From Page 1

Shortly after his family purchased the controlling interest, November of 1976, they moved to the Westview Center where they would operate for the majority of his career. 1992 they would convert to a County Market adding fresh seafood, smokehouse, photo processing, dry cleaning, natural/ organic, gas and many more options for their clientele. In 2002, they merged with Cub Foods and made the move to the Marketplace location they occupy today.

“Over the years, the original partners began to leave and pursue other interests, and shortly after our move to Westview Center the partnership had come down to my Father, Donald Harris, Donald Bohlken and myself, where it remained until my Father’s death,” Harris explained. With his retirement, he will still be an owner until Super Valu makes the right offer to buy the two remaining partners out, himself and Don Bohlken. He expects the discussions around selling to happen sooner than later.

Mike had written a letter about his retirement, the first part explained what has already been explained above. The rest is Mike’s to tell, so we will step back and let him tell you directly.

I/we have been blessed through the years by the kindness and support of the Hastings community. Our customers are the greatest customers! More evident today than ever. During these difficult times with our ongoing pandemic we are unable to provide the product service levels we would like, and yet in spite of that our customers don’t complain, rather they thank us for all we are doing to provide the services we do every day. We will forever be thankful for their understanding, support and patience. I would be remised if I didn’t expand on the community support further. The Mayors, Council members and city government have always given us the support and guidance we needed to grow in the community. Local Law Enforcement has always had our backs and worked hand-in-hand with us to provide a safe environment for our customers and staff. Hastings Schools, both public and private have also given us support and allowed us to be a part of their programs from pageants to sports to JA programs. They have provided the community with great educational opportunities which makes Hastings strong. The local religious community has also given us great support and we are blessed by their presence in Hastings. Hastings business community has worked together with us and as a team we have all continued to make Hastings a strong community. The service industry in Hastings is well organized and strives to provide the necessities the citizens need. We are proud to have been able to partner with local events, like Rivertown Days, Fireman’s Booya, Hastings Drive in Car Show and Gobble Gait as well as the operations of Hastings Family Service.

Through my years at our store in Hastings I/we have been blessed and supported by the best employees in the industry. Over 46 years I have had the pleasure of working with great people/ families. I have hire children’s children of passed associates. Our store is a family affair in many ways. The business relationships that have been established through the years are countless. From vendors/suppliers to product representatives to media accounts to warehouses the list of associations is truly endless. Our support from Supervalu/ Cub Foods/UNFI alone encompasses thousands of associations.

Last and most importantly is my business partnership. My father and mother were the first people to believe in me and never failed to back me, support me and teach me the lessons of life and business. I am forever grateful for their guidance, support and everlasting love. They are my foundation and I continue daily to draw from his strength. Don Bohlken was much more than a business partner, he was a mentor, leader and friend far beyond just our business association. I still look to him for advice and guidance, and always will. Both Don and my father and mother instilled the lessons of strong morals, faith and love in all that they did, and I will never forget those lessons. Lastly, my wife and children were the backbone of my life. They always knew how to make me smile and keep me grounded when everything else seemed to be going wrong. I was blessed by having associates who allowed me time to support my family. Conversely, I was also blessed by a family that understood work would at times take a priority. To quote my father, “you need to work before you play and the only difference between work and play is your mental attitude.”

The best way to wrap this all up is to look back through the lists above and sum it up simply is over the years that I have worked in Hastings is that I have been blessed by countless friends and friendships. I will forever be thankful for those friendships.

Mike Harris For those that are expecting to see him in the store, he is not going to be gone forever, he still plans on shopping here at the store he helped build.

“My wife said we’ll just have to plan our shopping trip to be half a day.” He laughed, knowing he will spend more time talking than he will shopping. His retirement party is planned for October 28th at the Depot. Make sure to stop in to Cub and wish him well!

When asked ‘What is the one thing that you want to say to the community that you have been part of the past 40 plus years?’ “Thank you. . . Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,” an emotional Harris said.