The Smell Of Spring: Sausages From Kramarczuk's
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- With Spring now just around the corner, you can almost smell the summer sausage wafting through the air at Target Field.
It's a scent that anyone familiar with the Northeast Minneapolis institution Kramarczuk's knows all too well.
We're often bombarded by advertising slogans that feature words like "history," "tradition," "customer service" and "quality."
For over 50 years, Kramarczuk's has been defining their success not so much with words but with a very special feeling.
"You walk into our store and you have a feeling," said owner Orest Kramarczuk. "The feeling is the customer is number one. The product is the best that it can be."
That feeling is steeped in over 54 years of family history that began when Orest's parents fled the Nazis in Hungary and Czechoslovakia during World War II.
"They started with absolutely nothing. No language, no money, no nothing. They built this business up and in a matter of years they were living the American dream."
Fast forward five decades, when the American pastime came calling. Target Field asked Orest Kramarczuk if he would agree to offer his sausages at their gleaming new ball park.
"My eyes teared up because I wished at that point that my parents had seen what their hard work and what their reputation has accomplished," said Kramarczuk.
That reputation has generated a number of offers to take the company national and create a Kramarczuk's franchise.
"We've been around for 56 years and we've been very blessed with everything and we feel that we don't have to do that."
And the key reason the Kramarczuk's say they won't sell out is, ultimately, quality control.
"We try these recipes ourselves and we have our customers give us feedback on what they like," said Kramarczuk.
Whether you visit their land mark location in northeast Minneapolis or grab a bite in between innings at Target Field, the Kramarczuk's hope you'll appreciate their homemade quality and ultimately get that special feeling.
