March 28, 2023

This paid piece is sponsored by Pomegranate Market.

Many entrepreneurs dream of starting a business.

Craig Snyder literally dreamed about what would become his next business.

“I literally woke up in the middle of the night with the words in my head that I was supposed to start a grocery store,” he said.

Other than enjoying unique grocery shopping – he’d recently discovered Whole Foods at the time – there wasn’t anything in Snyder’s business experience connecting him with the industry.

On the contrary, he’d already grown a successful business – VIKOR, a full-service wireless infrastructure construction company – and he wasn’t necessarily looking to start another venture.

But the dream wouldn’t budge from his mind.

“I’ve started businesses throughout my career, but I’ve never woken up with an idea like this,” he said.

“When I woke up, I had no idea what I was going to do. But then I thought: ‘I can do this. This is going to be fun.’”

Like many startups, what became Pomegranate Market hasn’t been all fun, but at 12 years in the Sioux Falls market, it definitely has come into its own.

“It’s taken years to get traction,” Snyder said. “It was so hard in the early years. Sioux Falls wasn’t exactly ready for that. I didn’t know how to run a grocery store, and there were plenty of times I wondered if we should give up. But because of that calling in the very beginning, it never allowed me to do that. We had to hang in there.”

The name Pomegranate Market was his sister’s idea after Snyder issued a $100 naming challenge to his family.

“I love pomegranates,” he said. “They’re like a puzzle to eat, but they’re so delicious, and the challenge of eating them makes them even more delicious, and there’s a ton of health benefits too.”

In many ways, it’s symbolic of the business model puzzle he and his team have had to put together to bring this healthy alternative to the Sioux Falls market. The pieces, though, ultimately came together.

Today, Pomegranate Market has built a loyal and growing following from its location at 57th Street and Louise Avenue.

Its niche in bringing organic, natural food to Sioux Falls has become more mainstream, and customers are seeking out the products it offers.

“The pandemic really propelled us forward,” Snyder said. “Our sales started shooting up dramatically. And it hasn’t stopped. We’re in our third year of good growth.”

The benefits of the pandemic were multifold, said longtime manager Matt McFarland.

“People became more conscious of their health, and with some struggles in food sourcing, we saw a tremendous rise in our business,” he said. “I think it just really forced people to think about what they were eating.”

Customers have learned that when they come to Pomegranate Market, “they know they can walk in and they can count us to carry all their organic and natural food options,” McFarland said.

“We have a lot of customers on dietary restrictions, and they know they’re going to find gluten-free products throughout the whole store. Instead of having a micro-market health section, they have the whole store, wall to wall, so I think that awareness has grown.”

Manufacturers also are making more organic and natural products than they did when Pomegranate Market first opened, he said.

Customers also love the store for its prepared and grab-and-go food options.

“Our bistro is the No. 1 thing that anchors us,” Snyder said. “Our salad bar is extremely popular.”

All foods on the salad bar and within the bistro are made from scratch.

“Our composed salads are generated from in-house recipes, and we’re very conscious of dietary restrictions,” McFarland said. “We make sure we’re offering gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, and our items are all labeled.”

Even the salad dressings are organic, coming from a Twin Cities supplier.

The hot bar, which started in the past year, varies with daily-changing protein options, fresh vegetables and roasted potatoes. A partnership on Fridays with the mother-daughter business Salas Salsas offers enchiladas and tamales.

Pomegranate Market also recognizes that the rising cost of food presents challenges to consumers. This spring, it will roll out everyday low prices for about 120 items, including chicken broth, canned beans, frozen vegetables, nuts and nut butters, bulk and packaged items.

“It’s pricing that’s going to be very competitive with almost everybody,” Snyder said.

“When you buy natural and organic, you’re probably expecting to pay a little more, and I think we are very competitive in that space already, but this everyday low pricing is really going to be something that makes it so people can come in and shop for affordable staples to meet everyday grocery needs.”

Going forward, Snyder not only hasn’t let go of his grocery store dream, but also he might be ready to build on it.

“I would love to make a chain of Pomegranate Markets,” he said. “It kicked me hard enough in the beginning that it kept me from thinking about a second or third store, but now it’s bouncing around in my head more. I could definitely see that happening.”