Last updated on June 14th, 2024
Nestled in downtown Fargo, North Dakota, sits Daily’s Market, a family-owned retail convenience store where the shelves are packed with much more than Tic Tacs and Gatorades. The business also carries a small selection of groceries and everyday essentials.
Owners Than and Charlotte Young, a pharmacist by trade, are high school sweethearts who opened the store in 2019 after she sold her drug store of 21 years in Napoleon, North Dakota.
“The very first night I sold it, it was kind of scary,” said Young, who still works two to three days a week at the pharmacy. “Right now, I do not miss the business part of it.”
As for Daily’s, she doesn’t spend much time there. “I usually work a weekend and then my husband will work a weekend. But I have really good employees. If they need me or my husband, they can usually get a hold of one of us really easily.”
The Youngs still live in Napoleon with the youngest of their five children, who is preparing to graduate high school. In addition to her pharmacy career, Young is a “part-time pharmacist, part-time teacher, full-time business owner and full-time mom.”
The Youngs decided to go into the grocery business when they saw space was available in downtown Fargo. Luckily, they had a connection to the landlord – their son, Andrew. But beyond family, Young said they knew the market was necessary for Fargo.
“Downtown is filled with things like boutiques and clothing stores, museums and galleries, but there is no place to buy a pack of gum…so we have a lot of office people going through and grabbing a gallon of milk. We have college students living downtown. We also have a lower-income population that lives downtown that utilizes our market.”
The Youngs’ previous experience in retail not only provided a clear path to get the business off the ground but came in handy as supplies like paper products became scarce in 2020.
“I had a backroom that was overstocked with paper products. My drugstore would buy – any time a sale came up – different kinds of toilet paper, different kinds of paper towels. So my backroom was overstocked,” she said.
“And when other places started running out of toilet paper, people would come and be in literal tears. They couldn’t believe it. They were so happy we had something as simple as toilet paper.”
Going forward, Young plans to be more involved with Daily’s. The family may even move to Fargo. A self-described “bit of a crafter,” she hopes to capitalize on the tourist season by making gift baskets or North Dakota keepsakes. For the store itself, she hopes to include more grab-and-go foods.
For more information, visit dailysmarket.com.
