Business briefs

Business briefs
New In Town: Rapid Refill
Cathy Roers, Kathy Rudman, and Nick Roers (left to right) are co-owners of the Rapid Refill
franchise at 4212 Winnetka Ave. N. in New Hope.
N
ick Roers remembers when a Hardee’s drive through stood on the land
where his store now stands. Roers, part
owner and operator of Rapid Refill, has a
long history in New Hope, one that dates
back to when he was born. That history
is what brought Nick, his sister Cathy
Roers, and friend Kathy Rudman back to
the intersection of 42nd and Winnetka
avenues in New Hope’s City Center.
The Roers grew up in New Hope – attending Sonnesyn Elementary, Hosterman Middle School and Cooper High
School. The two have been active in the
western suburbs business community
for most of their adult careers. Nick operated an ice cream and popcorn shop
at Ridgedale Mall for many years while
Cathy and best friend Kathy Rudman
own and operate the Anytime Fitness
in Crystal. One thing led to another,
and the three decided it was time to
start a new chapter in their lives and
open a store together. With their strong
ties to the community, opening a Rapid
Refill store in New Hope seemed like a
perfect fit for the trio.
Roers is quick to point out that the
company is much more than the name
implies. Rapid Refill doesn’t technically refill used ink cartridges, toners,
ribbons and sticks, it remanufactures
them. Rapid Refill disassembles, cleans,
replaces parts and reassembles cartridges and toners in a 12-step process
that he believes is much cleaner and
more reliable than standard refilling.
Environmental stewardship is engrained
throughout Rapid Refill, literally. Not
only are all the unusable parts recycled
and the remanufacturing process clean,
but the store itself is “green” – the carpet is made of recycled milk cartons,
the counter is made of sunflowers and
the walls are a wheat product. Nick, a
strong believer in the green movement,
believes in order to be truly green we
must change our lives in all aspects. He
believes one of the easiest ways to make
a difference is being environmentally
sensitive with household and office
products purchases – from cleaners, to
paper products and, yes, ink.
Rapid Refill, which opened in June of
2008 at 4212 Winnetka Ave. N., has
slowly but steadily been building its
business. The three owners love the
busy intersection at 42nd and Winnetka avenues and say their strip mall
neighbors have been very welcoming.
They look forward to working with
the residents and businesses of New
Hope. Nick, Cathy and Kathy have a
clear business plan – a commitment
to the community that has given them
so much, maintaining healthy environmental practices, and strong customer
service. With a business plan like that,
their future looks bright.
For more information about Rapid
Refill, call 763-746-2627 or visit www.
rapidrefill.com.
Coborn's Inc. acquires
Simon Delivers
O
n August 26, St. Cloud-based
grocer Coborn's Inc. announced
that it had acquired Simon Delivers.
com. The new ownership plans to resume delivery in the metro area as
Coborns Delivers.com in October.
Simon Delivers shut down its operations in mid-July citing high
food and gas prices. The New
Hope-based food delivery business,
founded in 1999, had 300 employees and about 19,000 customers
throughout the Twin Cities area.
Coborn's, Inc. is a family-owned
grocery business founded in 1921.
The company owns 34 Coborn's and
Cash Wise grocery stores throughout the Midwest and has about
6,000 employees. The Simon Delivers acquisition marks Coborn's entry
into the Twin Cities grocery market.
A Coborn's company spokesman
indicated that the company has
renewed the lease for the former
Simon Delivers headquarters in
New Hope. He also indicated that
former Simon Delivers customers
will be able to easily reactivate their
accounts and access their past order
histories when Coborn's Delivers resumes Twin Cities deliveries.
Ambassador Good Samaritan
Twin Cities Hardware
Good Samaritan Society-Ambassador
has submitted several requests to the
New Hope Planning Commission and
City Council in order to expand its
long-term care facility at 8100 Medicine Lake Road from 34,000 to more
than 49,000 square feet.
Ambassador recently purchased a fourplex north of its current building at 2724
Virginia Ave. N. and proposes to rezone
that parcel and expand the care facility.
The proposed expansion would increase
the number of private rooms but maintain the total number of beds at 84.
The Planning Commission has recommended approval of Ambassador's requests with several conditions. The City
Council is scheduled to discuss the proposal in October.
In late August, Twin Cities Hardware
broke ground on an expansion that will
nearly triple the size of its office/warehouse building at 5650 International Parkway. The project will add 18,800 square
feet of warehouse and 4,200 square feet of
office space to the current facility.
Sarpino's Pizza
A Sarpino's Pizzeria restaurant opened
at 7542 42nd Ave. N. in the west building at Village on Quebec this spring.
Sarpino's is a franchise restaurant which
began in 2000 in Victoria, British Columbia. There are currently 25 Sarpino's
in the United States including six in the
Twin Cities metro area. Sarpino's menu
includes pizza, calzones, pasta, salads
and more. The 1,200 square foot New
Hope location offers take-out only.
I
Participating in the Twin City Hardware
groundbreaking were owner Cal Boomer (center), flanked by sales director Mike Schultz
(left) and store manager Jim LaBelle (right).
All Star Sports
receives outstanding business award
n September, the New Hope City
involvement. The 15 employees, which
Council was proud to present the
are a mix of full-time Cooper graduates
Summer 2008 Outstanding Business
and part-time high school students, all
Award to All Star Sports.
work very hard to serve the needs of
the community. And All Star Sports
All Star Sports has been a staple of
gives back to the community in many
District 281 athletes for 32 years. Loways, including sponsoring youth
cated at 7321 42nd Avenue since 1976,
sports programs and fundraising. NorAll Star Sports specializes in athletic
man also stays active with his business
gear for area hockey, football, baseball,
lacrosse, swimming, soccer and volley- neighbors.
ball players. Recently, the company also Residents and businesses can nominate
began selling a variety of promotional
outstanding businesses by contacting
items – including everything from pens Pam Sylvester at 763-531-5110. Nomiand buttons to flyswatters and afghans
nations for the Fall award are due Oc– imprinted with an organization's
tober 31.
logo or slogan. Mark Norman, along
with siblings Paul
and Amy, have been
involved with the
store’s operation for
most of their lives.
Their father, Jerry,
opened the first All
Star Sports location
in Crystal in 1973.
The family also ran
a St. Paul location
for ten years.
When talking to
Mark Norman it
becomes clear that
two things are very
important to him
and his staff – a
strong work ethic
Mark Norman and the family-owned sporting goods business, All
Star Sports, won the Summer 2008 Outstanding Business Award.
and community
In Business Fall 2008