Produce man BoB Schroer was friend to everyone

"Customers were his family," said his son, who co-owned BoB's Produce Ranch in Fridley and Otsego.

By NORMAN DRAPER, Star Tribune

Last update: March 22, 2008 - 5:31 PM

Fresh produce entrepreneur and legendary Fridley good neighbor Robert H. (BoB) Schroer died Thursday of complications from leukemia and Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was 73.

Schroer -- whose son, Mike, characterized him as "semi-retired" at the time of his death -- built his produce business from a rural roadside market into a multimillion dollar suburban business called BoB's Produce Ranch that now boasts modern stores in Fridley and Otsego. Still specializing in fresh fruits and vegetables, BoB's has expanded to feature meats, breads, food courts and fruit gift baskets, among other offerings.

Along the way to making his produce an institution in Fridley, Schroer made a few friends too.

"He liked to talk to the customers," said Mike, who co-owned BoB's Produce Ranch with his dad and two others: Mike's cousin Richard, and longtime employee Tom Freund. "Customers were his family. We remodeled our Fridley store in 1992, and customers came in and helped us move things. When you get customers to come in and help, that's pretty unique. We didn't ask them; they just showed up."

Schroer grew up in the Dakota County town of Empire, where his dad, Ed, ran a general store. The family moved to St. Louis Park in 1950. After Schroer graduated from high school, he served his apprenticeship in area grocery stores before opening his business in Fridley in 1959.

He used the word "ranch" to describe his business because he had been impressed by a store called the Ranch Market, in Milwaukee, and to acknowledge his admiration for all things Western. His first year selling produce on his own grossed Schroer $40,000. Schroer moved to the location of the current Fridley store in 1969 and began expanding.

Mike Schroer said his dad, who liked to sign his first name with two capital B's to match his market's trademark spelling, loved to mingle with the clientele as he did jobs around the market.

"You would never know he was the owner," Mike Schroer said. Such was Schroer's civic mindedness that when Fridley needed all its fire hydrants painted but couldn't afford the cost, Schroer and two employees offered their labor for free as long as the city provided the paint.

"It took them several months to get them all," Mike Schroer said.

Schroer, who had been inducted into the Fridley Historical Hall of Fame, was preceded in death by his wife, Kathy, and parents Ed and Bea. Survivors in addition to Mike include daughters Michelle Gang and Melissa Feyedelem; four grandchildren; two sisters, a brother, and numerous other relatives and friends.

A viewing will be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, at St. Williams Catholic Church, 61st Avenue and University Avenue NE., in Fridley. The funeral mass will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday, at St. Williams.

Norman Draper • 612-673-4547

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