NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) – Greater Nebraska natives Kerri and Ben Dishman have purchased Gary’s Super Foods in North Platte.
“Ben was born and raised here in North Platte. I grew up in Farnam, south of Gothenburg. Ben even worked here at this very grocery store when it was Sixth Street Foods,” said Kerri Dishman of Fresh Foods.
I started as a bagger, and I worked as dairy manager, I worked on the night crew, I was second assistant manager here, so yeah, I’ve held a few positions here, and it was a really good job to start with,” added Ben Dishman.
From Sixth Street Foods to Shopko to USave, Ben Dishman had an extensive career in the retail and grocery industry across Lincoln County, expanding into the Ogallala region in managing the Keith County Sun-Mart for several years until he and Kerri decided to purchase their own grocery store in the Nebraska Panhandle.
“We moved to Gering not knowing a single soul, we just kept praying that if God gave us opportunities we’d keep going. If a door closed, a window would open and we just kept moving forward. We didn’t know anybody in Gering, so we didn’t necessarily want to incorporate our last name into the name of the store, but we wanted our business to be defined by its name, so that’s how we came up with Fresh Foods,” said Kerri Dishman.
For the last several years, the Dishmans have been working toward purchasing the three remaining Gary’s Superfoods locations in Greater Nebraska.
“Well, Gary and I talk quite a bit. We were part of a shared group where we get together and collaborate on ideas in the Grocery business and things like that. Gary was getting ready to sell, so he contacted me and this has been a process that has gone on for probably three, four, five years. We feel that Gary did a good job, and we will try to build on what he has already built here,” said Ben Dishman.
“Each of these locations has wonderful managers and teams, so things are really business as usual, but we want to make the final touches. With Fresh Foods, we always want it to be fresh, full, fast, and friendly. So, I think we have great teams that do that and have open lines of communication,” said Kerri Dishman.
The Dishmans have stated they intend to continue the long-standing points reward system that Gary’s customers have come to know and love.
Kerri mentioned how important it is for a community to embrace a local family-owned business coming into the community during its economic boom.
“The buzz that we always hear is North Platte is progressive and wants to grow. To have a community that wants to grow and embrace mom-and-pop businesses like ours and to understand that for your economy to be successful you need to have those that will invest in your local community, versus the big box stores that don’t have that home-town feel like you’re going to get with your independents,” Kerri said.
Gary Suhr owned and operated the Grocery Store in Hershey, Nebraska, for a number of years before purchasing Lincoln County’s former TrueValue building along East 4th Street. From there, Gary’s expanded to a second location in North Platte with the purchase of Gary’s West A, the former North Platte Sun-Mart.
Gary’s also expanded into Broken Bow and McCook. The Broken Bow location closed in recent years, the McCook location continues to serve Southern-Nebraska and Northern-Kansas, and is included in the purchase agreement with Fresh Foods.
The North Platte Area Chamber and Development Corporation has responded to the transition, saying:
“The new ownership and brand will be good for North Platte. It was wonderful having a home-grown, locally-owned grocery store with Gary’s Super Foods. We appreciate all they did for the community and for our Chamber Business Family. We wish all parties the very best moving forward. North Platte is a good business investment with all the exciting new development and economic growth,” said Gary Person, President and CEO of the North Platte Area Chamber and Development Corporation.
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