Big R held a grand reopening this weekend at its Warsaw location.
Big R owner and CEO Jerry Gibbs, as well as the company's owner and CFO Jerald Shearman, were on hand at the Warsaw location and talked about some of the upgrades.
The store now has new floors, new shelves and is using more of its 95,000 square feet of sales space.
Those increases also include more space for the Carhartt brand, which Gibbs said is one of the store's biggest sellers.
Customers also will notice new cash registers, said Gibbs.
Gibbs said the reason for Big R's success is its appeal to people who live in rural areas, farmers, ranchers, hunters, sportsmen and do-it-yourselfers.
Big R is based out of Illinois with 11 locations in Illinois and Indiana.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday, $50 gift certificates were given away every hour.
New signage marks different departments of the store now.
And one department that the owners cited was the sporting goods department where there is now a large selection of handguns and long guns.
Gibbs said someone can go through the whole approval process to get a gun in-store.
Big R opened up its Warsaw location in 2004 in what was formerly Walmart.
Gibbs said that buying up existing buildings, typically Walmarts that have outgrown its space, is part of the company's business plan.
Many of the renovations made during the grand reopening was to make the building less like Walmart and more like a Big R.
Gibbs also said that during the remodel it was important to use local workers.
Big R is open Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sundays 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
