GROCERY STORE FIXTURE

Over the past 46 years, few things have remained the same inside the grocery store building now known as Brad's Market, on the corner of Second and Jefferson Streets in Minnesota.
The cash register has become modernized, carts are different, and products and prices have changed a lot.
One thing that hasn't changed is one of the employees at the store. Karen Swedzinski has spent the past 46 years working in the grocery business this location for three different owners, Ed Finnegan Sr., Ed Finnegan Jr., and currently, Brad Minnehan.
That longtime employee, who has become somewhat of a fixture in the store, has announced Dec. 30 as the date of her retirement.
Swedzinski, who grew up on a farm six miles south of Minneota, began working for Finnegan's Super Valu when she was 19 years old.
"I was going to go to SMSU after I graduated from high school," Swedzinski said. "I decided instead to work for a year and then go to college. I started working at the bakery in Minneota. Almost a year later, Ed Finnegan Jr. asked if I would be interested in working at the store because Ed Sr. and (his wife) Eleanor were going to retire. Ed Jr. would take over the store and he needed someone to eventually be in the produce department that he currently did."
Swedzinski worked for Ed Sr. for approximately a year before he retired as planned and his son took over operations.
"During that time, I was learning the day-to-day things of the grocery store," she recalled. "I did carry out and stocked the shelves. When Ed Jr. took over, I worked in the produce with his guidance."
Ed Finnegan Jr. remained her boss for about 35 years until Minnehan bought the store in 2011.
Minnehan is grateful Swedzinski remained as an employee when he took over.
"Karen, to me, is one of those people you could always go to with questions," he said. "She has seen a lot and knows how everything works."
And customers appreciate her cooperation when asking questions, too.
"I've learned how to do many of the different duties at the store over the years, pricing, entering the ads in the computer, cashier, working with the vendors, who bring in the products such as chips, pop and some pizza. I also do some of the ordering for other departments besides produce."
Another duty she has performed is "merchandising".
"Or as customers would say 'Moving things around again so it's hard to find,'" she joked.
Swedzinski mainly focuses on the produce in the store, which customers often comment on how fresh and clean the items look.
"Each day, I check the produce for quality," she noted. "Ed Jr. told me once when I first started in the produce department that when you are checking for quality, have the question in your mind 'Would you buy that?' That has stuck with me ever since. I try to keep the produce fresh looking and restocked."
When asked what some of the biggest changes have been in the grocery business in the last five decades, Swedzinski revealed that it's the buying habits of the customers.
"Convenience items have really increased," she said. "I remember when Kool-Aid was the big thing, Now it's bottled water. Forty years ago, people didn't 'buy' water.
"In the produce department, the big change is variety available. I used to have about four different varieties of apples. Now there's so many that I try to just keep the favorites of our customers."
Swedzinski also noted that the convenience of salads and cut fruit has become more popular in recent years.
"The biggest change was in 1992 when Ed Jr. switched to scanning at the checkout," she said. "We used to have to mark each item individually with the price. When I first started, we had ink stampers. That was hard to manage on frozen items."
When scanners were introduced, the built-in scale benefitted the produce department.
"I used to have to prep everything in the backroom before it could be put out in the display case," she told. Such items as grapes, bananas and, summer fruits would also be packaged in the back, weighed and put out. Lettuce and celery had to be trimmed and wrapped and priced."
While many smalltown grocery stores have closed in recent years, unable to keep up with the larger box stores in bigger communities, Brad's Market has survived the test of time.
"Community support is what keeps Brad's open," Swedzinski insists/ "Keeping up with the changing styles of customers can be challenging, but Brad is very good at that, which is very helpful."
Swedzinski and her husband, Dale, farm five miles southwest of Taunton. When they were first married, they lived in Minneota and then moved to Dale's family farm in 2002. Their son, Cal, and his wife, Haley, along with Willow who has become "the very special canine member of the family" live in the original farmhouse while Dale and Karen live in the house next door.
"We grain-farm and have a cow/calf, purebred angus bull operation together, Karen said. work at Brad’s, Karen drives home and helps out on the farm where needed.
"I pretty much help with chores or being the 'go-for'. I enjoy being outside, which something I'm looking forward to and having more time helping Dale with things on the farm," she said.
Staying at one job for 20 years is rare. Remaining for 46 years is almost unheard of in modern times.
"Working for Ed Jr. and his wife Ronette and Brad have been great," Swedzinski said. "Having employers as wonderful as Ed and Brad is something I'm very grateful for. The co-workers throughout the years have also been wonderful and, of course, also the customers."
Not every day has been a picnic, though.
"Crazy Days outdoor produce sales in the wind, heat, power outages, rain storms trying to hold the tent down while it's lightning wasn't fun," she said. "One time, a particular co-worker hid in the empty watermelon bin with the lid on and scared me when I walked by."
With less than three months until her retirement, Swedzinski was asked what she will miss most about working at Brad's Market.
"I will miss the customers and the vendors that I see weekly," she said. "But most of all, I will miss the people that I work with. Their friendships are very special to me."