Grocery Stores in Alexandria, MN: How to Stock a Cabin for 12 in One Trip
Feeding twelve people at a lake cabin starts in Alexandria, not at the cabin. The town has a local independent supermarket, a Cub with pickup, a Walmart open to 11, an ALDI, and a farm market south of town. Here is which store does which job, and how to do the whole stock-up in one trip.
Grocery Stores in Alexandria, MN: How to Stock a Cabin for 12 in One Trip
The first grocery run sets the tone for a cabin weekend. Do it well and nobody thinks about food again until they are hungry. Do it badly and someone drives back to town Saturday for coffee, ice, and the burgers meant for Friday's dinner.
Alexandria makes the good version easy. Within one town you have an independent supermarket in business since 1982, a Cub Foods with a pharmacy and pickup, a Walmart open until 11 p.m., an ALDI, a Target, and a farm market south of town that sells its own chicken. All of it is about 15 to 20 minutes from Lake Miltona, so the grocery stop belongs on the drive in, before anyone unpacks a bag.
This guide assigns each store a job, then lays out the one-trip plan for a group of twelve.
Elden's Fresh Foods: The Local Full-Service Stop (707 3rd Ave E)
Elden's is the store Alexandria would name first. It is an independent supermarket, in business since 1982 and at its current 3rd Avenue location since 1997, owned by the Christensen family. For a cabin group, that independence shows up in the practical places: a full-service store where staff can point you to the local products instead of a planogram.
Send Elden's the main list: meat for the grill nights, produce, dairy, bread, and the breakfast makings. It is also the right store for the one special request in every group, the good cheese, the specific cut, the cake for the birthday that is the real reason for the trip.
Hours: 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., every day. Phone: (320) 763-3446. Those hours matter more than they look: a 6 a.m. open covers the early fishing morning, and a 10 p.m. close covers the late arrival.
Cub Foods: The Big Shop With Pickup (2612 S Broadway St)
Cub is the volume play on the south end of Broadway. The Alexandria store runs a pharmacy, deli, floral, and bakery alongside the grocery aisles, and it lists curbside pickup, which is the single best trick in this guide: build the order before you leave home, set the pickup for your drive through town, and the biggest shop of the weekend takes fifteen minutes in a parking lot instead of an hour with a cart. The pharmacy doubles as the backup for the prescription or sunscreen somebody in a group of twelve always forgets.
Hours: 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., every day. Phone: (320) 762-1158.
Walmart and Target: The Highway 29 Strip (4611 and 4404 Highway 29 S)
South of town on Highway 29, Walmart and Target sit a short distance apart, and together they cover everything that is not really food.
Walmart (4611 State Highway 29 S) is the late store: 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day, the latest grocery close in Alexandria. It has grocery pickup and delivery, a pharmacy, an auto care center, and the general merchandise side for the forgotten swimsuit, phone charger, and extra cooler. If your group rolls in at 9:30 p.m., this is the stop still fully open. Phone: (320) 762-8945.
Target (4404 MN-29) runs 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, with its grocery section inside the department store. Target is the pick when the list is half groceries and half household: paper goods, toiletries, a board game, and snacks in one run. Phone: (320) 763-6661.
Our rule for the strip: pick one, not both. The two overlap enough that doing both costs an hour, and the cabin is the point of the trip.
ALDI: The Budget Stock-Up (600 50th Ave W)
ALDI is where the staples math changes. For twelve people eating most meals at the cabin, the pantry list is long: pasta, rice, eggs, cheese, butter, frozen vegetables, coffee, snacks, and drinks. ALDI's smaller, mostly private-label assortment is built for that list, and its Alexandria store lists bakery and bread, deli, frozen foods, and pantry essentials among its departments.
One thing to know before you go: ALDI runs lean on purpose, and you bag your own order, so bring bags or a couple of laundry baskets in the trunk.
Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., every day, the earliest close on this list, so ALDI is a daytime stop, not an arrival-night one. If budget leads, run ALDI first for staples, then finish fresh items at Elden's or Cub.
Kadejan Market: The Farm Stop South of Town (11535 State Highway 29 S)
Kadejan Market is the different one. The market started in 2008 as the local outlet for Kadejan Inc., a Minnesota chicken producer that had been shipping its chicken to the Twin Cities and wanted to sell it at home. It pairs that naturally grown chicken with grass-fed beef, organic produce, local raw unfiltered honey, cheese, and salsa.
This is the stop for the one meal you want to be better than cabin food usually is: chicken and beef from the source, local honey for the cabin's coffee and toast. It sits south of Alexandria on Highway 29, so it fits a drive in from the south, or a deliberate Saturday morning run.
Hours: Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., closed Sunday. The short Saturday and the Sunday close mean Kadejan has to be planned, not improvised. Phone: (320) 460-8710.
The Small Early Stop: Brother's Market (610 S McKay Ave)
One more name for the emergencies. Brother's Market opens at 5 a.m. Monday through Friday (6 a.m. Saturday, 7 a.m. Sunday) and closes at 8 p.m. (6 p.m. Sunday). It is a smaller market, not a full supermarket, but at 5:30 in the morning, before the ice fishing run or the drive home, milk and coffee do not need a supermarket. Phone: (320) 762-8121.
The One-Trip Plan for Twelve People
Before you leave home: Assign one person as quartermaster. Groups that shop by committee buy four kinds of chips and no eggs. The quartermaster builds one list off a meal plan: count the breakfasts, the grill nights, and the one eating-out night (our Alexandria restaurants guide covers that night).
On the drive in: Stop in Alexandria before the cabin, in this order: ALDI first if budget leads (it closes earliest), then Elden's or a Cub pickup for the main list, then Walmart only if the forgotten-items list is real. Buy ice last, at whichever store is final, so it makes the short drive to the lake still frozen. Our coffee shops and bakeries guide covers the donut box that should ride along on this same run.
Quantities that work for twelve: Plan a pound of protein per person per grill night once sides are counted, a dozen eggs per breakfast per eight people, and coffee at twice the amount you think, because cabin mornings start early and run long.
Midweek and midweekend: Do not redo the big shop. Send two people with a short list: milk, ice, bread, and whatever the group burns through fastest. Elden's and Cub both open at 6 a.m., so the top-up can happen before the house is awake. In winter, pair it with bait; our bait shops guide and Lake Miltona ice fishing guide cover that half of the morning.
Why Base on Lake Miltona for a Group That Cooks
A group that eats in needs a kitchen, a base that fits everyone, and a town close enough that shopping is a stop, not an expedition. Legendary Log Cabin sits on Lake Miltona, about 15 to 20 minutes from every store in this guide:
- Sleeps up to 12 across 4 bedrooms, so the whole group eats at one base
- A full kitchen for the grill nights and big breakfasts this guide is planning for
- A washer and dryer, which matters more by day three than anyone predicts
- A cedar sauna and a stone fireplace for the cold end of the day
- A game room with a pool table for the after-dinner hours
In summer the same base covers the lake days, with a sandy beach and the pontoon. The grocery plan does not change by season; only the ice quantity does.
FAQ
What grocery stores are in Alexandria, MN?
The main options are Elden's Fresh Foods (707 3rd Ave E), an independent supermarket open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, and Cub Foods (2612 S Broadway St), also 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily with a pharmacy and curbside pickup. Walmart (4611 Highway 29 S) is open 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., Target (4404 MN-29) runs 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and ALDI (600 50th Ave W) runs 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
What is the best grocery store near Lake Miltona?
For a full cabin stock-up, Elden's Fresh Foods and Cub Foods in Alexandria, about 15 to 20 minutes from Lake Miltona, are the two main picks. Elden's is the local independent; Cub adds a pharmacy and curbside pickup. ALDI is the budget option for staples, and Walmart stays open latest, until 11 p.m.
Can I get grocery pickup in Alexandria, MN?
Yes. Cub Foods in Alexandria lists curbside pickup, and Walmart offers grocery pickup and delivery. Ordering ahead before the drive up and picking up on the way through town is the fastest way to stock a cabin for a large group.
What grocery store in Alexandria, MN is open latest?
Walmart on Highway 29 S, open 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day. Elden's and Cub Foods both close at 10 p.m., and ALDI closes earliest at 8 p.m.
Where can I buy local chicken and farm products near Alexandria, MN?
Kadejan Market (11535 State Highway 29 S) is the Alexandria area outlet for Kadejan chicken, and also carries grass-fed beef, organic produce, and local raw honey. It is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and is closed Sunday, so plan it as a daytime stop.
How should a large group shop for a cabin weekend?
Give one person the list, build it from a meal plan, and do the big shop in Alexandria on the drive in. Buy ice last, plan roughly a pound of protein per person per grill night, and handle the mid-stay top-up as a short two-person run.
Shop Once, Then Go to the Lake
The grocery run is not the weekend. Done right, it is forty-five minutes on the way in and a short top-up later. The rest of the trip is the lake, the sauna, and a table that seats everybody.
Check availability and book direct at legendarylogcabin.com. Booking direct skips the marketplace service fees, and the best weekends go earlier than people expect.