Carolina Beach’s Veggie Wagon expands to meet demand

Veggie Wagon owners April Sussman, left, and Max Sussman unload produce for their new walk-in cooler at the store in Carolina Beach, North Carolina Thursday, January 9, 2014.

Loyal customers of The Veggie Wagon likely won't notice anything different at the Carolina Beach store, but many changes have been made behind the walls of the store's retail space.

In December, owners Max and April Sussman started work to replace their shingles.

Three weeks and thousands of dollars later, the business's roof has been replaced and its kitchen space has doubled.

"This was not planned," said Max Sussman.

The business which sells fresh produce, bread, milk and wine among other things had seemingly outgrown its space when the owners decided to commit to expanding their operations space in the back. The South Lake Park Boulevard store's renovations included converting the existing freezer to more processing space and building a new walk-in freezer.

While the three weeks of construction were chaotic, according to Max and April, the end product is worth it for them and employees.

"This gives us a dedicated gluten-free space," said Max, adding that space also will be used for wrapping and packaging the foods they make in-house.

For Axton Sparks, who leads production for the business, it means he'll have a dedicated space for lots of cooking, including pulling fresh mozzarella cheese like he was doing Thursday.

"This is going to be great," Sparks said as he dumped hot water over crushed mozzarella curds. "We're going to be able to move."

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Carolina Beach's Veggie Wagon expands to meet demand