Year-end is always busy for business owners. Julie Sandstrom, chief financial officer and part-owner of Sandstrom’s Inc., took a break from her schedule recently to answer questions about how this third-generation family business is surviving in the hyper-competitive retail and food service distribution industry.
“We distribute more than 7,000 products, from milk to candy bars to garbage bags and everything in between,” Julie explained. “My grandparents founded the company in 1960, and my dad, David, began working here in 1969. My mom, Mary, was right behind him in 1970. The business grew from distributing candy and tobacco to include vending machines and video games. The vending portion of the company was later sold, and then my parents expanded the company into dairy, full line groceries, food service and many more convenience store items.”
Sandstrom’s today employs an average of 65 people with more employees in the summer. The business supplies products to grocery stores, convenience stores, schools and restaurants throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
“I began working at around age 12,” Julie said, “sweeping floors and cleaning. After graduating from high school here in Grand Rapids, I graduated from Hamline University and earned a double major in business management and economics with a minor in statistics. During college, I considered going to law school or becoming a veterinarian for a short time, but in my heart, I always knew I would return to my family’s business.“
“Growing up, my brother and I would spend time a lot of time around the warehouse,” she continued. “Our parents lived and breathed this company, so we would do things like roll coins from the vending machines, organize inventory and other odd jobs. We had a vending and games business for a quite a while so I’m sure our favorite job was testing out the video games in the repair shop my parents had at our home on Pokegama Lake. Candy bars and video games…my friends definitely enjoyed visiting!”
Julie’s first job after returning from college was “doing whatever needed doing.” She recalls working closely with her mother, who did all the accounting and managed accounts receivable, although it was instilled in her to know how every department worked. Her parents gave her the opportunity to apply what she had learned in college, and her dad would occasionally ask her to use things she learned in school for certain situations in their business.
“My parents were good at letting me speak up,” said Julie. “Not that they always took my advice, but they were the type of people who took the time to listen to me and to explain how the full ‘wheel’ of this business worked, not just one cog. They really helped me understand their philosophy about running the business.”
Just as with all businesses, changes in buying patterns and people’s interests and habits have changed the company. At the same time, the entire industry has also changed for Sandstrom’s and other retail distributors. Where 30 years ago there were more than 40 competitive distributors in Minnesota, today there are only six based in our state.
“We find ourselves competing against national companies, but our niche is service. These large companies can’t or don’t compete the way we can when it comes to servicing our accounts,” explained Julie.
One of the things that hasn’t changed about the Sandstrom’s business has been its relationship with Grand Rapids State Bank, a relationship that began in Al Sandstrom’s and Clair Wilcox’s era and has endured over three generations.
“I recall getting my first checking account when I was 12 years old; my parents felt it was important that we learn to handle our money,” said Julie. “My mom took us down to the bank and Clair and Steve Wilcox helped us open our accounts and showed us how to write a check. My brother, Dean, and I would stop by the bank to deposit our allowance, and I remember always have a good feeling about the relationship between the bank and our family.”
“We continue to bank there for several reasons,” she continued. “All the people are knowledgeable, friendly, and the folks there know me. It doesn’t seem to matter if employees have been there four hours or 14 years, they know who I am and greet me by name.”
“I lived for a while in Tennessee and did banking with a large national bank,” Julie added. “I never got that kind of treatment from those big banks.”
Julie works almost daily with the Operations Support team on ACH and EFT and other electronic transactions. In addition, she is in frequent contact with the lending department on other aspects of the company’s banking needs.
“Just as I feel comfortable working with anyone at the bank, I want to make sure we extend that same sentiment to our customers,” Julie explained. “In fact, when I think about working here, what I enjoy the most is interaction with people, both our customers and employees.
“We have a large and diverse customer base, including some family-owned resorts who are still owned by families that did business with my grandparents, Al and Corrine,” she continued. “I’ve heard some of these names for years as I was growing up in the business; some have been customers here for 30 years or more. Hearing their stories of business back then and how things have changed is great. Those relationships are precious to me.
“I’m also proud of the relationships we’ve built with our employees,” Julie added. “They have a strong sense of loyalty. We have a number of people who’ve worked with us for 20-plus years, including some who started in the warehouse and are now senior management in Sandstrom’s. They’re the backbone of what we do and how we do it. I really am grateful to be here thanks to the hard work of our team, my parents and my grandparents.”