End Of An Era: Yelloh, Formerly Schwans, To Close Permanently

When I was a kid, my sisters and I would look forward to the every-few-weeks visit from the "Schwans man."

The home delivery frozen foods and treats guy stopped by every few weeks. Mom would place her order for all sorts of stuff, including -- as I remember it -- frozen stuffed mushrooms. Delicious.

And of course, the ice cream. The Schwans ice cream was primo in our house near International Falls. The frozen novelty treats were even better. I remember push-ups, ice cream sandwiches and bars and other kid favorites.

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As an adult, I have a co-worker who says he trusted his Schwan's guy with a key to his house so he could put away his order for him if he and his family weren't home.

Just two stories amid the likely thousands of good memories about the 90-year-old home delivery frozen food products company that recently rebranded as "Yelloh."

Yelloh -- formerly "Schwan's Home Delivery" -- is closing. Ending operations.

The Marshall, Minnesota-based company will close in November due to "multiple insurmountable business challenges." Challenges because times change and customers change their habits.

Yelloh notified state officials today they're laying off 176 employees at eight locations and cease all operations.

In a release, CEO Bernardo Santana said, "It’s with heavy hearts that we made the difficult decision to cease operations of Yelloh. We are thankful to our many loyal customers and hard-working employees for everything they have done to support us. I am deeply grateful for our employees’ tireless and bold efforts, and our customers’ dedication. It has been our utmost pleasure and honor to serve our customers their favorite meals and frozen treats.”

Board member Michael Ziebell cited several factors the company battled, including:

-- nationwide staffing challenges,
-- food supply chain disruptions,
-- changing consumer lifestyles, and,
-- competitive pressures, especially from digital purchases.

The company says the last day products can be purchased via Yelloh trucks will be Friday, November 8th.

H/T -- The Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal (paywall)