Stakeholder Spotlight: Teresa Curran

This story starts the way most of them do. At just 16 years old, Teresa Curran (then Teresa Paulson) started working as a cashier at GJ's SuperValu on Lyndale Avenue. Shortly after she started, the market was purchased by Kowalski's, giving Teresa the chance to interview face-to-face with Kris Kowalski, the company's current CEO. When Kris asked the teenager the usual question – "Where do you see yourself in five years?" – Teresa was confident in her reply.

"I was certain I wouldn't be working at Kowalski's," Teresa laughs. "I was off to college and on to a career as an interior designer. Of that I was sure."

And yet, 20 years later, Teresa has never left Kowalski's. After finishing her degree as a paralegal, she came to the realization that she was going to work in an office all day long.

"I couldn't fathom it," she says. "I need people. All the jobs I've had here, from front end and hiring to stocking and pricing, have been about people and relationships." Teresa has worked in a number of different roles throughout the years across several Kowalski's locations, from Lyndale to Eagan to Woodbury and back to Lyndale. "I think I'll never be able to leave because I love it here so much," she says. "Kowalski's has allowed me to grow in any way I asked, and I've gotten to learn everything I ever wanted to learn."

Teresa's start in the Gift & Floral Department began about six years ago. While she was on maternity leave, she noticed an opening for a Department Head position at our Eagan Market. Of Teresa's interest in the department, she says, "I always thought there was a lot of opportunity there, more that we could do. Not necessarily from a visual merchandising perspective, but from a business standpoint." A few years later, she got the opportunity to apply her professional vision as Department Director.

One of the most significant changes the Gift & Floral Department has seen since Teresa took over in 2019 has been in the clothing category. Her ongoing strategy is "more designers, more selection, more elevated." As part of that goal, she's recently added shoes to the mix. But change hasn't come without challenges.

"I didn't go to the grocery store with my mom as a kid. It was my mom's time to be kidless," Teresa jokes. "I mean, we knew where she went, but we weren't invited, you know?"

So when design brands wouldn't sell to "a grocery store," it was confusing to Teresa, who had only known the Kowalski's way. "I was almost like, 'Wait, all grocery stores don't have these things?'"

But, Teresa explains, getting designers to understand the intersection of clothing and the "grocery" world is difficult only until they see the store. "It makes a big difference when they are able to come here and experience Kowalski's for themselves."