The Salvage Store commemorated the move to a new, three-times-larger location in Franklinton on Friday, holding a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by store and local officials.

The store is part of the thrift-focused shopping center that is also home to Dirt Cheap. That business’s move into the old Winn-Dixie site back in November left an opening that was scooped up The Salvage Store. The new location opened at the beginning of February, and an official grand opening ceremony took place Friday morning.

Vice President Derek Feske said the move was motivated by the fact the old location had become a little small for the discount grocery. Many customers had requested the store add some square footage, and shoppers have been responding positively to the new site, he said.

“It’s kind of nice that this building became available, so we’re able just to jog right over one section,” he said. “We certainly didn’t want to jump too far from our location we were already at because it was doing so well.”

Where the previous location was 4,000 square feet, the new one is 12,000 square feet, Feske said. The freezer capacity has also been tripled, and a new rack system was implemented. Customers like being able to “dig” for deals, and the new racks feature banana boxes filled with a variety of items, he said. There is also more space between the aisles, along with more product in stock.

The store specializes in closeout items and does closeouts of complete inventories, Feske said. At the end of the holiday season, for example, The Salvage Store will purchase the entire stock of items with a snowflake or Santa Claus printed on them, he said. The store also features an entire section of frozen chicken and a range of other items.

Additionally, The Salvage Store plans to add fresh-cut meat to its list of products. Feske said it will not be a full butcher shop, but staples like rib-eye steaks will be available.

The merchandise offered is never the same, and regular customers tend to stock up when they find an item they like, Feske said.

“It’s not too uncommon to see people loading up cases and cases and cases of one particular item because we try to make everything here a deal,” he said. “We’re striving to be the cheapest on all the staple products, even if we have to sell them for cost.”

The Salvage Store has two other locations, one in Bogalusa and one in Folsom, and a 52,000-square-foot distribution center in the Bogalusa Industrial Park, where products from all over the United States are received, processed, priced and then shipped out to the store’s locations, Feske said.

Feske’s father, Ron Feske, is president of the store, and those at the business enjoy working with the citizens of Franklinton.

“We love Washington Parish, and we love Franklinton,” Derek Feske said. “It’s one of our favorite locations. The people are always really nice, and they’re a pleasure to deal with.”

The store is open each Monday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. and on Sundays from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Information about the locations, store hours, history of the business and more is available online at mysalvagestore.com.