Hugo's Family Marketplace is a family-owned chain of

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

grocery stores located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

s of

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

and

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. It was founded by Hugo and Dorothy Magnuson in 1939. Hugo's is headquartered in the city of

Grand Forks, North Dakota Grand Forks is a city in and the county seat of Grand Forks County, North Dakota, United States. The city's population was 59,166 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in North Dakota, third-most populous ...

. The chain's stores have been supplied by the Nash Finch Company since 1939. Nash Finch was once headquartered in Grand Forks, but moved to

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

in 1919.

History

Hugo Magnuson Hugo R. Magnuson (May 23, 1900 – May 20, 2003) was an American businessman and politician. He founded the regional Hugo's grocery store chain. He was the mayor of the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota, from 1964 to 1972; he also served as a c ...

, a former mayor of Grand Forks, opened his first grocery store, the Pure Food Market, in

Grand Forks Grand Forks is a city in and the county seat of Grand Forks County, North Dakota, United States. The city's population was 59,166 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in the state, after Fargo and Bismarck. Grand For ...

. Magnuson's grocery stores carried the

Piggly Wiggly Piggly Wiggly is an American supermarket chain operating in the American Southern and Midwestern regions run by Piggly Wiggly, LLC, an affiliate of C&S Wholesale Grocers. Its first outlet opened in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee, and is notable ...

name for a period of years, before switching to the current "Hugo's" name. After Hugo's retirement, his son Curtis Magnuson became president of the chain. Hugo died in 2003 at the age of 102. Curtis died in 2007 at the age of 66. The chain is now run by Curtis' daughter, Kristi Magnuson-Nelson. Today, the chain operates 12 stores exclusively under the "Hugo's" name. The store's mascot is a cartoon of a smiling blonde boy named Seemore for Seemore Savings and the slogan is "''More low prices, more great stuff, when you go to Hugo's''". The chain also operates Seven liquor stores in North Dakota and Minnesota under the banner Hugo's Wine and Spirits. The chain most recently came to Fosston when they bought Palubicki’s SuperValu. In 2024 they bought 50 percent of Doug’s Supermarket in Warroad, Lake Of The Woods Foods in

Baudette Baudette is a city in, and the county seat of, Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 966. Baudette is known as the Walleye Capital of the World. History Baudette was incorporated in 19 ...

, and Pine River Family Market in Pine River from Linder Hagen Grocery Stores In 2025 they rebranded to Hugo’s

Locations

North Dakota

(five locations) * Jamestown * Grafton

Minnesota

* East Grand Forks * Crookston * Fosston * Park Rapids *

Thief River Falls Thief River Falls, sometimes abbreviated as TRF, is a city and county seat of Pennington County in the northwest portion of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 8,749 at the 2020 census. History Thief River Falls takes its name fro ...

External links

Hugo's website
{{Supermarkets of the United States Supermarkets of the United States Companies based in North Dakota Retail companies established in 1939 1939 establishments in North Dakota Family-owned companies of the United States