Pat and Helen Burns, owners of the new Drexeline ShopRite, beamed like proud parents as friends, family, community leaders, and others expressed their approval of the new store, writes Peg DeGrassa for the Daily Times.

The supermarket had an official opening Friday with a morning ribbon cutting, but a Thursday night crowd was given a sneak preview of the state-of-the-art store.

“I started here as a worker in 1980, so to be here, in this new store today: I feel exhilarated,” said President and CEO Pat Burns, a lifelong Delaware County resident.

The supermarket is the anchor store for the new Drexeline Town Center, a revamped retail site at 6000 State Road in Drexel Hill.

The new store, at 72,000 square feet, is double the size of the former store that was leveled last spring.

Jeff Beaky of Ridley Township, the store’s manager, said they listened to the community when they built the new store.

That means wider aisles, more variety, and larger selections of seafood, wine, and beer.

There’s a second-floor eat-in café, daily prepared fresh entrees, made-to-order sandwiches and pizza, an in-store bakery, a meat department, a full-service deli and a drive-thru for curbside pickup

Read more about the new Drexeline ShopRite in the Daily Times.