Post updated at 5:44 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9:
Dillons has announced a grand opening date for its new location within KU’s mixed-use development on west campus, featuring live music, a mural dedication, and a chance to win store gift cards.
The new Dillons location at 2205 Iowa St., in The Crossing at KU development, will open its doors at 7 a.m. Friday, Oct. 17, with a ribbon-cutting.
The Dillons at 1015 W. 23rd St. is closing and relocating to the new Iowa Street space, with much of the staff moving over, as well. According to a news release from Dillons, the new store has added 150 associates and 30,000 square feet, reaching a total of 86,000 square feet.
As the new location is part of a community improvement district, there will be an additional 1.5% sales tax for everything purchased there for about two decades. The state does not charge a sales tax for most groceries anymore, but city and county sales taxes of 1.6% and 1.25%, respectively, still apply. The tax rate for groceries purchased at the new Dillons will be 4.35%.
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The Big Jay mascot will be present for the grand opening, with the KU University Band performing. Samples will be available, and customers can enter drawings for numerous gift cards and prizes.
At 8 a.m., there will be a community celebration featuring remarks from Dillons and community representatives, followed by a mural dedication with the Lawrence Arts Center.
Follow-up story:
• New Dillons on KU’s west campus opens, Oct. 17, 2025
A community food drive in collaboration with Just Food and KU’s Campus Cupboard will kick off at 10 a.m. All nonperishable foods are welcome. Some of the most needed items include peanut butter, pasta and pasta sauce, soups, granola bars, cereal, and canned protein, according to a spokesperson for Dillons.
The new Dillons will have Murray’s Cheese and Starbucks shops, curbside pickup and delivery, and a drive-thru pharmacy.
“Notably, it will be the first store in our division to feature a refrigeration system using CO₂, an ultra-low global warming potential (GWP) natural refrigerant,” according to the release. “This system is expected to reduce per-store emissions by more than 200 tons of CO₂ equivalent annually — the carbon equivalent of approximately 234 acres of U.S. Forest in a year.”
The new grocery store will be a feature of the live-work-play development on the university’s west campus, called The Crossing at KU.
The Dillons grand opening announcement comes one year after they first broke ground on the Iowa Street location.
Store hours will be 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
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Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
