AUSTIN DAILY HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 2017
Austin Daily Herald
BUSINESS REVIEW Name of the business: Reed’s 4th Avenue Owner(s) of the business: Rick & Cheri Webber What is your address? 901 4th Avenue NE, Austin, MN. What is your website? We have a Minnoco app that can be downloaded to save instantly on gas and other products. Please provide a brief history of the company: Family owned and operated for the past 30 years, we purchased the business in 1995. How many employees do you have? 11 Te l l u s a l i t t l e about your busin e s s. W h a t a r e your specialties? We are a gas station convenience store with a large variety of products including novelties, clothing, bait, Geneva meats, fresh made deli sandwiches, groceries, beverages and low tobacco prices. What are some of the new things your business is doing? What are you most proud to tell customers, and why? We recently branded Minnoco which is a co-op of soon to be 40 independent stations. We first
became interested in the idea because the purpose behind Minnoco, Minnesota Oil Company, was to promote Ethanol which is a cleaner air alternative and helps support our local farming community. We carry 5 grades of fuel including E-85, E-30 and E-15. We began the Minnoco conversion last October when we installed new state of art gas dispensers, new underground tanks, a new P.O.S. system and the New Minnoco image. By joining the coop we still own and operate our local f am i ly bu si n e ss, Reeds 4th Avenue, but it gives us the purchasing power of 40 locations rather than just one. The members of the coop negotiate with vendors to lower cost which we can in turn pass on to our customers with coupons and other discounted items. The co-op also combines advertising resources which allows us to more effectively promote our products.
provide our customers with what they want at the most competitive prices we can get. We both work side by side with our employees, which builds a good supportive working environment. We listen to our employee’s ideas and thoughts on how to better serve our customers, their firsthand knowledge is invaluable to us. Our e m p l oye e s k n ow that we care about them and appreciate the work and extra effort they give. We both believe whole heartedly that the personal interaction with our employees and customers is the perfect equation for
We are Austin’s lottery headquarters. We are currently the top seller in Southern MN. Territory and rank in the top 1% state wide out of 3284 lottery locations. Reed’s 4th Avenue has paid out $4,963,986.00 over the counter in scratch off tickets and nearly $6,000,000.00 in total combined winnings. Another uniqueness we have are the Reed’s 4th Ave nu e t - s h i r t s we designed. They are multi colored tiedye with a piece sign logo. We felt it was a good reflection of our neighborhood location on the East side. Our custom-
W h at s e t s yo u apart from other companies and why? We a r e l o c a l l y owned and operated. We live in this community. We both interact with our customers on a day to day basis, we personally thank them for their business and listen to what they tell us. We work with vendors to try as best as we can to
good customer service, which is priority one at Reed’s 4th Avenue, and our employees are first rate when it comes to great customer service.
er base is made up from all walks of life, they are decent hard-working people. We have been fortunate to meet so many interesting individuals, hence our motto “Live and Let Live” and as always have the best day ever! Live Peaceful.
Any other information that would be helpful to know.
The Business Review is a weekly feature produced by the Austin Daily Herald Advertising Department. For more information, call 507-434-2220.
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