Renovations wrap up at Kleefeld grocery store

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This article was published 16/03/2021 (1518 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The grocery store in Kleefeld has a new look to go with the new name and new owners it acquired last year.

Exterior signage installed two weeks ago at Fields Market capped off a 10-month, $200,000 renovation project that coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brent Isaac, president of the seven-member ownership group that purchased the store, along with the adjacent gas bar and drive-in, last May, said the store managed to stay open during renovations.

“It kept the excitement alive to do it that way,” he said.

People sometimes stopped by just to check out the progress, and some even offered to help.

The store’s interior and exterior were refreshed, and the parking lot was rebuilt. Isaac said much of the work was completed by local contractors.

Shoppers can now gaze up at the original ceiling boards, which were exposed during renovations.

“We tried to maintain the rustic feeling of it,” Isaac, who is also a local dairy farmer, said.

The store’s updated look and new product offerings have resulted in a bump in sales.

“Christmas month was really good,” Isaac said.

“Everyone has been super supportive. It was something the community needed and wanted.”

He also credited the store’s 12 staff with keeping things humming over the past year.

The store’s Canada Post outlet remains, but a few floorplan changes were made. A sit-down coffee nook was removed to expand grocery selection. A revamped deli, managed by Isaac’s wife, Victoria, caters to the grab-and-go crowd with soup, sandwiches, salads, baked goods, chicken wings, and pizza by the slice. Isaac also added a cut-flower counter near the front entrance.

Store manager Christi Toews said the store “can’t compete with Sobeys” and isn’t trying to. Instead, Toews tries to tailor the store’s selection to what customers want, while still carrying all the staples that can save residents a trip to Steinbach.

Toews said she isn’t afraid to swap out unpopular items, like the TV dinners that just weren’t selling, with a local alternative like Unger Meats products.

The store also carries Kleefeld honey and breads from A Baker’s Story in Grunthal. Isaac said if they want local shoppers to support them, “it goes both ways.”

Toews also added a bulk aisle with beans, nuts, seeds, and chocolate chips that are packaged in-store and priced lower than name brands. She also created a giftware section featuring a line of local greeting cards.

Toews, who knows many customers by name, said the store has always been “the center of town.”

Known for many years as Schellenberg Foods, the store has stayed independently owned for nearly a century.

John R. Schellenberg purchased the store, located a half-mile north of the current location, from J.B. Wiebe for $1,940 in 1929. Ten years later, more space was needed and a new store was built. In 1947, the post office arrived, along with the title of postmaster for Schellenberg. The store’s current building was constructed in 1950.

In 1961, Schellenberg’s son, Levi, who had worked in the store since the age of 10, took over the business. A large addition was completed in 1971.

Levi’s eldest son, Brian, opened Schellenberg Hardware in 1979. Younger brother Roger became part-owner of the grocery store in 1983 and sole owner in 1988.

Roger ran the store until May 2013, when Schellenberg Foods, ProHardware, and Happy Earl’s Dawg House were sold to Todd and Vanessa Born and Darryl and Ana Born, who renamed the store Brothers Grocery.

Fields Market is closed on Sundays, a decision Isaac said hasn’t caused any complaints. The store opens early on weekdays to accommodate the post office, he explained, and stays open six evenings a week.