Ingebretsen's Nordic Marketplace

Ingebretsen's Model Market opened in 1921, in the heart of what was once Minneapolis' Scandinavian immigrant community. The store has been run by four generations of the Ingebretsen family. Its founder was Karl Ingebretsen (later Charles and then Charlie), born in Sweden in 1882, but raised in Sarpsborg, Norway. He emigrated to New York in 1904. After a stint as a dockworker, Ingebretsen went west to Fargo, North Dakota, where he was employed by Skjold Brothers' meat market. By 1909 he had made his way to Minneapolis, where me worked in a couple of meat markets in the heart of the South Minneapolis Scandinavian community. By 1915 he owned his own meat market on 1808 Riverside Avenue, along with his partner Nils Ahlm, and later he opened a second meat market at 3021 27th Avenue South. By 1921, he had opened the present Lake Street location. Today, the store is a mecca for authentic and imported Scandinavian foods and gifts. The store celebrated its centennial in 2021.^[1]

To come

^[1] Lewis, Anne Gillespie. Ingebretsen's Saga: A Family, a Store, a Legacy of Food. Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ingebretsen's Gift Shop, Inc., 2011.