot’s Market, Earth Fare, Sam’s Club, Trader Joe’s, Meijer, the two other Dorothy Lane Market stores, and the recently opened Costco Warehouse. And the market will soon include a new Whole Foods store under construction in Washington Twp. and Fresh Thyme, which is building stores in Sugarcreek Twp. and Beavercreek.
Last week, the owners of Town & County Shopping Center announced Trader Joe’s would expand by 25 percent to 12,500 square feet during the first quarter of 2015.
Mayne said the improvements to the Oakwood store — which was built in 1953 and updated multiple times since — have been on the drawing board for years are not related to the new stores moving into the market – at least, not directly.
“We’re not doing this for competitive reasons, but more for efficiency,” Mayne said. “But we’re also aware new competitors are coming to town.”
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