For nearly 40 years, Jim’s SuperValu in Park River, North Dakota, has been a cornerstone of its rural community. Co-owner Diana Hahn, who has spent decades working in the store her parents purchased in 1986, understands the unique challenges and opportunities that come with running an independent grocery store in a small town.
“My dad started carrying out groceries in 1954 for the grocery store here in town,” Hahn shared.
After years of working in multiple roles – including meat cutting and produce management – her father and mother purchased the store in 1986.
“They owned it until 2006, which was when my husband, Randy, and I bought it,” she said.
Today, Randy runs the meat department while Diana manages store operations, leveraging her accounting degree from the University of North Dakota.
Hahn never expected to stay in Park River.
“I was going to be a CPA in some big firm in Minneapolis or wherever,” she said. “Needless to say, I never left.”
Instead, she stepped into a leadership role when her father’s right-hand employee departed, eventually managing the store while her father returned to meat cutting. “So I’ve kind of done a little bit of everything.”
As the only grocery store in Park River since the early 2000s, Jim’s SuperValu plays a crucial role in the community. However, the store faces significant challenges, particularly with inflation and labor shortages.
“I think a lot of people saw the benefit and need to keep local, small grocery stores going during COVID,” Hahn saidd. “With the rise of inflation, that has shifted where they’re trading to the big-box stores because of cheaper pricing.”
Competing with national retailers that receive preferential pricing is a persistent struggle.
“The absolute biggest challenge is pricing,” Hahn emphasized. “The unfair pricing practices by big-box retailers and Amazon – they get favorable pricing and terms that the rest of us are not even offered.”
Labor shortages also remain a hurdle. “It is just the lack of even people applying, let alone finding quality employees and them staying,” she explained. “You don’t have the longevity of employees like you had years ago.”
A lack of affordable childcare exacerbates the problem. “We also have a daycare crisis in the state of North Dakota,” Hahn said. “A lot of moms have had to stay home, even though they would prefer to work full time, because of the lack of good daycare that is affordable and available.”
RAD Co-Op: Model for rural grocers
One of Jim’s SuperValu’s most innovative solutions has been its leadership in the Rural Access Distribution (RAD) Co-Op. Formed in 2020 with two other small-town grocers – Market on Main in Edinburg and Hoople Grocery in Hoople – the cooperative allows for more efficient purchasing and distribution.
Through grant funding, the co-op purchased a refrigerated truck, enabling UNFI to deliver goods to Jim’s SuperValu, where they are sorted and distributed to the other two stores.
“They now sell groceries at the same price point that I do because they’re paying the same cost that I do,” Hahn said. “They were able to get way more variety.”
The results have been striking.
“In that first full year, they saw increases in their sales of 16 percent and 23 percent, respectively,” Hahn reported. “Even if you want to say inflation created a 10 percent increase, they still increased like 6 and 13 percent in sales, which was unheard of at that time.”
The co-op also delivers fresh produce and milk to four school buildings in the area, helping them avoid waste and maintain freshness. “They can order four peppers and one cantaloupe and three heads of lettuce,” Hahn explained. “That only helps us, being a small store, turn that produce faster to keep it fresher for our customers.”
The RAD Co-Op model has attracted attention beyond North Dakota. “Kansas is also taking a big look at it,” Hahn noted, along with the state of New York. “I’ve talked with many various people about how this can be replicated.”
Looking to future
As Hahn and her husband consider their eventual retirement, she sees herself continuing to support rural grocery sustainability.
“I kind of see my path as maybe being a little bit more of a consultant, helping set up other co-ops or nonprofits,” she said. “That might be where my passion is going as I get older.”
Jim’s SuperValu has already earned industry recognition for its efforts, being named UNFI’s Independent Customer of the Year and the Central Region’s Innovative Retailer of the Year.
“I think they see this as how rural communities are going to be served in the future,” Hahn said.
Advice for women in grocery
Reflecting on her journey as a woman in grocery leadership, Hahn acknowledged past challenges but sees progress.
“Years ago, I definitely had some major problems with some male salesmen not wanting to listen to me,” she recalled. “But my father always had my back. He always knew that I was doing the best for us as a family, for our store and for our customers.”
For women looking to advance in the industry, Hahn’s advice is straightforward: “Network, network, network. It’s not always about what you know, it’s about who you know.”
[RELATED: North Dakota’s Grocers Adapting Amid Economic Shifts]