Few people have lived the heart and soul of Kowalski’s Markets longer and more deeply than Woodbury Store Manager Tony Leitner, who’s been with the company since 1997.
“I love this company. I’ve loved it myss entire life,” Leitner explained in his office Friday morning, just a week before his store’s 25th anniversary celebration Nov. 8.
“I even met my wife at Kowalski’s,” he adds, now with a little chuckle. “So, literally, I would not have my kids if it weren’t for this company.”
Meanwhile, Woodbury has grown to be a signature location for the entire Kowalski’s Markets operation, which includes 10 other stores in the Metro Area.
Designed to resemble a European village, Woodbury’s was the first Kowalski’s store to be built from the ground up, opening in the fall of 2000 after a year of construction at 8505 Valley Creek Rd.
It also is among Kowalski’s Markets’ largest service areas, and has always shared its address with the company’s corporate headquarters.
And what’s been the success recipe since 1983, when Jim and Mary Anne Kowalski rebranded a onetime Red Owl grocery for their still-thriving original site on Grand Avenue in St. Paul?
Leitner puts it this way:
“This isn’t just selling you a can of beans. Our approach is 100 percent hospitality. It’s actually being part of the community and giving you the best shopping and dining experience you can get. We want to give you not only wonderful food, but a truly wonderful food EXPERIENCE – the kind of experience you get from a delicious, wonderful meal with family and friends.”
That means a lot of little things too, some of which customers never even notice – like subtle “flow-management” tricks for hassle-free strolls through a busy store with a basket or shopping cart.
“There’s a lot of little things like that here,” Leitner notes. “We also have a great core group in management whose job is to travel around the country and see what the new tastes are. We try very hard to stay in touch with everything out there that can make your experience here special.”
So of course you can count on Leitner and his staff to reach for the ultimate at Woodbury Kowalski’s 25th Anniversary party from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 8.
Among scheduled attractions: live music, raffles, and more than 25 food demonstrations with “the kind of quality foods you can only find right here.”
“You can even bring one of your kitchen knives when you come in, and we’ll sharpen it for you for free — one free sharpening per person,” Leitner says.
“I mean, if we can help you perform any little thing better when you’re putting your meals together in your own kitchen at home – well, that’s our mindset here. It’s also one of our ways of saying, ‘Thank you!’”
