Joe's Market Basket

In 1971, Joe and Linda Stevens started The Market Basket by draining Linda’s savings account, all $411. Joe sold produce out of the back of a pickup truck in Edwardsville, and together they built the business into a successful landscape, garden and grocery store, now with four locations in the Illinois area: Edwardsville, O’Fallon, Godfrey and Troy.

Joe and Linda have turned over most of the daily management of the operations to their three sons. Jason has been working full time at The Market Basket since graduating from high school. He oversees the landscape and garden center for the business. Clay joined the business after college in 1996 and manages the grocery and oversees the financial dealings. Greg owns his own trucking company and hauls landscape materials for the Market Basket’s landscape and garden centers.

The foundation of this family business is based on involvement and service. “When we were growing up,” says Jason, “we ate dinner together every night. We talked about the business and what happened that day. We absorbed everything my parents said. Our involvement just grew as we grew.”

Jason and Clay learned from Joe and Linda that a business can be a challenge, demand long hours and hard work, and be fun — all at the same time. “We always put the customer first. The key is service. Our customers respond with their loyalty, and we really appreciate it,” says Clay. Here’s to the next 40 years. Thanks, everyone! Enjoy the endless bounty!