We’re planning to be open by the end of May. We’re hoping to get it done sooner, but nothing’s for sure.”

Jim Zupancich

COOK - The countdown for the highly anticipated opening of the new Zup’s Market in Cook is now a matter of weeks rather than months if all goes according to plan.
“It’s on schedule,” Jim Zupancich said Monday. “We might have a couple of setbacks, but we’re planning to be open by the end of May. We’re hoping to get it done sooner, but nothing’s for sure.”
Ed Chaney, project manager for general contractor DBS Group, said Tuesday that construction is running ahead of schedule right now, something he wasn’t sure would be the case when they started work last October.
“The day we started this project the temperature was 19 below,” Chaney said. “We’ve been pumping concrete in, pumping water out, and pumping heat in this whole time. You don’t build right through the heart of the winter in northern Minnesota and get it in on time, but here we are.”
Chaney was cautiously optimistic the 18,000-square-foot store will be ready to open by the middle of May.
“We will get some stuff that’s going to run behind, knowing full well that’s just the way the world is right now,” Chaney said. “If we can get a few things early, then if a few things come late we’re OK. We’ll see what the weather brings and what the truckers bring but building-wise we’re in real good shape.”
Zupancich said he doesn’t anticipate any problems filling the store with merchandise when the interior work is finished.
“Our warehouse has been pretty good to us,” he said. “They’re going to put that store on priority only because it’s a new store and they want us to open it right. Right now, they’re allocating a lot of product coming to us. They want us to have whatever it takes to keep it open.”
However, both men acknowledged a wild card that could impact their timeline.
“We’re hoping this COVID-19 is not going to slow the operation down,” Zupancich said.
“I’ve worked (for DBS) for 25 years and we have never missed one date. I probably shouldn’t even be saying that,” Chaney said. “I hope this COVID thing isn’t the thing that flips us over.”
Chaney said he and his subcontractors are doing their best to prevent any coronavirus-related delays.
Workers have their temperatures taken every morning and aren’t allowed to enter the site if they’re showing any signs of illness, Chaney said. Tools are sanitized every morning and portable toilets are sanitized twice as often as required. Two hand-washing stations are available.
“It’s hard to get hand sanitizer right now, except for our porta stations,” Chaney said.
Face masks are encouraged but optional once workers are in the building. “If they feel comfortable inside they usually don’t wear them,” Chaney said. “We’re trying to maintain that six-foot distance even inside. Now in construction you know that’s not going to happen all the time. But we’re doing the best we can with it.”
Restricting access to the site adds an extra element of prevention. “Typically, we don’t let anybody on the site,” Chaney said. “The vendors even have to stay in their rigs. We’re trying to keep it as healthy and clean as we can.”
The precautions appear to be successful thus far. Chaney said he hasn’t had to send anyone home for possible illness, and two workers with cold-like symptoms who chose to stay away have since returned to work.
“We know everything in there is safe,” Zupancich said. “We want to be sure it’s kept safe, clean, and sterile. You’re never going to see a more sterile store than that one. It’s all brand new.”
It’s not only shoppers who are eager for the store to open. For many, Zup’s is an employment opportunity.
“We have a lot of applications coming in,” Zupancich said. “We’re going to need people. That’s getting very close.”