MERIDIAN, ID - A new stop has been added to the U.S.'s quintessential quirky summer road trip. Joining the likes of the World’s Largest Ball of Twine, Baseball Bat, and Rocking Chair is the World’s Largest Albertsons, setting up shop in Meridian, Idaho. The new location is 40,000 square feet larger than the current reigning biggest Albertsons, weighing in at 110,000 square feet.

“Joe Albertsons was an innovator, and when he opened up his first store, it was 10,000 square feet, and at the time, it was really unheard of, one of the largest supermarkets in the Treasure Valley,” Albertsons Intermountain Division President John Colgrove said to 7KVTB. “Today, this store that we’re opening is 110,000 square feet so, if you think about it, you could fit 11 of Joe’s first stores inside of this store.”

The new location is part of the grocer’s next-generation format, called Albertsons Market Street. But while it fits the typical market street grocery store format, Albertsons Spokesperson Kathy Holland said that the increased volume of products available on the store's shelves sets it apart from any other.

“We tore down all the walls, redid the foundation and kind of built the inside, but kept the outside shell. We built the building inside to what we were looking for. As you walk around the store you can see, it doesn’t seem like such a large space. It doesn’t seem so overwhelming, like warehouse-style," Holland said to the Boise Dev.

The store boasts perks like a large produce selection with items not found in other stores, made-from-scratch deli and bakery salads, a popcorn station, a live lobster tank, an indoor wine cellar, and an expanded seafood and butcher block. It also features Cadence Kitchen, which provides shoppers with a wide assortment of prepared and ready-to-go foods.

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Albertsons