Bemidji, Minnesota— Brent Sicard, President and CEO of Lueken’s Village Foods grocery stores, announced plans for the local chain to grow and sell its own produce, as well as an embracing of new technologies to enhance customer experiences.

The grocery chain headquartered in Bemidji, Minnesota, recently underwent a major transformation when the store’s founder, Joe Lueken, announced handing over control of the store to its employees in an Employee Stock Option Purchase, or ESOP. The chain drew national attention for its decision as Sicard moved into control. Sicard, who started as an overnight janitor in 1998, set the stage for encouraging innovation from the grocery store and its staff.

Sicard explored a concept known as aquaponics—a hybrid between hydroponics and aquaculture—which involves producing many leafy green types of produce in a hydroponics-like setting with fish inhabiting the water and supplying the fertilizer for the vegetables. In the spring, the chain will begin construction on a polycarbonate structure to house the project at its location on the southern end of Lake Bemidji. The project gives the store control of its produce and its distribution.  “After the cost of the structure (…) you really just have the utility cost, the cost of the fish food and garden seed,” Sicard said. “It’s going to be much more cost effective for our customers.”

In addition to growing food on-site for sale to Leuken’s customers, Sicard also has plans to embrace emerging mobile technology to enhance customers’ experiences in shopping at the store. “We’re looking at it and kind of trying to re-invent a lot of who we are and what we do,” he said, segueing into his announcement of a smart phone application. “The Leuken’s App would enable people to shop on their mobile device.”

Not only that, the application allows customers to never leave their car if they choose not to. The application allows customers to add items to their “cart” on the app. Once the customer uses the “checkout” function on their device, it gives Leuken’s employees a pick list consisting of the customer’s grocery list. The list is picked and bagged for easy pick up by the customer. The store’s wi-fi network picks up the customer’s cell phone signal and notifies staff the customer has arrived. The staff then delivers the groceries to the car with the customer never having to get out.

Of course, with the added convenience, the delivery to a customer’s car will cost extra, but not much. A convenience fee of “probably two or three dollars” will be assessed but, Sicard added, Leuken’s “didn’t want (the price) to be prohibitive.” The app will roll out sometime in summer this year.