The Knochenmus family, owners of Ralco, announced today that they have signed a purchase agreement with Schwan’s Company to acquire the Landmark Mercantile and Atlantic Hotel on the corner of Main Street and College Drive in Marshall, MN. The property consists of three floors with more than 45,000 square feet and will be further developed to support additional businesses in support of the downtown community.
The main level, which is currently home to Bello Cucina and U.S. Bank, will continue to focus on retail space. In addition to the current tenants, plans include completing space for several additional retail businesses in the future. The second floor will be dedicated to office space and will become the future corporate office for Ralco. The third floor of the Landmark Mercantile features large open spaces and will become an event center available for use by the community. The plans for the third floor of the Atlantic Hotel are to create short-term room rentals for business travelers.
“We are excited about this opportunity to turn this beautiful and historic property into a business center to serve our community,” said Jon Knochenmus, President Emeritus of Ralco. “Ralco is celebrating our 50th anniversary and this is a great way for us to thank the community that has supported us and to show our commitment to Marshall. We have always believed that people buy from people and not companies, and we are excited to continue to build relationships in the community through the acquisition and development of this property.”
The announcement follows Ralco’s recent groundbreaking for both a new distribution center on Highway 23 as well as a new research farm north of Marshall.
“We have been very blessed to have so many gifted people at Ralco and it is important for us to have work environments that support our growth, creativity and collaboration,” said Brian Knochenmus, President and CEO of Ralco. “We are a company focused on science and technology with 21 patents and 60 additional pending. We need to keep innovating, and this new space will enable us to create a great environment for our people to continue expanding solutions for our customers.”
The closing is planned for later this summer and plans for the build-out are currently in progress. Ralco hopes to be in their new space in early 2022.
Ralco is a third-generation family-owned multinational company with distribution in more than 40 countries. Ralco is a leading global provider of natural solutions that maximize nutrient conversion in both plants and animals. Learn more at https://ralcoagriculture.com/.