History of Radermacher’s

In 1954, Roman Radermacher bought the Red Owl Agency store on Water Street in Jordan MN. Together with his son Lee, Roman began learning the ins and outs of the grocery business marking the beginning what would become Radermacher’s Fresh Markets.

Through the early years the Store moved around town gradually growing bigger and bigger until a modern new Supermarket was built on First street in 1972. The First Street store featured a full service meat department, fresh produce, deli and bakery along with a grocery, frozen, and dairy selection that reflected the growing variety of the time. Upon Roman’s retirement in 1973, Lee and his wife Marilyn bought the business and continued to build on all its early successes.

In 1981, the store in Jordan moved to its current location on 500 West 2nd Street. Through the years the Jordan store has undergone many changes and updates but has kept to its core values of small town service, value, and convenience. In 1983, Lee and Marilyn bought the Red Owl store in Prior Lake, MN expanding for the first time outside of Jordan and experiencing the challenges and rewards of running multiple locations. Bringing the same small town values to Prior Lake proved to be a huge success as sales continued to grow until a new 40,000 square foot County Market store was built in 1993.

In the summer 1989, Lee and Marilyn made the decision to switch from their long time wholesaler Red Owl Inc. to its main rival SuperValu Inc. This would prove to be a very good decision, as their relationship with SuperValu would offer new opportunities, opportunities that would continue to enable them to grow their business and serve their customers even better than before.

In 1995, building on the success of the Prior Lake County Market, Lee and Marilyn were presented with the opportunity to purchase Juba’s County Market in Shakopee MN. The new store would prove to be a success, building on the formula of small town service, value, and convenience.

In the late 90’s Shakopee was on the brink of a population explosion. This rapid growth quickly out grew the size of the County Market store until the Radermacher’s opened their first Cub Foods franchise in 1998. From the day the front doors opened the store was a success. It was large at 65,000 sqft and contained all the latest in technology and innovation.

In 2003, the Radermacher’s again partnered with Cub Foods in Savage MN on a state of the art 66,800 sqft store. At the time Lee and Marilyn were starting the process of transferring ownership of the company to the third generation, their children Steve, Joe, Paul, and Amy, all of whom had been working their way through the business since their early teens. Day to day operation of the company would be handled by the third generation allowing Lee and Marilyn to start enjoying some of the fruits of their labor.

In July of 2006, the third generation of Radermacher’s purchased two stores from Harlan Veen located in LeSueur and LeCenter MN. At the same time they began work on remodeling and expanding the Jordan location. During the transition at the new stores and the remodel of Jordan the Radermacher’s began the process of rebranding the company.

In 2007, the Radermacher’s officially changed the name of their company to Radermacher’s Fresh Market. The new name and image reflected the emphasis the Radermacher’s have always placed on the fresh departments in the store. Produce, meat, deli, and bakery have been the cornerstone of the operation since the beginning and the Radermacher’s were proud of the part these departments played in the ongoing success of their operation.

In November of 2008, the Radermacher’s again partnered with Cub Foods on a new store in Eagan MN. At 41,000 sqft the new store was a prototype for the franchise and with its success would prove to be a viable vehicle for growth for Cub Foods going forward.

As the Radermacher’s look ahead we are excited about the future of our company and look forward to serving our customers “better than anyone else can.”