Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
This is Fred Ball for Zions Bank, speaking on business.
What started as a 2000-square-foot store made out of materials from an old, torn down church, is now the 44,000 square foot grocery known as Peterson’s Marketplace.
A butcher by trade, Louis “Lute” Peterson founded this family-owned grocery nearly 63 years ago. With only a little bit of money but a lot of determination, Lute used his resources, such as a nearby cottonwood tree which served as his first butcher block, to establish Peterson’s. This tradition of hard work mixed with a genuine love for the grocery business has carried on to earn Peterson’s Marketplace a strong reputation of service and quality in the community.
Keeping it in the family, Lute passed the business on to his son Bruce who ran the store with his wife Dona, for many years. Their children, Monte, Jan, and Jodi are all involved in the operations of company. Monte received his bachelor's degree in business management from the University of Utah and is now the president. Many family members and good friends have worked hard to make the business a success.
Some may question how a local grocery store can stand up to the surrounding chain stores. However, Monte believes being local is merely an advantage. He deems Peterson ’s ability to react to market changes quickly and their ability to be more customer service-oriented as two definite advantages to being locally based.
Their hope for the future is to continue to be a growing business, and to one day pass on the tradition to another generation. Recent expansions include a Zions Bank in order to provide more services for their customers.
With the marketing tag line, "Fine foods for fine folks," Peterson's maintains a longstanding reputation for the highest quality meat department. Their success partly comes from their own ground beef recipe and USDA Choice steaks. Bakery goods are also an attraction as they are made from scratch. The overall appeal, however, definitely comes from their relaxed, hometown atmosphere, low prices, and great service.
For Zions Bank, I’m Fred Ball. I’m speaking on business.