About Us

In 1921, Chester A. Coborn opened a one-room produce store in Sauk Rapids, MN. He founded the store on freshness and focused on providing high-quality produce in the small river town that he loved.

Chester appreciated the connection the store gave him to his community and enjoyed the personal conversations with guests. More importantly, it was an opportunity for him to provide his neighbors with the goods they needed at reasonable prices.

The same year he opened the store, Chester chose to become a public servant to better serve his community and was elected the town’s mayor for two terms.

Upon his death in 1929, Chester’s sons, Chester C. “Chet” and Duke took over the business. They vowed to carry on their father’s legacy of offering fresh and reasonably priced goods while serving the community.

That legacy is still strong today. Over a century after Chester opened the first store and five generations later, Coborn’s, Inc., now employee-owned, has nearly 10,000 employees and operates 77 grocery stores across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois under the Coborn’s, Cash Wise Foods, Marketplace Foods, Hornbacher’s, Tadych’s Marketplace Foods, and Sullivan’s Foods banners. In addition, we operate fuel, liquor, and pharmacy locations. To support our over 135 various retail business units, we also operate our own central bakery, dry cleaning facility, and grocery distribution center. Review our company timeline and 100 Years pages to learn more about Coborn’s history and expansion.

We strive to live out our vision to be remarkable by inspiring happiness, healthy living, and simplicity, one guest at a time. Every day we operate our stores with the guidance of our core values including guest focus, executional excellence, innovation, dignity and respect, and community giving – a proud tradition started by Chester so many years ago.

While Coborn’s has expanded significantly beyond a one-room produce store, it’s the legacy of Chester A. Coborn that drives us to be successful. We promise to always provide fresh and high-quality goods for our neighbors at reasonable prices and support the remarkable communities that continue to support us as we grow and thrive together.