Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Big Star History Presented To Club

Terry Dixon, manager of Thomason's Big Star, gave a brief history lesson to members of the Gurdon Rotary Club.

He began with his own career, starting in 1977 at the Arkadelphia Piggly Wiggly store. Dixon started out as a sacker and worked his way into management.

However, he decided to try his hand at different types of work, but found himself returning to the world of groceries.

In December, 1998, when the opportunity arose, Dixon came to Gurdon to work with Big Star and Terry Thomason as manager of the store.

He told members of the club Big Star is supplied by Fleming Foods of Oklahoma City, the largest supplier in the world. The Gurdon store is supplied through Fleming's Benton warehouse, he said.

The Big Star chain is rapidly becoming popular, he said. There are Big Star stores in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Mississippi, with the company expanding rapidly.

Before coming to Gurdon, a survey was done at the Piggly Wiggly store. Dixon said the store, then, was getting 43 percent of the market share available.

This, he said, is good, but Big Star wants to do better. "We want people to shop in Gurdon," Dixon continued, "and help the local economy. We want the store to be something people here can be proud of."

He said there will be different departments within the store, including produce, meat (which will include Country Butcher meats) and frozen foods.

In talking about the meat department, Dixon said there are two good butchers working at the store, who can help make any cut of meat a good one.

He explained the Country Butcher meats would mean people can select the cut of meat they want and have it cut while they wait.

All the meat at Big Star, he said, is graded cuts and approved by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

When possible, he continued, Big Star buys meats from statewide producers, including Petit Jean, Bryant and Swift.

All the produce is supplied by Fleming, with the company purchasing entire crops at a time. This, Dixon said, helps insure Fleming's customers getting the best produce available as the company sends inspectors to farms before making any purchase.

By cutting out the middle man and buying entire crops at a time, Fleming is able to give its customers better prices.

Most other food suppliers, he said, buy their produce sight unseen and have no idea what they'll be getting until it's shipped to them.

Locally, the produce department has been expanded and redecorated. Dixon said sales are up because the department looks better.

Fleming, he added, supplies Big Star with balloons and plants as well. By making its purchases in bulk, Fleming is able to keep prices down.

This, Dixon said, leads to lower shelf prices at the store.

"We're out to satisfy the customer."