Nelson’s Open Wholesale GroceryThe following appeared in the Rock County Herald on June 23, 1905:Nelson BrothersAnnounce Important Extension of BusinessTo Open Wholesale GroceryLuverne’s Department Store Will Fight Big Chicago Mail Order Houses — Enterprise Only One of its Kind in Southern Minnesota — Project Contains Large Possibilities for Development of Big Business That will Mean Much to Luverne’s Commercial Interests. The important announcement of the enlargement of their business by the establishment of a wholesale grocery department was made Wednesday by Nelson Brothers. The new department which is to be in operation by July 15 is instituted primarily for the purpose of meeting the local competition of the large wholesale mail order houses of Chicago, but if the venture meets with the success expected the business of the firm in this department will be extended to other counties. The goods will be sold directly to the trade by traveling representatives, and Messrs. Nelsons state that they will not only meet every price quoted by legitimate catalogue concerns but in many instances will undersell them. The fact that Nelson Brothers are a home concern of well established reliability and depend for their business upon the good will of their patrons is sufficient assurance of the high quality of the goods they will sell. The new department will be located on the second floor in the room formerly used as a lodge hall, and will be conducted entirely separate from the retail grocery department. All of the goods sold at wholesale prices will be in the original packages, and as is the rule with all catalogue houses, the buyer must purchase a certain amount to be entitled to the wholesale price. The fact that the goods are handled only in the original packages greatly reduces the expense of clerk hire, etc., which, coupled with the buying of the goods in large quantities, makes possible the low prices that will be quoted. For the first few weeks Messrs. Nelson will have but two solicitors in the field — Messrs. Robert and Rollo Cobban — who will confine their work to Rock county, but by the opening of fall they will have men and teams in at least five counties. This will be the first wholesale establishment in Luverne and the only one of its kind in Southern Minnesota. The possibilities for the development of the business to a large scale are very great, and under the able management of this enterprising firm its success is well assured. Donations to the Rock County Historical Endowment Fund can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, P.O. Box 741, Luverne, MN 56156.Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.
