Meadowland Market has come a long way in the nearly 15 years that they have been in operation and now encompasses many more grocery items than it did back then. The store began in the Fall of 2006 in Hancock and was then called Bent and Dent. It was a small operation selling damaged and in some cases, outdated food products.
Trevor and Jody Schmidgall purchased the business from the Hostetter family in 2008. They moved the store to a larger location in Hancock in 2009 and then the following year to a building in Morris. When that building sold, the Schmidgalls purchased the current building at 10 W. 6th St. in Morris but the expansions did not stop there. They have been upgrading and changing their product line ever since.
One of the first things they did was to add to the Bent and Dent inventory with factory overstock and warehouse damaged products. This produced a huge new line of products such as health & Beauty, paper items, cleaning products, toys, pet food, and giftware. They don’t always know exactly what they will receive as the warehouses will just load up a pallet filled with mixed products. They can also get a pallet or more of items pulled from store shelves.
While still in the Hancock location, they added dairy products to the inventory. They first purchased from Stoney Creek Dairy but are now getting dairy products from Prairie Farms which was formerly Dean’s. Many of these items have the Land ‘O Lakes logo.
Perhaps one of the product changes that caused the biggest adjustment in inventory was to start buying items from Walnut Creek Foods. From this company they get cheeses, frozen foods, some meat and many other bulk items. Through bulk purchases they can repackage and then resell at a discounted price.
Hillcrest Meats, Hutterite Colony out of South Dakota and Wetters Distributing out of Lamberton, MN is where most of the meat items are purchased. There is a good selection of meats but also some very unique frozen entrees such as prepared meatloaf, hot dishes and other ready to cook items.
Trevor added that they do get in some fresh fruits and vegetables regularly but when these items arrive, they are never sure about what will be included. Most of the time, these products from the Twin Cities area are overstocked items.
The newest changes at Meadowland Market include the many Hispanic made goods and baked goods such as sweet bread and teleras. This is the perfect way to get a taste of Hispanic bakery products without traveling to another country.
In the fall of 2020, Trevor and Jody bought out a small hispanic store called La Tiendita. This store featured mostly hispanic grocery items. The items were incorporated into the Morris store through some remodeling that added more space and an entire section dedicated to hispanic products. These are not limited to bakery and grocery products but also produce, pots and pans and even pinatas.
The family owned store now includes two of the Schmidgall children, Tory and Tiffany. You can find them unpacking crates, stocking shelves and learning the business from their parents.
Trevor is thankful to the community for their support over the years. He feels that prior to some of these items being sold in a store like this, they probably ended up in a landfill. He also stated that they are always looking for new product ideas and encourage people to ask if there is something they are in need of or are looking for. They would be more than willing to take a look and see what they can find. It might just lead to something new at Meadowland Market.
