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County Fair Food Stores
have evolved from a
long, progressive history. In 1940, James and Myrtle Clarke,
parents of John |
Clarke, President of County Fair
Food Stores, began providing fresh groceries, meats and market
products to the people of Central City, Nebraska. An independent
family business, Jim’s Foods continued to grow and prosper. Being one of
five children, John Clarke, “grew up in the business” bagging
potatoes, sweeping floors, and carrying out groceries. In 1974,
upon his graduation for the University of Nebraska, he joined two
of his brothers in the grocery business. In 1979 a new store was built in
Central City tripling the size of the previous one.
| In 1984,
Bennett’s Market of Mitchell, South Dakota was purchased to
become the first County Fair Food Store. The store was
approximately 14,000 sq. feet with 21 employees at that time
and by |
James Clarke |
1993 the store had more
than doubled its original selling space. The store has been added
onto a total of 5 times with the latest addition being in 2003,
making the store a total of 38,000 sq. ft.
In March 1989, County Fair Foods of Watertown, SD was established. Mr. Jeff Gambler joined John Clarke as
partner/manager of that operation. In 1993, Watertown was expanded
by over 65%. In August 1998, County Fair Foods of Dell Rapids was
created. Mr. Don Root became the managing
partner. The fourth County Fair Food Store was added on January
7th 2003 with the purchase of County Market in Marshall,
Minnesota. Today there are a total of approximately 350 associates
in 4 stores in two states.
New sites for County Fair Food Stores will continue to be
researched. Currently, the founding family owns and operates a
total of fifteen food stores in Nebraska, South Dakota,
Minnesota, Wyoming, Kansas, and Iowa.
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County Fair Food Stores are
involved in the communities they serve through donations and staff
volunteering. When a community gives to you; the County Fair
philosophy is, |
you need to give back to your community.
County Fair Foods support a variety of charities, projects, and causes including
United Way, Grocer’s Fight Cancer, Junior Achievement, Youth
Soccer, Hockey, Baseball, and scholarships for their young
associates.
According to John Clarke, company president, "The growth of County Fair is a tribute to the men and women who
have contributed toward making County Fair Food Stores the high
quality, exemplary service retail establishments they are
today. At County Fair, we feel that our most important asset is
our people. People make companies successful. We feel that a good
group of people working as a team is the secret to our success."
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