Fricker’s in VW, Marsh changes name

Van Wert independent/contributor content

A couple of new signs have gone up in Van Wert, but only one of them indicates a new business is coming to town.

Fricker’s restaurant will be opening up at the end of the month, bringing its menu of chicken wings, quesadillas, and other sports bar food to the Van Wert community. The restaurant chain, which started in 1985 with a Dayton restaurant, now has 18 restaurants operating, with 16 of those in Ohio and one each in Michigan and Indiana. The Van Wert restaurant, the 19th, is expected to open June 30 with a ribboncutting held that day by the Van Wert Area Chamber of Commerce.

The menu also includes steak, fish, chicken fillets, ribs, shrimp, salads and other items.

In addition to the menu, Fricker’s also has “wall-to-wall” televisions showing various sporting events, including auto racing, and major team sports.

There is also a kids’ menu for children 10 and under. The restaurant is located in the Shannon Station shopping center off Fox Road.

The other sign is one that now hangs on the former Marsh Supermarket on South Shannon Street. The MainStreet Market sign is part of a plan by Marsh to operate select stores under a new banner.  Stores in Van Wert, Troy and Union City, were officially converted on Thursday, June 9.

The business rationale for “MainStreet Markets” ^® is based on an increasing need to better position many of Marsh’s smaller and more traditional facilities with offerings and services consistent with consumer preferences in these store’s trading areas.  MainStreet Market® will build on the foundation of local community involvement, fresh, high quality perishable products, fast and friendly service, fair pricing, and weekly specials on popular staple items.

This move represents a refinement of Marsh’s existing two-banner store strategy that was launched in late 2006 and included the renovation of 90 percent of the Marsh store base. That strategy bannered many of the smaller stores as Marsh Hometown Markets, while renaming many of the larger stores with broader departmental and product offerings, Marsh the Marketplace.

“Consumer research has consistently indicated that while our initial strategy aimed to better position and differentiate our stores according to their size and varying consumer demands, the fact that both banners continued to operate under the Marsh name limited our ability to do so,” said Joe Kelley, Marsh Chairman, CEO, and president. “Operating under the name MainStreet Market^® will enable us to take the best of what Marsh stands for in these communities and add a much more customized marketing approach for these stores,” he added.

Glen McClellan, one of the managers in Van Wert, said the change would allow smaller stores like the local one to provide more appropriate advertising specials to their customers.

“The Van Wert store is 27,000 square feet, while some of the larger stores are 40,000 to 80,000 square feet,” McClellan noted, adding that the larger stores stock more items than Van Wert. Because advertising was done for all Marsh stores together, the local store often did not have all of the items listed in advertising materials.

With the new branding, McClellan said, smaller stores will now have their own advertising, which should provide a more accurate list of special items carried in those stores.

However, customers will have to switch from the Marsh Fresh Idea cards to ones especially tailored to the MainStreet Market store concept.

In addition to emphasizing weekly savings on basic, staple items, MainStreet Market^® will offer its shoppers the opportunity to take advantage of the increasing number of electronic savings and offers that technology is making readily available. The MainStreet Reward$ Card will provide shoppers a means to receive special rewards and discounts instantly, replacing the Marsh Fresh Idea card. “Senior Savings Club” and “MainStreet Moms” are two such programs that will provide seniors and new moms extra savings.

Other than a facelift for the local store, McClellan said customers would still see the same people and few other changes here in Van Wert.

“They really didn’t change much locally,” he noted.