New locally sourced Greensted Grocery to bloom in downtown Zumbrota
ZUMBROTA, Minn. — Even though it is November, something green is growing in downtown Zumbrota as local eco entrepreneurs Dean and Jayne Bredlau unveil their transplanted Greensted Grocery.
The Bredlaus have moved and rebranded their business, which used to be The Greensted Farm Store at 45820 190th Ave. in rural Zumbrota. They opened at that location in March 2021.
As wholesale demand for their microgreens declined recently, the business started to lose its footing. That spurred some tough questions about the business, which started in a greenhouse in 2016.
"As things changed, we asked ourselves 'Do we shut down and walk away or do we find a new path?,'" said Jayne Bredlau. "And then a new path opened up. The opportunity to move downtown right on Main Street was too good to pass up. It was kind of an answer to our prayers."
They decided to refocus the operation into a regionally sourced store and retain the Greensted name. The Greensted Grocery was born.
The Greensted Grocery recently moved into the front of the building at 224 South Main St. in the heart of Zumbrota. That's the spot where Chubby Chic Boutique was located. Chubby Chic, which remains open, moved into another space in the back part of the same building. The businesses now support each as "women entrepreneurial buddies," said Bredlau.
Greensted offers a full selection of produce, meat and dairy products as well as wool and beeswax candles that are all sourced from 180 vendors in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin.
"I work with other small businesses to bring their high-quality products in house. I do have a lot of organic products and a lot of specialty foods for people with gluten-free or dairy-free diets," she said. "it's kind of like a co-op, except that I work literally with just about every small business directly."
To introduce the new store to the Zumbrota area community, the Greensted Grocery is hosting its grand opening from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16, with six vendors on site to sell and discuss their products. McCurdy Farm of Red Wing will be on hand with chicken. Old School Acres of Lake City will have samples of its beef and pork. CannonBelles Cheese of Cannon Falls will also be there along with Get Bentz Farm, which will have wool and fiber samples.
While the store is the main focus for the Bredlaus, they also plan to start growing microgreens again on a smaller scale than before to add microgreens and the popular "Wacky Salads" to their offerings in early 2025.
This is the latest milestone for the small businesses owners.
The microgreens operation was originally launched as My Sweet Greens MN. That attracted the attention of the billion-dollar salad and grain bowl restaurant chain called Sweetgreen, which sent them a "cease and desist" letter in early 2019. That led to re-branding as The Greensted.
Then the business grew into The Greensted Farm Store in 2021, which, in turn, has evolved into The Greensted Grocery.
