2021 Retailer of the Year

From page 27 varying projects we were all working on, and Dan would occasionally join us. By then he was walking with a cane... but he was sharp as a tack…an incredible man and remarkably sharp.”

Chris took the helm as president in 1999 and chief executive officer in 2007, becoming the fourth generation to lead his family’s company.

“Over 40 years I’ve been here full time and we still have lots of unfinished work. We’re trying to be a better operator and better merchant to our communities and our customers or guests,” he said.

“But we also want to diversify so that we have more staying power as an organization and more opportunities more ways. To grow within the organization, as well as grow as an organization in these communities.”

That growth from the associate level continues to Emily, Chris’ daughter, who started working at Coborn’s as a cashier when she was in high school and in need of gas money. She stayed on throughout college, where she studied communications.

A few years later, she joined Coborn’s in 2011 as communications manager before serving as director of Topco program management and district manager for Coborn’s, per the history book. She was also instrumental in building the partnership between Coborn’s and Second Harvest Heartland’s food rescue program.

Chris’s son, Peter, also works for the company, serving as director of pricing strategy. While the technologies in grocery have changed, Peter maintains his great-great-grandfather’s

(Chester A.) mission of keeping the customer in mind. Both Peter and Emily continue the legacy of family mentorship.

“It is rare that a person has the opportunity to work so closely with their father for most of their life,” Chris said in the book. “I was blessed to have had my dad be such an influential personal and professional mentor. He was absolutely extraordinary.”