Hugo’s adds Minnesota store, plans new store in Grand Forks
December 1, 2012 at 1:00 am in Grand Forks Herald
Grand Forks’ dominant grocery chain is adding its fourth store in Minnesota and developing plans for its fifth store in Grand Forks. Hugo’s recently reached a deal with owners Jeff and Bob Hensel, to take over the 53,000-square-foot store in the community about 50 miles south of Bemidji. Continue Reading
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Would you be more supportive of the Hugo’s chain if they hadn’t removed and discarded the union propaganda when it was placed among the product on display in the stores?
What about the demonstrations? If Hugo’s hadn’t asked protestors handing out literature to move away from the store entrances to further-away locations on private property….would you feel differently then?
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Worst grocery store, who’s the best? Hugo’s employs alot of people, expansion is good! Expansion usually means success, more jobs, and that a majority of customers disagree with your assessment.
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““You focus on what you well and focus on improving customer service… and you’ll do fine,””
Eliminate UPS package drop-off.
Eliminate USPS letter and package drop-off
Eliminate no-fee ATM in some stores.
Mostly eliminate grocery carry-out; parking lot now infected with a bajillion carts, some of which get shoved into the cart racks while others end up at the bus stop or in the middle of the lot.
Don’t get me started on the “cannot buy a pound of hamburger” at the Med Park Hugos. The “pounds” of pre-packaged burger are WAY over one pound, for the purpose of jacking up the price by selling the consumer more than they actually want.
Hugo would roll over in his grave if he saw how customer service has declined since his death.
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Checked the “pounds” of burger at the S. Washington Hugos. Pretty much all of them are about 1/10 pound “over”.
Looks like that “profit enhancement tool” has infected at least one more store. Probably the whole chain.
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I always thought Hugo was a crack-up; the stereotyped Norwegian. At 100 years of age he and his wife still went from store to store picking up receipts in canvas bags and putting them in the car trunk because he was too cheap to hire an armored car service.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Hugo was mayor of GF from ’64 to ’72 and he spent 17 years on the city council, according to his Wiki page. I think it is kind of neat the old guy has a Wiki page.
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For those of you who dislike my comment, remember this: One of the first things Hugo’s son did when he took over was hire an armored car service.
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If you really knew what you were talking about you would know that Hugo’s hired Rochester Armored Car many years before Hugo died. He had an office near the north end store where he did some busy work (out of the way) but the gals in the store offices handle the money.
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Say what you wish. For years I saw him hunkering receipt bags out and into his trunk to join a pile of others, while his wife waited in the car.
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He’d walk slowly behind a cart with cash bags to drop off at the office at the Hugo’s on the north end and get there too late for the deposit run. The gals would insure him they were going to be deposited that very day and then chuck them in a drawer so they could go over everything again and send them in the next day. I know, I did it for 8 years.
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That may well be, but he was taking bags OUT of the store, not in.
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And here I thought they were going to build a new store on Gateway Drive near the interstate to better serve the north end. What a disappointment.
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Hugo’s bought land along 47th just east of Valley Dairy a while back I believe for future use.
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Hugo’s already has a North end store not far from Acme Electric.
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It’s a dump.
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Worst produce in town. Don’t even try to find specialty items there.
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You wouldn’t put a bumper sticker on a Bentley….would you Mr. Wilson?
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The inventory and appearance of each Hugos seems to be determined by where in the city it is located.
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Gene, any store would do the same.. Stores should stock shelves with what sells better within a region, why stock shelves with too much of something that wont sell fast enough or deal with something that sells out all the time? Stock what sells, what is requested. It’s all about demand.
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I shop at the Hugo’s on 13th Avenue North. The staff has always been very courteous and helpful. The produce is much better than at a couple of other Hugo’s locations and much much better than Walmart’s produce which tends to spoil very quickly. Things are easy to find. They have a nice clearance section towards the front of the store near the frozen food department.
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I have been to each GF location as well as EGF but mostly I go to Crookston Hugo’s
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I want to say thanks to Hugo’s for their customer service. I have a child with multiple severe food allergies and both the 32nd store and the EGF Hugo’s have worked with our family to carry foods that we request. A
big chain like Target or Walmart doesnt do that. Thanks
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They’re expanding, yet can’t have one actually open 24 hours? Clearly not up to the same level as Hornbacher’s. I think if I lived in GF, I’d stick with Target most.
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They have considered it, but found it not to be cost effective to do so, Hugo’s is open till midnight. Target closes at 10. I wont mention what I have seen at walmart past midnight.. scary.
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I knew it was at some point. Leever’s (remember them?) and Super1 were also 24 hours, if I remember right. Then came Walmart. Nothing shocks me at Walmart, doesn’t matter what time of day it is. That store is pure trash and I won’t even consider walking into one.
Come to think of it, I’ve never actually been inside a Super1 in Grand Forks.
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Super One is a pretty good store too. Prices are comparable to Walmart’s but the quality is better. They have good sales, offer plenty of savings opportunities through coupons and B1G1F type sales, and they accept BOTH manufacturer’s and a store coupon on a single item. The store is a nice size in which you can find just about everything you need and the customer service is good too.
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The cakes from Target’s bakery are excellent. Much better than Hugo’s. IMO the best in any grocery store in GF.
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I remember decades ago when Hugo’s bakery was selling “Diabetic Cookies.” I asked if they came with their own insulin or if that was extra.
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I have noticed hugos seems to work with what the original store design was instead of making all the stores the exacr same. I like this each store has it’s own personality. The egf and 32nd are the best of they’re chain in the grand forks area, but this is only because of the square footage available. The 2 other south side locations are neighborhood stores andd just that.
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If you were to walk through the N 20th store and the S 32nd store, you wouldn’t know they were the same chain. The former is for the blue collar people of the northend, the latter for the high-end people of the south.
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After moving to the GF area a decade ago, I visited every Grocery store in town. I then wrote a letter to Hy-Vee asking them to please, please open a store in GF. Unfortunately their plans didn’t include any more outlets north of Watertown SD. Since moving to the North Country, one of the things I miss most is shopping at Hy-Vee.
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I agree with you about Hy-Vee. I shopped at a large Hy-Vee in Rochester and in Sioux Falls and it’s an incredible supermarket chain. I wish they would open one in Grand Forks to give Hugo’s , Wal*Mart and Super One some real competition.
Out of the above mentioned I prefer Hugos and prefer to shop at a local business than Wal*Mart. But Hugo’s produce isn’t the greatest at any of their stores. Super One has better produce but I never go in there. Super One’s main problem is the unfriendliness of their staff. It’s almost like they don’t want to be there.
Wal*Mart’s supermarket area is always a mess with half-empty shelves. They won’t allow enough staff to stay on payroll and actually stock the shelves. They’re always trying to cut payroll so they can meet their budget demands brought on by their owners in Arkansas. And I won’t mention the sub-standard caliber of their customers. It’s usually populated by 400lb women on motorized scooters.
Target is expensive and doesn’t stock what the local stores have.
But I would love to have a Hy-Vee in Grand Forks.
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