1946 – 2026 Watching Steinbach Grow: Jim Penner buying tons of cake mixes

OCTOBER 5, 1962 – The grocer down the street earned a reputation and a nickname by bringing in train carloads of canned goods to sell at discounted prices, but Jim Penner at Penner’s Tom-Boy is not about to be outdone by “Carload Frank” and promises his “bake sale” this week will “take the cake”.

Thirteen tons of Betty Crocker cake mix and assorted General Mills cereals, were delivered by semi-trailer to the Main Street store on Monday. While people eat cake every day, and there shouldn’t be anything special about a cake delivery to Steinbach, this is the very first time any Manitoba storekeeper has ever ordered that much Betty Crocker cake mix at one time.

General Mills salesman Ken Walker, who was on hand to supervise the unloading, said the last time his company wrote up an order of this size it was not for one store, but for a whole chain of outlets in Edmonton.

The 1,800 cases of cake mix, enough to fill a railroad boxcar, rolled in at the unloading platform on Monday morning. Each case contains 12 packages of cake mix and before the last delicious crumb slithers down into the last tummy of the last purchaser, customers at Penner’s Tom-Boy will have consumed well over 21,000 cakes.

Store manager Jim Penner, who has taken over the store during his father’s absence, is convinced when people find out the price at which he is able to offer the cake mixes, they will be eating cake three times a day. They will have to, if they are going to finish in time to enjoy this year’s Christmas baking.

One half of the cake mix shipment is on display in the store and the other half will be added to the shelves as the supply goes down. There are 39 different cake flavours altogether and the retail price will be four packages for a dollar, rather than the usual 41 cents per package.

Asked if he didn’t think he was overstepping himself just a little in buying the 13-ton shipment of cake, Penner said Steinbach’s volume of sales warrants the type of investments which will lower prices. Steinbach customers have shown their preference for Betty Crocker products in previous sales, and he is confident this is a good move.

“We may have to sell some lines below cost, but other sales will increase as a result of the special deal on Betty Crocker products.”

Taken all around, Penner says he feels pretty good that Steinbach has once again achieved another first, and has set a new record in grocery retailing.