Note: Emphasis mine.
Need I say more? This is one of the few good Capitalists out there. I wish him the best of luck!
'Tis the season of giving, and a grocery-store owner is doing just that. Joe Lueken, who owns and manages two grocery stores in Bemidji, Minnesota, and one in Wahpeton, North Dakota, is retiring at age 70. Instead of selling his stores to the highest bidder, though, he will transfer ownership to the stores' 400 or so employees.
The employees will participate in an employee stock ownership program, receiving shares of Lueken's Village Foods based on length of service and salary -- and at no cost to them. The program to transfer ownership from the Lueken family to the employees will begin on January 1, 2013.
He explained his reason for turning over ownership to his employees: "My employees are largely responsible for any success I've had, and they deserve to get some of the benefits of that." He says he received a number of lucrative offers for his business, but he and his family realize what the supermarkets do for the community, and they believe this will be a better deal for them and the 13,000 residents of Bemidji. "You can't always take," Lueken says. "You also have to give back."
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