Don Byerly opened his first store in Golden Valley in 1968 with $45,000 of his own savings and a clear vision: grocery shopping should be pleasant, exciting even. He wanted customers to discover new ingredients, learn to cook something they’d never tried, and leave feeling like they’d found something special.
The stores delivered on that promise in ways that are hard to imagine now. Carpeted aisles, crystal chandeliers, an ice cream counter, a sit-down restaurant, a cooking school. The Golden Valley store opened in 1968 and set the tone for what would become a portfolio of upscale, locally-owned grocery stores. By the time the St. Louis Park location opened in 1980, the vision for the stores had grown. It was a whopping 92,000 square feet grocery palace that claimed 15 cooking instructors teaching 42 different classes, a kosher deli, gift shop, and more amenities that made the store a one top shop for everything you’d need for hosting a dinner party. It felt less like a supermarket and more like a destination.
Byerly’s skipped coupons and weekly specials entirely, which was almost unheard of at the time. Instead, they offered cookbooks and recipes, developed in a test kitchen by a team of home economists who kept pace with what people wanted to cook now, not what their parents cooked, for weeknight dinners, dinner party menus, and office potluck contributions. Every recipe was tested to make sure it was clear, reliable, and worthy of the ingredients Byerly’s stocked.
The cookbooks became their own kind of loyalty program. You bought the ingredients there because that’s where the recipes came from. Some of these vintage Byerly’s cookbooks still turn up at thrift stores or online, and recipes from them have been shared by devoted cooks. If you are curious, a bit of searching can still connect you with the same flavors and ideas that helped build the store’s devoted following.
I love shopping at what we now know as Lunds & Byerly’s after the 2015 rebrand. I drop into the Roseville store and revel in how it has kept a lot of its old Byerly’s character after the merger. Some of the newer locations feel a little different, still lovely but not quite the same. I go when I want something special, or when I want the experience of a grocery store that still appreciates its customers.
This blueberry crisp comes from an early Byerly’s cookbook, published in 1985, back when a team of home economists spent their days creating delicious food in the Byerly’s test kitchen. I made it with frozen blueberries from last summer’s haul, which I tossed with a little cornstarch since they were soupy after defrosting. Fresh would work just as well. It’s a good balance of sweet and tart, easy to make a bake, and the kind of thing you’d bring to share without hesitation. It’s exactly the sort of recipe Byerly’s built their reputation on–straightforward, reliable, and better than you expected.
Blueberry Crisp
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- ⅓ cup butter or margarine, softened
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup flour
- 1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
- vanilla ice cream or crème fraîche, optional
Instructions
- If using frozen blueberries, thaw them at room temperature and drain liquid. Toss with a tablespoon of flour or cornstarch.
- Preheat the oven to 375°.
- Arrange blueberries in 1½ quart baking dish. Sprinkle with sugar and lemon juice.
- Beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy, blend in flour and oats. Spoon mixture over blueberries in the pan.
- Bake until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.
- Serve warm with optional vanilla ice cream or crème fraîche
