In a constantly changing business, some things never change. When Nelson’s Country Market was started in 1968, the three overriding business principals it was founded on were fair prices, taking good care of customers, and having great quality products. Now our mission statement is to provide each of our guests with a uniquely comfortable shopping experience emphasizing exceptional service, quality, variety and value. As you can see, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Roger Nelson started in the grocery business, like so many young people, when he was still in high school. He never got out, and to this day plays a very active roll in the success of Nelson’s Markets.
In 1948, Roger started working at Larson’s Super Market, a tiny main street grocery store typical of the times. Before too long, Roger was promoted to store manager, and later became a part owner in Larson’s. When Harold Larson died of cancer many years later, Roger bought the entire store from Harold’s widow, Marie. He almost immediately had plans drawn up for a new, much larger store for downtown North Branch. In May of 1968, Rogers’s dreams came alive when Nelson’s Country Market opened for business.
From those beginnings back in 1968, the original Nelson’s Country Market has undergone many major expansions and remodels. It is still located in the same spot as the original store, but just about everything else has been changed.
In 1980, after having managed the North Branch store for many years, Roger’s son Randy, with the help of his dad, opened his own store. This one located just south of downtown Pine City on Main Street. This was a modern facility for the time and started out with a bang when the place was swamped in April of 1980 during an open house that was held for the town of Pine City. At times, you couldn’t get a parking spot any closer than several blocks away! The Pine City store has also undergone several remodels and expansions since the original opening date.
By 1987, Roger decided it was time to let Randy take over, and sold his original store in North Branch to him. Roger continues to work for Nelson’s to this day. His office is located just across the street and north of the store in a small office building he owns.
In 2004 Randy, along with his son Ryan, heard about a store closing in Mora. Two days before the store closed, Randy and Ryan toured the facility, and six months later, after a beautiful remodel, Nelson’s Market, Mora opened their doors in May of 2004.
In 2005 Nelson’s Market re-launched their website (nelsonsmarket.com) with a greatly enhanced image and usability. The site offers online applications, weekly updates on all locations, thousands of recipe ideas and even online ordering!
Because of the North Branch remodel of 1994, Nelson’s was forced to close their in-store bakery. With that in mind, Nelson’s bought the downtown bakery in Pine City, promptly renaming it Nelson’s Bake Shoppe. The Bake Shoppe was leased out for a short time, but is once again run by Nelson’s Markets, providing the same great breads and sweets that have come out of that bakery for years.
Three generations of Nelson’s later, taking care of our Guests, good value, and great quality products have been the key ingredients in making our stores a success since its early years. In a highly competitive business, where the names and owners of local stores seem to change almost on a weekly basis, Nelson’s intends to continually improve on those three things, in order to keep on serving the communities in which we work and live for at least three more generations!
