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The grand opening of the new Dillons grocery store on the University of Kansas’ west campus brought a large crowd of 7 a.m. shoppers.
Doors opened Friday morning at the 2205 Iowa St. location, situated in The Crossing at KU, the university’s multi-use development.
Seth Hinkle, store manager, called the project a labor of love. He gave recognition to members of his team standing behind him.
“From the first shovel in the ground to opening doors today with the grand opening, every step has been driven by our commitment to serve the community — and better than ever before — with this location,” Hinkle said.
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As the new location is part of a community improvement district, there will be an additional 1.5% sales tax for everything purchased there for about two decades. The state does not charge a sales tax for most groceries anymore, but city and county sales taxes of 1.6% and 1.25%, respectively, still apply. The tax rate for groceries purchased at the new Dillons will be 4.35%.
Store hours will be 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
A more than $30 million capital investment, the store is the first major retailer at The Crossing. It has several food departments, Murray’s Cheese, Starbucks, and pickup for online shopping and delivery. The pharmacy will offer a drive-thru lane, which was not yet open as of Friday.
A mural by Lawrence artist Kent Smith adorns the left side wall in the front entryway. Dillons partnered with the Lawrence Arts Center to commission Smith’s artwork, which captures the essence of Kansas with sunflowers, Monarch butterflies, prairie and more.
“I want it to feel like a hug,” Smith said.
Project partners celebrated the groundbreaking around a year ago, in October 2024. The Dillons location at 1015 W. 23rd St. will close now that the new location, which is 30,000 square feet bigger, is open. Additionally, 150 more associates were added.
The store is the first in the division with a refrigeration system that uses carbon dioxide as the primary refrigerant, and per-store emissions are expected to reduce by more than 200 tons of CO2 equivalent annually.
Steve Dreher, Dillons division president, said the relocation was a huge undertaking.
“I want to say a big thank you to all of our store teams across the city of Lawrence,” Dreher said. “As we closed one of our stores down, which is always tough, as we get ready for the new store, our other three stores had to absorb that business, and they did a phenomenal job of doing it, but they inherited a lot of business in a short amount of time.”
The store also launched a food drive Friday. Volunteers with Just Food of Douglas County and the KU Campus Cupboard will collect donations through the weekend. All nonperishable foods are welcome. Some of the most needed items include peanut butter, pasta and pasta sauce, soups, granola bars, cereal, and canned protein.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at [email protected]. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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