The Lunds & Byerlys Commissary in Eden Prairie serves as the central production hub for the Lunds & Byerlys retail store network that partners with UNFI. From this facility, the team produces a full line of high-quality, house-made prepared foods, including signature soups, deli items, salads, sauces, and fresh ready-to-bake products that stock shelves across every store location.

As the commissary’s output grew, so did the need for more space: more storage, more production room, and the ability to house new and improved equipment without disrupting a facility that never stops running. Expanding the building’s footprint wasn’t the answer. Instead, the solution was to build upward, using the facility’s available ceiling height to add functional square footage through a series of mezzanines.

AK Material Handling Systems has worked with UNFI and Lunds & Byerlys for over 36 years. Our long-standing partnership made AK the natural choice to lead a project of this scale and complexity.

Four Wildeck mezzanines were installed across the facility, varying in size to fit the available spaces. Two material handling lifts were added to enable efficient movement of goods between levels.

Our team completed every phase of this project inside a fully operational food production facility that produces fresh, perishable products on a daily schedule with zero tolerance for production downtime. The continuous operations defined every aspect of how we planned and executed the project.

The facility’s irregular footprint shaped the mezzanine designs: platforms were sized and configured to fit the available spaces rather than a standard template. Our design team paid careful attention to stair placement, swing and pivot gate locations, and walkway clearances so that the new structures integrated seamlessly with the existing production flow.

Adding the Wildeck Box Lift and Delta VRC addressed the practical challenge of moving material between floors. What would otherwise require multiple trips up and down stairs can now be accomplished at the push of a button. These lifts keep product and supplies moving without adding labor or creating bottlenecks on the production floor.

The design process involved close, sustained collaboration between AK, the client’s operations and safety teams, Wildeck’s engineering group, and the installation crew. Multiple Teams meetings, conference calls, and on-site visits took place over the course of the project to keep everyone informed and on the same page. 

The design team used CAD to develop and validate the layouts. This software was instrumental in accurately designing the mezzanines for the irregular spaces at this facility.

Some value-engineering decisions shaped the final design: our design team used custom mezzanine dimensions to match available footprints, configured stairs to meet width requirements, and optimized gates for safe, efficient access at every level. The goal throughout the entire project was to maximize functional space with as little disruption to existing operations as possible.

The entire project spanned two years with multiple installation phases. Installation crews of four to eight members were on-site at any given time. Working inside an active food production environment required install crews to adhere strictly to facility protocols (hairnets and standard PPE throughout every phase).

The client managed permitting and inspections. Maintaining production was the main priority on-site, and the phased approach (combined with careful scheduling and constant communication) kept disruption to a minimum. Zero safety incidents were recorded throughout the phases of this project.