Burlington

End of an era in groceries

The owners of Richter’s Marketplace closed the Burlington grocery store Oct. 30 and have announced the sale of the Twin Lakes store to Berkot’s Super Foods of Joliet, Illinois. (File photo)

Sale of Richter’s Twin Lakes store to Illinois chain should be done by end of February

Richter’s Marketplace of Twin Lakes officially will become part of Berkot’s Super Foods, a privately held grocery retail chain based in Joliet, Illinois, when the sale gets done at the end of February.

According to a Jan. 30 post on Richter’s Facebook page, Berkot’s intends to continue serving the Twin Lakes community.

“We strive to make each community part of the Berkot’s family by participating in community events personally and financially,” the post states. “We are committed to providing rewarding jobs and career opportunities to the people within our communities.”

According to the Facebook post, Berkot’s opened its flagship Mokena store in 1990 and has added 15 locations in Illinois.

Richter’s Marketplace owners Norm and Larry Richter are retiring.

“It has been a privilege for the Richter family to serve the Twin Lakes community for 73 years,” they said in the news release.

Brothers George — Norm and Larry’s father — and John Richter opened their store in 1947 on Main Street and called it Richter’s IGA Supermarket. In 1954, John sold his share of the store to George. The latter and his wife, Mildred, then owned and operated the establishment.

“The Richter family is grateful and blessed to have had such incredible employees and customers through all 73 years,” the Facebook news release added. “Twin Lakes is a wonderful community, and we are confident it will continue to grow and flourish. Richter’s are excited to welcome Berkot’s Super Foods to Twin Lakes and know they will be continuing a great grocery store presence in the community.”

The family announced in an Aug. 29 statement that it was closing its Burlington location, which was liquidated and ended operations Oct. 30.

In a Sept. 3 filing with the Department of Wisconsin Workforce Development, Richter’s Marketplace said up to 70 employees were affected through layoffs at that store.

The Richters also operated a facility in Lake Geneva. That store opened in 1965 but closed its doors in 2005.

For more information about Berkot’s, visit www.berkotfoods.com.

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