Cee Bee Food Store: Hi-Tech But Hometown

If you're like many Edmonson County residents, you work in Bowling Green or another neighboring county. While you're there, it's very likely that you shop, run errands, and take care of other business there, too. The Cee Bee Food Store, however, is working hard to keep the 31 year-old Brownsville grocery store up-to-date and relevant with today's families. Co-owners Jeff and Cindy Rich say that the store is reaching out to younger shoppers with new technology, methods that haven't yet been utilized in many similar businesses.

The store now offers things like text alerts, Facebook promotions, online sales ads, and a ground-breaking iPad Kiosk Sign-In System that gives loyalty awards and other offers. If you haven't visited the store in a while, you're probably thinking, "An iPad Kiosk in the Cee Bee? I thought they only sold country hams and lard?"  Well, you're wrong. Just about any item you'd find in a super-center or box store can be found at Cee Bee, and at prices that are comparable to the bigger stores. "So many people drive right by here twice a day," said co-owner Cindy Rich. "They think that they're saving a ton in the big stores, but they're really not." 

Jeff and Cindy Rich, owners of the Cee Bee Food Store in Brownsville since 2007.

Photo of the iPad sign-in system at the entrance next to the shopping carts.

So just how "hi-tech" is the Brownsville grocer? Well, for starters, most customers are impressed with the store's brand new iPad Kiosk System, which is set up beside the shopping carts as you enter the store. You simply use the touch screen to enter your name and cell phone number (not to be shared, of course) to sign up. You'll now receive three text alerts per month, each one offering a different  promotion. After that, each time you visit the store and sign in, you're automatically entered for a weekly $50 shopping spree, and after 5 separate visits and sign-ins, you'll be eligible for  $5 off your next purchase of $50 or more. 

Jeff Rich also says that just because they're now using technology to appeal to younger shoppers doesn't mean that the hometown feel will change. "We offer customer service that you don't get in the big stores. Our people make the difference," he said. "We'll always be a hometown grocery store with friendly people in a hometown atmosphere." Cindy also noted that while iPads and computers are popular in today's times, the service you get from folks like Wilma Browning, long-time store manager, simply can't be replaced.   

The store also sells many unique products and services that folks sometimes forget about. Things like an in-house experienced butcher who provides custom cuts of high quality meats, meat trays, fruit and vegetable trays, fruit baskets, and gift certificates, good for any amount and occasion. You can click here to visit their Facebook Group, which will soon be a new and improved page to better serve shoppers. You can also view and download a digital version of the weekly sale ad while interacting with the page to stay informed on the latest sales and promotions.

So sign up on the iPad system and stay connected to Cee Bee. After your 5th visit you can get a discount...one that you might use to buy either a country ham or a can of Red Bull...and everything in between. 


Darren Doyle, Story and Photos
Edmonson Voice

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