On This Date in Minnesota History: February 2

February 2, 1987 – “Amid growing anger over the decline of American service, many U.S. companies defy the trend and flourish handsomely because of the care they lavish on customers.” So begins a Time magazine article entitled “Where the Customer Is Still King” that includes a review of the Twin Cities’ own Byerly’s grocery stores. 

Don Byerly opened his first store in Golden Valley in 1968. He told Time that “he [had] almost never publicly advertised a product or price. ‘We spend the advertising money on service,’ he [explained].” The article goes on to say that “Byerly's places special emphasis on helpfulness.” According to Don Byerly, “The only reason people will come back to our store is because of what happened to them the last time they were here."

http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,963439,00.html
http://www.lundsandbyerlys.com/About/Our-History.aspx

Byerly's in Golden Valley, MN

Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain Feb. 2, 2013,
as long as acknowledgement included.