In 1983 Jim and Mary Anne Kowalski invested their life savings – on top of a loan from a friend – into a faltering Red Owl grocery store in St. Paul. The couple must have encountered new problems to contend with on an hourly basis, but at the very least they could rest assured one of their cashiers, a 16-year-old named Kris, wouldn’t become one of them. For Kris to let down her bosses would have been to let down her parents as well.
Kris’s tremendous skill at scanning Wheaties boxes and bagging bell peppers probably didn’t contribute too much to the Kowalskis’ success early on. While her parents opened their second location in White Bear Lake, Kris studied business and marketing in college. Perhaps to her parents’ mild chagrin Kris had wanted a career in the fashion industry, going so far as to work for a clothier for two years.
“My mom and dad told me I needed at least three years of real business experience,” said Kris Kowalski Christiansen, who today co-owns Kowalski's alongside her mother, “so in 1990 they reeled me back in full-time. I never left – and I’ve never regretted it.”
In the following three decades Kris would prove instrumental to her parents’ grand design for their business. Whether that meant making certain all the labels on a row of cans were facing toward the aisle or overseeing the inaugural openings of nine new locations throughout the greater Twin Cities area, Kris has proven herself a grocer in full.
“To be fair, we don’t really see ourselves as grocers,” said Kris. “We are foodies first and foremost, and while I’m by no means a four star Michelin chef, I know what good food tastes like. We are shoppers as well, so we constantly ask ourselves what kinds of products we would want to see on a store’s shelves. Before offering anything at Kowalski’s, we must first ask ourselves: ‘Would we want to eat it, and would we want to serve it to our families?’
“If you find a product at Kowalski’s its exceptional quality is a given, although we have even stricter standards than that. Our buyers go to our vendors’ farms, processing plants and other essential areas of operation to understand just how they work and how well they treat their employees. We are looking for integrity in addition to quality.
“Of course we carry mainstream products. I don’t believe a Minnesotan market could justify going without General Mills or Green Giant. But we’re always on the lookout for new, local creators who are as passionate about their products as we are about our mission. These small businesses create something truly unique, and even if we have to assist them in getting their products ready for retail, it’s well worth our time if that effort will elevate the experience we offer our shoppers.”
Go to Kowalski’s and you will quickly appreciate the difference their ongoing search for exceptional food creates. They have Akaushi beef, raised without hormones or antibiotics and typically only available at high-end West Coast steak houses. They have chicken by Cooks Venture, all heirloom breeds raised on the pasture without ever tasting non-GMO feed. They even have Skuna Bay Salmon from Vancouver, only five percent of which passes the craft farm’s rigorous inspection program.
Kowalski’s showcases our state’s best. Their own brand of wild rice hails from the North Star State’s fertile plains. Cheeses by The Humble Goat, which are made from milk supplied by Minnesotan ranchers who have pledged to keep their goats in only the happiest of circumstances, are available in a variety of flavors. (Humble Goat’s cranberry chèvre will curl your toes.) Outside of the restaurant in Bloomington, Kowalski’s is the only place at which you can find bread by Ciao Bella.
“We simply fell in love with the traviata bread served by Ciao Bella,” said Kris. “It’s light and chewy on the inside, with a perfectly thin, crunchy crust. We knew we had to get it into our stores, so we partnered with the owner to create a recipe that would offer as close an experience to dining at his restaurant as possible.
“We take just as much care to provide excellent service. We achieve that by hiring gifted, passionate people, and then letting them fully realize their talents without micromanagement. It amazes me that Kowalski’s now has 1,700 employees, yet each store still feels so personal and cozy. Much of that comes from our employees’ habit of recommending their friends and family for jobs with us. We have a genuine spirit of community which I believe larger chains would have trouble recreating.
“In the year 2000 Kowalski’s became a civic business based on a set of certain, fundamental principles. We cherish the notion that our employees both know and do what is good for our business. We encourage democratic practices which enable people to make decisions that will guide our growth. Above all else, we believe in active citizenship – that everyone has a role as a leader.
“Kowalski’s has always held a strong commitment to supporting the communities we are so privileged to share a role in. All of our stores budget to donate to local schools, churches and kids’ sports teams. We donate millions of pounds of groceries to schools as well as food banks, women’s shelters, and other important causes. Kowalski’s also organizes an annual kids’ golf tournament to raise money for organizations including Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Sharing & Caring Hands.
“You’re only as strong as the community that surrounds you. Kowalski’s is proud to work to everyone’s benefit, however we can.”
Eden Prairie’s neighborhood market offers far more than simple groceries. Stop by to pick up lunch or dinner courtesy of their wing bar, pasta bar, or hibachi bar where everything is made fresh to order. You might as well let yourself succumb to their serviced pastry case, too. No one can resist the allure of a fluffy cheese Danish.
Kowalski’s is open 6am to 10pm everyday at 16500 West 78th Street. You may also order home delivery or curbside pickup online at kowalskis.com.
