Coborn's adds 3 grocery stores, floral shop in North Dakota

Apr 02, 2012 (St. Cloud Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Coborn's expanded its Upper Midwest footprint today with the announcement of a partnership with three grocery stores and a floral shop in western North Dakota.

The expansion is in concert with JK Foods, based in Williston, N.D., which owns the four stores. The companies will partner to co-own and operate the stores. Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.

According to a statement from Coborn's, the stores are "ideally located" where they will serve the population growth occurring as part of the North Dakota oil boom. The grocery stores are in Stanley, Tioga and Williston.

"Expanding our Coborn's family of stores to include these four new locations signals positive, strategic growth for our company," Coborn's President and Chief Executive Officer Chris Coborn said in a statement. "We look forward to our partnership ... so we can serve the region's growing community." JK Foods was founded by Mike Kraft in 1982 with a single store in Williston. Today, JK Foods has more than 300 employees and store brands including Economart, Stanley Food Pride, Tioga Food Pride and County Floral. Kraft will oversee the four stores with their existing employees.

"Our partnership with Coborn's will make our entire family of stores even stronger than it is today," Kraft said in a statement. "Coborn's and JK Foods share common philosophies in terms of employee engagement, store operations. And our partnership gives us the opportunity to share ideas and leverage best practices." Kraft was a 2009 recipient of the National Grocers Association's Spirit of America Award, which Coborn won in 2001. Kraft also was 2002 Grocer of the Year in North Dakota.

With the addition of the JK Foods locations, Coborn's owns and operates more than 90 retail locations and 45 grocery stores in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois.

There are 6,800 employees under the Coborn's umbrella of operations. A new Save-A-Lot store that is to open in June in St. Cloud will bring an additional four full-time and 24 part-time jobs, according to Coborn's Communications Manager Emily Coborn.

The moves come in the wake of last week's decision to close a Cash Wise Foods store on 33rd Avenue South in St. Cloud by the end of June. That closure will impact 32 full-time and 74 part-time employees.

___ (c)2012 the St. Cloud Times (St. Cloud, Minn.) Visit the St. Cloud Times (St. Cloud, Minn.) at www.sctimes.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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