Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawn Rezac
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
12 years ago we found out that our then 10 year old daughter had food allergies, specifically gluten. Come to find out I also have food allergies. Shopping for food that we could eat was difficult; food labels where hard to read, there was no designated area for gluten or dairy free foods. Me and my business partner at the time, had the idea to open Wonderful Life Foods 10 years ago so people with food allergies had a safe place to shop. It started out with just a grocery selection than added the bakery/deli/coffee shop section of the store. Today my wife and I own and run the store and we like to keep it a small town family run atmosphere, where we know your name and your always greeted with a smile and are treated like family.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Overall it has been a very good and blessed 10 years. Just like any other business there is the daily, weekly and yearly struggles. Being a retail location the years of the Covid pandemic where some very tricky times. I woke up every morning wondering if I was even going to be able to open the doors, and what regulations were being implemented and if I was still going to have customers shop at my store.
Being a retail food store we face constant price increases in our goods, rising shipping cost and inventory shortages.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Wonderful Life Foods?
We are a specialized grocery store, deli, bakery and coffee shop all rolled into one. What makes us stand out from others is that we are a dedicated gluten free store. All of our grocery items are gluten free and all of our baked goods that I make right at the store is 100% gluten free also. Besides the baked goods and deli items being gluten free they are all dairy free also. About half my business comes from my bakery and deli items. Our most popluar items are Monster cookies (bakery) and Chicken Salad (deli).
We offer Cookies, Cupcakes, Cakes, Pie, Scones, Donuts, Muffins, wraps, sandwich’s, salads, soups and protein balls that we make all right in the store on a daily basis.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
The city of Crookston has been great to us. The store wouldn’t be where it is right now without all the support of the community, from its leaders to the amazing residents and the surrounding communities.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Wonderfullifefoods
- Facebook: Wonderfullifefoods
