MPR News with Angela Davis

Estes Enterprises: A Minnesota family business thriving for 50 years

Fred and Earline Estes pose for a portrait
(left to right) Brother and sister Frederic Estes and Lisa Estes are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Estes Enterprises, a family business founded by their parents that now runs 15 airport retail stores. They pose for a portrait on Monday at the Kling Media Center in St. Paul.
Kerem Yücel | MPR News

Back in 1973, Fred and Earline Estes had a dream of owning their own business and working for themselves. They bought a Hallmark store and slowly expanded it to a small chain of gift shops. Over the years, as their two children got older, they brought them in to work in the stores.

couple seated
In 1973 Fred and Earline Estes founded 'Estes Enterprises, Inc.,' a retail store family business.
Courtesy Estes Enterprises, Inc.

Now, 50 years later, Estes Enterprises, Inc. is thriving. It runs 15 retail shops inside the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the Tampa International Airport. If you’ve flown out of MSP, you might have bought a phone charger or a snack at one of the Estes shops. 

MPR News host Angela Davis talks with the second generation of the family business about their history, managing family and workplace relationships and giving back. One way they do that is through the Fred & Earline Estes Diversity Scholarship at the University of Minnesota.

front of a store that reads Estes Twin Cities News
One of the five shops Estes Enterprises runs in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Courtesy of Estes Enterprises

Guests 

  • Frederic Estes is president of Estes Enterprises, Inc., a business started by his late parents, Fred and Earline Estes. The family-owned company began with a single Hallmark store in 1973 and now runs 15 retail stores in Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and Tampa International Airport.  

  • Lisa Estes worked for her parents’ company Estes Enterprises, Inc., running the first store at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and serving as vice-president until leaving the company in 1997. She’s been an investigator with the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office for more than twenty years.

three people smiling in a studio
MPR News host Angela Davis and Frederic and Lisa Estes on Monday in the studios at MPR News in St. Paul.
Maja Beckstrom | MPR News

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This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment's Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.