Hugo Magnuson

Who was Hugo Magnuson?

Hugo R. Magnuson was the founder of the regional Hugo's grocery store chain and a former mayor of the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota. He served as mayor from 1964 to 1972. He also served as a city council member for seventeen years.

Hugo Ragnar Magnuson was born in Parkers Prairie Otter Tail County, Minnesota. He is best known for the chain of grocery stores which bear his name and dot eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota. He opened his first grocery outlet in Grand Forks in 1939 as a Pure Foods Store. For many years, Magnuson’s stores carried the name Piggly Wiggly. That name was dropped in 1984 with the arrival of a new wholesaler, Nash Finch Company.

The city of Grand Forks declared May 2000 as "Hugo Magnuson Month" in honor of his 100th birthday. Magnuson died three days before his 103rd birthday in 2003.