Cover Story

“Our philosophy is to expand when we’re financially able,” says Jim Kowalski, CEO of the Kowalski’s grocery store chain in the Twin Cities. They started when he and his wife and business partner, Mary Anne, purchased in June of 1983 their first store, a Red Owl on Grand Avenue in St. Paul. Jim had worked for Red Owl for 20 years before then.

Tim McKee and Josh Thoma met behind the range at Azur, the D’Amicos’ Mediterranean fine-dining concept that, despite rave reviews, ended up in the obits a couple of decades ago. Today the two operate a host of culinary operations. But unlike their mentors’ stable, each boasts its own name, theme and set of partners, many of whom represent staffers invited to become investors – a unique way to expand without a corporate umbrella.

One size does not fit all when it comes to the building supply industry (or lumberyards,as they were called back in the day).

When CotterWeb’s CEO focused on his expertise and hired the rest, business zoomed

Doug Huseby has more than 15 startups under his belt, and at age 65 he’s hard at work rolling out his most ambitious project yet. Best-known as the founder and CEO of Becker Furniture World, Huseby painstakingly grew the store from 500 square feet to 300,000 square feet and current sales of more than $45 million. He started out with no-name brands, competed with giant furniture businesses and invented new ways to grow.