When owner Mark Johnson put Norsland Lefse up for sale in hopes of retiring soon, the people of the Rushford area began to worry – would Norsland Lefse continue? Would they be able to still get their essential lefse for the holidays? When the news got around that Lori and David McDonald from Milwaukee were purchasing it, people still worried – what were their intentions?
Never fear – the McDonalds not only plan to keep the lefse factory and cafe in business, they intend to grow the legacy of Norsland Lefse. Lori and David had been searching for a business that was selling online and offering a unique product that the community supported. Norsland Lefse perfectly fit the bill! Lori enthused about the homegrown story of Merlin Hoiness and his original hometown built lefse-rolling machines. She went on to praise Mark Johnson for his establishment of online sales of lefse; this is now responsible for the majority of the business’s revenue.
Lori called lefse a great product and recognized its cultural importance. Lori herself grew up in a small town in Michigan; she loves how welcoming Rushford has been.
Lori McDonald is the CEO of Brilliance Business Solutions and has a team of 25 people who have worked to build e-commerce sites for more than 25 years. Lori originally studied computers in college and was a flight controller for NASA space shuttle missions. While at NASA, she met her husband David.
You might ask what could be as exciting as working for NASA? For Lori it was starting her own business! At Brilliance, Lori realized she needed an additional set of skills; goal setting, leadership and financial management were now also essential! Lori speaks to groups supporting entrepreneurs and is always educating herself to improve her own business skills.
Lori plans to keep much of Norsland Lefse the same. The cafe hours will be 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Saturday. In May, they will be closed Saturdays as they prepare for their summer schedule. They will be open Saturdays all summer. Lori calls the people who work for Norsland a great team and a part of what makes Norsland a success. She plans on retaining all current employees.
Operational managers Zach Lind and Becky Stocker will keep the day-to-day business running at Norsland, and Ann Baker will manage the cafe.
Lori’s role at Norsland will be to provide strategic leadership, structure for the team and financial oversight. She is planning to redesign and invest in a new website; in the future the company may add and grow more email marketing.
The gift shop area will be repurposed to provide more cafe seating for larger groups; smaller displays of gift items will be placed on wall shelving around the seating areas. Lori hopes to make Norsland a tourist destination for visitors to the area.
Currently, the cafe offers the same food as before, although the kitchen has been experimenting with the possibility of a lefse pizza. Lori’s personal favorites at the cafe are the lefse turkey wrap with chipotle and cinnamon Uffda chips (lefse chips) on ice cream. Up until discovering the opportunity to purchase Norsland, Lori had never even tasted lefse – now she’s a huge proponent of it!
The plan is to grow in scale what is already working at Norsland. Lori hopes to see a 60% growth over the next two years in production and business. She sees no problem with space for Norsland, pointing out they have an entire basement which provides a lot of opportunity in the existing space.
Lori wants to create jobs, hire more local people and improve salary wages over time. She stresses that the growth would be for here – the Rushford community – and not go elsewhere.
McDonald also wants to find ways to work together with other business owners and the school in Rushford. She wants to be connected with people and loves Rushford. Norsland Lefse received a business subsidy from the EDA; as part of their application, they included a plan for how the business was going to benefit the community.
Lori McDonald looks forward to continuing to grow the legacy that is Norsland Lefse. Stop in and visit the cafe in person at 210 W. Jessie Street in Rushford to enjoy some wraps or bakery goodies and pick up some lefse to take home, or check online to order that essential lefse for delivery!
Pernilla Foran says
always looking to order my lefse Thanks
G. Russell says
The Cafe needs to serve Lutefisk at least once a month
Rob in Milwaukee says
I found this story as a friend of Lori and David, who I think so highly of as people. I’m really excited for them that they got involved in the business, and wish them the best and everyone at the company the best. I myself love supporting local businesses and am really glad to see them put their efforts in something with history and authenticity. What a cool development!