St. Paul (October 4, 2022) – The Minnesota Retailers Association is pleased to recognize Victual with its Retailer of the Year award as part of the 2022-2023 Minnesota’s Retail Champions program.

“When Paul Kirkman and Paul VanderWaal visited beautiful Crosby, Minnesota they couldn’t readily find a lot of their favorite products,” said Bruce Nustad, Minnesota Retailers Association president. “Because of this and knowing there was a market for a collection of specialty goods, they opened a store that instead of competing with area businesses, complimented them. From cheese to chocolate, cards to serving pieces, and home-made ice cream to specialty liquors their store truly has it all. They have created a unique, successful store with a one-of-a-kind shopping experience that showcases what is great about retail in Minnesota. MnRA is proud to name Victual our Retailer of the Year.”

Said Pail Kirkman upon hearing of this award: “This recognition is deeply meaningful for me.  Victual is a retail unicorn that, on paper, few would have anticipated its success in the marketplace – we’re a metropolitan-style store with sophisticated offerings in Crosby – a greater Minnesota community of only 2400 people.  But we take advantage of our prime location – we’re a lakes community with a prestigious medical facility, and the mountain bike trails of the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area bring in hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.  We have an amazing base of customers who has followed along and supported us fiercely from the beginning, even though years of oppressive road construction followed by pandemic.  We owe that success to our fantastic staff that’s focused on providing exceptional customer service, having deep knowledge of the products we sell.  But we also know that our successful launch in 2019 was based on rigorous planning and evaluation of the marketplace, with intent to look differently, feel differently and shop differently than other stores in the area; this enabled us to carve out our own unique path that’s difficult to emulate.  We constantly stive to be unique and remain one step ahead of our competitors.”

Victual is the sole recipient of the Minnesota’s Retail Champions Retailer of the Year award. Ten other organizations will be recognized in other categories such as Lifetime Achievement, Social Responsibility, Retail Manager of the Year, Best Place To Work, Advocate of the Year, Building Community Through Retail, Partner of the Year, Customer Experience, and Special Achievement.

Paul Kirkman and Paul VanderWaal will accept the award during the Retail Rally event on Thursday, October 6, 2022, beginning at 2:00 p.m. in Golden Valley. The event features practical, game-changing, cutting-edge retail innovation strategies and ideas. Retail Rally event information can be found at www.retailrally.com.

Click here to see all the 2022-2023 Minnesota's Retail Champions award winners.

About the Minnesota Retailers Association: The Minnesota Retailers Association promotes, preserves and enhances the retail industry in Minnesota by taking a leadership position in development of public policy and regulatory measures that impact members. MnRA also works to enhance the public image of the retail industry by providing information, services and support that adds value to its members. www.mnretail.org.

Contact: Bruce Nustad, Minnesota Retailers Association, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., (651) 227-6631

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St. Paul (October 4, 2022) – The Minnesota Retailers Association is pleased to award Bachman’s the Special Achievement: Five Generations award as part of the 2022-2023 Minnesota’s Retail Champions program.

“It’s truly remarkable today to have five generations of family leadership at an organization, which is why it is an honor for us to recognize Bachman’s with our Special Achievement: Five Generations award,” said Bruce Nustad, Minnesota Retailers Association president. “While Minnesota has a number of family-run businesses, it’s unique to find a retailer with five—and now six—generations participating in the organization. Core to the Bachman family is amazing customer service and a love of retail, and that legacy shows each time you walk into any of their stores.”

"We are honored to receive this award as a 5th generation family business on behalf of our family and our team members,” says Susan Bachman West. “We have been in business since 1885 and are very proud of the business we have built and our passion for serving both our community, our industry, and bringing beauty to life. We are excited for the future and thrilled that we have 6th generation family members working in the business. We look forward to what the future may bring.”

Bachman’s is the sole recipient of the Minnesota’s Retail Champions Special Achievement: Five Generations award. Ten other organizations will be recognized in other categories such as Lifetime Achievement, Retailer of the Year, Retail Manager of the Year, Best Place To Work, Advocate of the Year, Social Responsibility, Partner of the Year, Customer Experience, and Building Community Through Retail.

Susan Bachman West, Karen Bachman Thull and Adam Bachman will accept the award during the Retail Rally event on Thursday, October 6, 2022, beginning at 2:00 p.m. in Golden Valley. The event features practical, game-changing, cutting-edge retail innovation strategies and ideas. Retail Rally event information can be found at www.retailrally.com.

Click here to see all the 2022-2023 Minnesota's Retail Champions award winners.

About the Minnesota Retailers Association: The Minnesota Retailers Association promotes, preserves and enhances the retail industry in Minnesota by taking a leadership position in development of public policy and regulatory measures that impact members. MnRA also works to enhance the public image of the retail industry by providing information, services and support that adds value to its members. www.mnretail.org.

Contact: Bruce Nustad, Minnesota Retailers Association, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., (651) 227-6631

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St. Paul (October 4, 2022) –The Minnesota Retailers Association is pleased to recognize Sugar Loaf Ford Lincoln with its Best Place To Work award as part of the 2022-2023 Minnesota’s Retail Champions program.

“When you walk in the door of Sugar Loaf Ford Lincoln you instantly know why people love working there,” said Bruce Nustad, Minnesota Retailers Association president. “Mike and Andy make it their mission to have employees feel valued, recognized, and supported. The team at Sugar Loaf Ford has been working together for many years and it is evident the dealership is as much of a family as anything else. At Sugar Loaf Ford people come first and it’s our honor to recognize them as a Best Place To Work.”

“It is a serious honor to accept this award,” said Mike Puetz. “We are humbled and beyond proud. Our team is our family, and our organization is only as good as the employees that make things happen each day. Sugar Loaf Ford Lincoln is focused on a great customer experience. We believe that if our employees are happy working here, they will in turn treat our customers in the best way possible. As a result, our customers will be with us for a long time, and we are grateful to serve them. For over 45 years this has been our mission and our guiding principle. We are blessed by our employees and this award is because of them.”

Sugar Loaf Ford Lincoln was nominated by the Winona Area Chamber of Commerce and is the sole recipient of the Minnesota’s Retail Champions Best Place To Work award. Ten other organizations will be recognized in other categories such as Retail Manager of the Year, Social Responsibility, Customer Experience, Advocate of the Year, Building Community Through Retail, Partner of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, Special Achievement and Retailer of the Year.

Mike and Andy Puetz will accept the award during the Retail Rally event on Thursday, October 6, 2022, beginning at 2:00 p.m. in Golden Valley. The event features practical, game-changing, cutting-edge retail innovation strategies and ideas. Retail Rally event information can be found at www.retailrally.com

Click here to see all the 2022-2023 Minnesota's Retail Champions award winners.

About the Minnesota Retailers Association: The Minnesota Retailers Association promotes, preserves and enhances the retail industry in Minnesota by taking a leadership position in development of public policy and regulatory measures that impact members. MnRA also works to enhance the public image of the retail industry by providing information, services and support that adds value to its members. www.mnretail.org.

Contact: Bruce Nustad, Minnesota Retailers Association, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., (651) 227-6631

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