Tadych’s Econofoods being bought by Minnesota company

The sign on the outside won’t change, and operations inside will look similar to customers who shop there, but a shakeup is coming to Tadych’s Econofoods. The Houghton location is one of six stores being bought by Minnesota-based Coborn’s, Inc.

Vice President Dennis Host says Coborn’s will hopefully be able to improve what is already an excellent grocery store.

Interestingly, Coborn’s is an employee-owned company. The corporate structure is becoming more common, but it is still a niche.The National Center for Employee Ownership estimates that about 10.3 million Americans work for a company that offers an employee stock ownership plan, known as an ESOP.

Employee owned companies have less turnover and the value of the plans are determined using an annual assessment by an outside financial entity. The deal is scheduled to close in December.

“This is our first entry into the state of Michigan, so we have some things to learn, some added distance to figure out and to onboard their team into our organization,” Chris Coborn added. Host says that while the introduction process is ongoing, he does not expect significant operational change.