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Updated 04/30/2012 08:34 AM

Price Chopper opens first of its kind store in downtown Saratoga

Price Chopper has been in Saratoga Springs for more than 70 years but on Sunday, the company opened up a store that's unlike any other in the grocery chain. YNN's Matt Hunter gives us a look inside.

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SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – "I think this is the kind of thing that those of us who live in this neighborhood have been looking for, so I'm really excited," Saratoga Springs resident Betty Rice said.

Price Chopper has new digs in downtown Saratoga. On Sunday morning, the doors opened at the grocery chain's first of its kind Price Chopper Limited on Railroad Place.

"I'm really excited about it,” Rice said. “It's beautiful, it's bright, everything looks fresh."

"It's really exciting,” said Linda Harvey-Opiteck, a Saratoga resident and one of the store’s first shoppers. “It's small, a lot smaller than the regular [Price] Choppers. I really like it a lot."

The more than 18,000 square foot facility replaces an older store that spent years on the same block.

What make it unique is that it sits on the ground floor of a luxury condominium complex, just a short walk from Broadway.

"It's an exciting new concept for us and definitely a good feel this morning," said Jessica Morin, the director of Price Chopper’s zone two.

As the name suggests, the store's offering is slightly less than what customers will find at the company's larger stores. Despite its size, there are still more than 14,000 items on the shelves, with a heavy emphasis on prepared foods: perfect for people in an urban environment.

"I think Price Chopper keeps evolving to our customer and giving them what they need and what they ask for and we absolutely listen to our customer," Morin said.

Company executives are using the store as somewhat of a test subject. If the concept works, they'll likely replicate in other downtown areas.

If Sunday's first shoppers are any indication, that might happen sooner than later.

"It's just like being able to run in here, get what you want, get familiar with it, it's really good," Opitech said.

"It's wonderfully convenient because we live across the street, so just take a couple hundred steps to get here is just terrific," Rice said.