Coborn’s Inc. has purchased approximately $150,000 in gift cards to local restaurants across the four states it operates in.

The grocery chain, which has Coborn’s Marketplace stores in Elk River, Otsego and Albertville, began distributing the cards this past weekend to its employees as a small token of appreciation during the holiday season, and as a way to support local restaurants. Each Coborn’s Inc. employee will receive a $15 gift card to a local restaurant in their community.

The Otsego location purchased gift cards from Boondocks in Otsego. The Elk River location purchased gift cards from Chow, Sunshine Depot, Pompeii Pizza and Mucho Loco. The Albertville location purchased gift cards from El Bamba and Andy’s Hometowne Pizza.

The company operates Coborn’s, Cash Wise, Marketplace Foods and Hornbacher’s supermarkets in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin as well as numerous other retail operations, warehouse and distribution facilities, a centralized bake shop and its corporate office, located in St. Cloud.

“This has been a challenging year for so many businesses and individuals in the communities we serve, and the restaurant industry has been particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dave Meyer, executive vice president for the company. “We appreciate the hard work and significant value that local restaurants have in our communities, many of whom we partner with throughout the year. This small gesture rewards our employees for their hard work and can hopefully provide some additional meaningful support to our local restaurants,” he added.

Coborn’s Inc. has implemented other programs this year to support local organizations in the communities it serves as well. The company donated over $500,000 in financial support and food to local food shelves and coordinated a Hometown Healthcare Heroes campaign to support the mission of the CentraCare Foundation’s work to assist local health care workers. The company also has provided additional financial support to many of its employees through the Coborn’s Care Fund since the pandemic started.

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