March 1, 2019 at 4:27 p.m.
Solberg reflects on successful career
Solberg reflects on successful career
By Jordan Smedberg-
One could measure the passage of time over the past 40-some years in the Lakeland area by the distance his reach grew, and now, though retired from the company's day-to-day operations, Solberg continues to branch into new areas of business and philanthropy, identifying a need and looking for a solution.
Solberg's father was not a grocer, he points out, as many people assume, but a cashier in a bank in the small town of Marion, just south of Antigo. His first job was as a paperboy, and come summer he'd hoe horseradish. It was a good place to grow up; the neighbors kept tabs on each other's kids.
"If you did something wrong you just hoped it didn't get back to your mom and dad real quick because somebody (would) tell on you," Solberg laughed.
It was just that kind of place. It was that kind of time.
When he turned 14 he worked for the Marion Body Company in the second story blacksmith shop, applying fiberglass to 4x8s in the sweltering heat of the summer. Adding to the challenge was a precarious flooring system.
"If we didn't watch where we were walking we'd fall through the hole and (have to) crawl back up," Solberg remembered. "They didn't have OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) around back then ... it was different, but we lived through it."
Different. It's a word Solberg used often when discussing business today. And though he'll entertain a few questions about his youth, he's doesn't seem to be one who likes to spend too much time thinking about the good (or different) old days, he'd rather focus on the possibilities of the future, about what's coming next.
"I try to fast-forward and look 10 years down the road - not even 10 years - five years, you know?" he said. "What's coming? What's the next thing?"
Solberg enrolled in the service, which he credits with teaching him discipline and helping to pay for college. Upon graduation, Solberg worked for a grocery store, before buying his first store in Land O'Lakes with his wife, Tula, in October of 1971 for $25,000.
Opening a grocery store a full eight months out from peak tourist season was a struggle, but Solberg survived by pivoting the business' focus.
"The town is right on the Wisconsin/Michigan border, and just across the border deer season was the 15th through the 30th of November," he said. "Those people from lower Michigan were coming up and they brought a lot of these deer in and we processed all of them and started making sausage."
If it wasn't for the sausage, Solberg said, "I don't know that we would've made it through that first winter." In the 48 years since Trig's opened its own smokehouse, they have received numerous awards, including "World's Best Bratwurst," and have started shipping to all 50 states.
'A lot of work in a hurry'
In the spring of '74 the developers behind the 70-West Center were looking for someone to run a store. According to Solberg, seven people had turned them down when he proposed a deal.
"I said, 'Well, I can run it, I just don't have the money,'" solberg said. "'If you guys want to loan me the money, we'll do it.' So they did and that really got us moving."
Next up was a little general store in Phelps that had been in the Christensen family "forever."
"They used to print their own money years ago, that's the way things were in those towns," Solberg said.
But when Solberg received a call from Phil Christensen suggesting he buy the store for him, times had clearly changed. After looking over the numbers Solberg responded, in a quote worthy of a screenplay, "Mr. Christensen, I've been looking at the numbers and if you give me the store, it's a bad deal."
Well, he did, and by the end of his first 10 years in business Solberg had five stores, which was, "a lot of work in a hurry," he says. After selling off two of the smaller stores (including the Phelps store), Solberg began his foray into real estate in earnest.
Thanks to high interest rates in the '80s a wealth of real estate had come to the market and Solberg was in the mood to buy. He quickly earned a name around town as someone to call if you were looking to unload, and call they did.
"You buy some real estate and everybody starts calling," Solberg said. "My wife said, '(Do) you know what you're doing?' and I said, 'I'm not sure.'"
Taking a risk
Solberg ended up buying a number of large commercial buildings, renting out space to other businesses as well as buying the buildings that housed his stores.
"It was all on land contract back then because of the interest rates, so they'd give you a five-year deal with a favorable interest rate, buy it, then inflation started hitting so when you had refinance those things you didn't have a problem," he said.
Solberg acknowledged timing played a part in his success.
"Timing is a big factor in everyone's business," he said. "(It) could've been bad timing, could've gone the other way, this just happened to be good timing, but you're still taking a risk."
And it's not just timing at work, if it were, one might conclude that to have a Walmart Supercenter open a stone's throw from your grocery store would be the death of the business. Instead, Solberg found an opportunity to diversify.
"We lost a lot of ... regional and national tenants, so what do you do? You either have empty space or you put some business in there," Solberg said.
One of ideas brought to his attention was a fitness center, thus, Tone Zone, now in three locations, was born.
In addition to renting space to tenants such as Ace Hardware and a salon, Solberg has recently gotten into the consignment shop business, opening the Twice as Nice Consignment store in Rhinelander, inspired by his daughter's recent quest to get rid of extra items after a recent move.
Is it starting to sound like the sky's the limit when it comes to Solberg's ability to expand? It's not. A number of years ago Solberg, a hobby pilot, bought a plane with some friends. One thing led to another and he now has five airplanes available for charter and medical evacuation.
With over 1,200 associates, Solberg relies on the people around him to help solve problems.
"One person can't do it, it takes a lot of different folks with a lot of different ideas," he said.
Solberg brings that philosophy to his philanthropy as well, believing that the giving back to the community which has helped foster so much of his success is vital. He has served on the board of Trees for Tomorrow, the College of Natural Resources Advisory Board at Stevens Point, as a chairmen and trustee for The Nature Conservancy, and currently as a chairman of The Howard Young Foundation, working to build a Tick-Borne Illness Center and a school for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the area.
"We believe in community involvement," he said. "Some of these larger corporations don't look at communities the same way as the owners (who) live there (do), it's just the way it is, that's life, not that (corporations are) bad or all good, just different. If you live here with people, (they) can call you or talk to you (and say) 'something's not right, let's fix it, let's do what we have to do, because we're all part of a community, we're all here together to make this thing.'"
'Be willing to change'
Back when Solberg opened up that first store in Land O'Lakes and he and his wife rented a little house for $75 a month, he never imagined the journey would take him where it has. His goal, he says, was not an empire. And while the business has changed drastically with the advent of online sales and multi-national retailers, Solberg believes the American dream is still possible, but just might lie in other areas.
"I tell a lot of the young people ... you're the ones that better watch out for things in 15 years, I won't be around but it's a lot of changes, so you gotta be willing to change."
Solberg's not backing down from competing with the big corporations anytime soon. In addition to continuing to pursue the bottled water business with the hopes of eventually getting it in stores across America, Solberg and his wife have decided to not sell the business.
"We're just going to have our people keep running the business," Solberg said. "We have a foundation we can put it all in, and end up giving everything back to the community, so that's our long-range plan."
Until then, Solberg and his management team will continue to look for the next opportunity, staying nimble, open-minded and hungry.
"It takes a lot of hard work and commitment, (but) if you have a passion for what you do and ... enjoy what you're doing, you never have to work another day in your life," Solberg said.
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