In July of 1968, Leo Hansen completed his schooling in Madison. With his new bride, Rosemary, he sold their house and they moved back to his hometown of Bangor. With the $5,000 they made from selling their home plus a $5,000 loan from his brother, John, they bought two stores in Bangor. One of the stores was sold. The other store was a 1,500 square foot Smith’s Grocery Store that was developed into the first Hansen’s IGA. This began Hansen’s IGA’s history.
Today the company is managed by Leo and Rosemary’s sons Nick and Greg Hansen, and Greg’s wife Kari Hansen. Greg and Kari have been involved in various aspects of the business for over 25 years and Nick has been with the business for over 10 years.
Over the last 50 years, Hansen’s IGA has expanded to include 14 grocery stores located in friendly hometowns throughout Western Wisconsin, with the furthest outlying store located up north in Washburn. Our team members have grown to over 750 strong. We have seen success not only in this growth, but also in business operations and cultural development.
Hansen’s IGA is known for our excellent homemade brats from our smokehouse, double smoked hams for the holidays, and an excellent meat selection. Our smokehouse in Bangor has consistently won awards over the last 20 years. Hansen’s IGA was awarded the 2019 IGA Innovation Award for our smokehouse operation, which only 17 IGA retailers throughout the World have the honor of receiving. Our holiday double smoked hams are a signature item which brings in customers from all over the state during the holiday seasons. Our Meat Department has good old-fashioned Meat Cutters to ensure that our meat selection is of the highest quality for our customers.
