Soelberg’s Market celebrated the grand opening of its new Grantsville, Utah, store Oct. 22, drawing a large crowd for the latest chapter of a family grocery tradition that stretches back more than 120 years in the community.
The development at 274 S. Matthews Lane includes the 46,600-square-foot Soelberg’s Market, a 12,480-square-foot Ace Hardware, a 1,000-square-foot Birch Family Pharmacy and a 486-square-foot Beans & Brews coffee shop. The project was designed to give Soelberg’s additional room to serve the growing Grantsville community, replacing the family’s previous Grantsville store on East Main Street.
The store’s design intentionally honors Grantsville’s history, with a modern farm-style appearance, a silo where guests can sit and eat, perimeter departments named for places from Grantsville’s history and aisles carrying the names of some of the community’s first streets.
“We’ve been very intentional in both the exterior and interior design to reflect our roots in the community, dating back to 1905,” said storeowner Carol Jefferies. “You’ll see that influence throughout the store.”
The ceremony brought together members of the Soelberg family, community leaders, students, shoppers and representatives from Associated Food Stores, the Salt Lake City-based cooperative that supplies the independent grocer. Jared Mitchell, VP of Market Development Inc., a part of AFS, served as master of ceremonies, and AFS CEO David Rice attended along with members of the AFS board of directors and other company leaders.
Grantsville Mayor Heidi Hammond, who took office in January as the first woman to serve as the city’s mayor, addressed the crowd. Owners Carol and Dave Jefferies shared how proud their family is of the new store and what it represents for the future of the family business, with Dave adding a story about how the couple first met. The local high school band performed, and a second-grade class led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance before the celebration moved inside the packed store.
4 generations in Grantsville
The Soelberg family’s grocery story began when Karl and Dagmar Soelberg left Denmark for America in 1893. Karl found his way to Grantsville and, in 1905, began working at the town’s local Co-op store, the earliest documented connection between the family and Grantsville’s grocery business, according to a family history published by the store.
The tradition continued through Karl and Dagmar’s son, LeRoy Sr., and then their grandson, LeRoy Jr., who with his wife, LaRue, owned and operated Junior Mart, a small Main Street grocery advertised in the Tooele Transcript as early as 1965. LeRoy Jr. worked as the store’s butcher while the couple raised eight children, and the business grew into larger quarters before the family built Soelberg’s Thriftway, forerunner of today’s Soelberg’s Market.
Family lore includes a Christmas morning fire at the store; community members came to help clean up the damage, and working together, they had the store ready to serve customers the following day.
The business passed to LeRoy Jr. and LaRue’s daughter Carol and her husband, David Jefferies, who carried the legacy into its fourth generation and opened a second Soelberg’s Market in Stansbury Park in 2011.
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