Martha Doughty remembered shopping for groceries at the nearby National Tea (National Food Store), which was located in the Lilac Way shopping center on Excelsior Boulevard in St. Louis Park. At the time, National Tea was one of the country's largest grocery chain stores.
The National Tea Company orginated in Chicago, Illinois and expanded nationwide in the 1920s. In the 1950s the company purchased several smaller grocery chains. Annual sales reached $600 million in 1956, when the company was purchased by George Weston Ltd. of Canada. National Tea stores all but disappeared in the last quarter of the 20th century.
Creator: Norton & Peel
Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society
Date: 1953
Identifer: location Norton & Peel 214393
