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For more than five decades, the Brink family has been serving customers in the Lakes Area, and now Brink's Market is making one of its biggest investments yet in the future of Chisago City.

The grocery store recently completed an 8,500-square-foot expansion that significantly increases retail space while adding new backroom storage, larger frozen and dairy departments, expanded prepared food options and upgraded employee facilities.

According to Andy Brink, a store manager and a part of the fourth generation wave of Brink’s, the project was driven by the store's continued growth alongside the Chisago Lakes community.

“Our roots go back to 1919 when Oscar Brink had a store on the east side of St. Paul,” Brink said. “Portions of the family moved north to this area in the mid-1960s, and then Roger Brink Sr. opened a store in Chisago City in 1971.”

Since then, the business has operated under several names — Food Depot, Spree Market and now Brink's Market. Today, there are 12 Brink family members working the store, led by co-owners Roger Brink Jr. and Kevin Brink.

While discussions about expanding began with the need for additional cooler and freezer space, the project quickly changed into a larger effort to improve the overall shopping experience.

"As our community grows, so have the requests for the newest products as well as an expansion of the variety of items already offered," Brink said. "We ultimately decided that it was time to also create additional retail space while simultaneously addressing the need for a new storage area."

Customers are already seeing the changes.

The expansion features much larger frozen and dairy departments, an expanded deli, a new Picadeli salad bar and the addition of a Sushi Kabar kiosk.

"With the months of anticipation, it's probably not wrong to simply answer sushi as the biggest change," Brink said with a laugh. "Our Sushi Kabar kiosk has been massively successful with the creative talents of Chef Albert and his crew."

The additional space has also allowed Brink's Market to significantly increase its selection.

"We have added well over 2,000 new items to our store," Brink said. Noting that, for example, the bottled and sparkling water section has grown from 16 to over 44 feet, with many new brands and varieties.

Brink said frozen foods, dairy products and prepared meals became priorities because of changing customer needs.

"Quick and easy meals have exploded in popularity recently, with families having less and less time with evening activities," he said. "The grocery manufacturers have identified this trend and have added many new products, and we simply couldn't keep up with the available space."

The project also included a new employee break room, allowing the customer dining area to remain available for shoppers.

For the Brink family, the investment represents more than just dollars and additional square footage.

"This investment was our way of saying thank you to the community for their support and that we intend on being here with you for years to come," Brink said.

Construction created some temporary inconveniences, but Brink said customers were overwhelmingly supportive throughout the nearly year-long project.

"Very positive," Brink said of the public response. "My favorite comment came from a customer who simply wanted to say, 'Thank you, thank you for reinvesting in our community.' For me, that made the near year-long project worth it."

Brink also expressed his appreciation for customers who shopped around construction barriers during the expansion.

"I would like to thank our customers for their patience during this past year," he said. "We all made it to the other side."

The store will be hosting a grand re-opening event from Tuesday, July 14 to Thursday, July 16, which will feature big sales, $250 gift card giveaways each day, and specialized events each day, including free root beer floats, free cake, free donuts and free ice cream sandwiches. See the Brink’s insert in this week’s paper for more information and full details.

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