Glen’s Food Center and Glen’s Food and Gas have been sold to Teal’s Market, based out of Cold Spring, and Glen Gust has announced he’ll retire.
“He’s the hardest working person I know, so this is well-deserved,” Glen’s General Manager Sherri Thompson said Wednesday. “It will be an exciting transition for us.”
Gust told the Star Herald Wednesday night that selling the store and retiring “was the hardest decision I’ve made in my life.”
But he said the store is in good hands with the Teal family.
“They’re rock solid,” Gust said. “Everyone is going to be very happy with the new owners. I know they’ll do well.”
He said several other grocery businesses have courted him in recent years, but he was “fussy” about whom to sell to.
The new owners had to be community-minded and participate in the community, and they had to retain the Glen’s employees and their programs and benefits.
“There’s no doubt in my mind they’ll carry on the Glen’s traditions,” Gust said about Teals Market.
The hard part, he said, will be adjusting to retirement after the fast-paced demands of running a grocery business.
“I went to the store at 2:45 this morning to meet the truck,” Gust said. “I’ll enjoy some time off, but I’m sure I’ll miss all the excitement.”
In personal message in his recent store advertisement, Gust thanked his employees, customers and the community.
“I feel I’ve been blessed with 40-plus years here in Luverne,” he said. “I’ve had the time of my life.”
Nearly 90 people work for Glen’s Food Center, and about a dozen are full-time. They will meet members of the Teal family at a reception Wednesday night, Dec. 7, in the Blue Mound Banquet Center.
Paperwork for the business agreement was signed Friday, and the store officially changes hands Dec. 27. “They’ve already been out here measuring for the sign,” Thompson said.
She added that customers can figure on the same quality and service they had with Glen’s, but they’ll also see improvements from a recent switch to a different warehouse.
“We’ll have access to a lot more product and we’ll have a lot stronger buying power,” Thompson said.
The new wholesaler, AWG, carries the Best Choice store brand instead of Shurfine and Shurfresh, and some Best Choice products, such as milk, are already on Glen’s shelves.
Glen’s will become the 12th Teals Market under the Teal family, which also has stores in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. One store, in Lake City, operates under the name Fiesta Foods.
“We’re excited for this opportunity,” said Andrea Teal, great-granddaughter of George and Pearl Teal who opened the first store in Cass Lake in 1942.
“I’ve known Glen a long time through the grocers’ association, and Luverne is the type of town that fits where we do business. We prefer smaller towns where we can best serve our communities.”
There are Teals Market stores in Albany, Cass Lake, Cold Spring, Isle, Milaca, Paynesville and Spicer in Minnesota, two stores in North Dakota — Gwinner and Lisbon, and one in South Dakota, Sisseton.
In all, the Teals stores employ more than 800 people.
“We are committed to serving the customers and communities that we are located in,” the Teal family writes on their website, tealsmarket.com.
“Our continued goal is to provide a friendly atmosphere, knowledgeable employees, quality products, and competitive prices.”
An open house at the Luverne store will be announced.