2016 Friends Recipient
The Danish Viking Days Committee is proud to announce that Jones’ Food Center has been chosen to receive the 2016 Friends of Viborg Award. The award will be presented at Glood Park on Friday, July 15, 2016 at 8:00 pm.
Below is an excerpt from the Viborg History Book highlighting the history of Jones’ Food Center:
The Corner Store
There has been a grocery store on the northwest corner of the main square for most (if not all) of Viborg’s 100 year history. Fred Marcussen opened a store at this location as a sole owner in the early 1900’s. He was joined by Roy B. Nelson as his partner in about 1908, and they sold food and general merchandise under the name of “Red and Roy.” Fred Marcussen sold out his interest in the store to Roy B. in about 1914. Mr. Nelson continued the business until about 1920 when he sold out to the Hendricksen brothers – Peter and Will. Roy B. Nelson then opened a furniture store next door to the north until 1934 when he became postmaster at this location.
Peter and Will Hendricksen continued the Corner Store until Will sold his interest in the business to another brother, Henry, and Will moved to California. Peter Hendricksen purchased the interest of his brother in the Corner Store and he became the sole owner. Henry opened a grocery store in the middle of the next block to the south.
Peter Hendricksen closed the Corner Store in 1944, and Walter Knudsen purchased the property from him. The Corner Store building was getting old and rundown with all the heavy traffic of the previous years, and Mr. Knudsen had the old Corner Store demolished and erected a new building on this site, which he leased to the K & K Co. which had operated a general merchandise and grocery store across the street in the IOOF building.
The K & K Co. store moved into the new building in 1946 and sold groceries and general merchandise in this location under the management of W.C. “Bill” Jensen until the late 1950’s when the K & K Co. Stores in this area began liquidation of their stores.
After the K & K Co. store sold out, Robert “Bob” Crowder opened a grocery store in this location which later became “Crowder’s Jack & Jill Store.”
Bob Crowder later sold out to Carl Suhr and the store became “Carl’s Jack & Jill” which he operated for a number of years in the 1960’s. Carl Suhr sold the store to Wilmer Zeitner and he operated the store for a short time until selling it to Eldon Barnes in the early 1970’s. “Eldon’s Jack & Jill” operated in this location for about seven years before selling the store in 1979 to Tom and Linda Jones. They operated under the Jack & Jill banner for a short time before becoming independent and then operated the store as “Jones’ Food Center” as the store is known today.
Tom and Linda Jones purchased the grocery store in Viborg from Eldon Barnes on March 19, 1979.
Many changes and improvements have been made since they purchased the business. An office was built in the rear of the store, the south entrance was removed, the front entrance was revised and improved, the large front windows were removed and replaced with smaller ones. A new floor was put down, ZeroZone freezer doors were installed. In the Meat Dept., vacuum packaging is used, and computer and scanning cash registers which itemize sales slips have also been installed.