Freson Market Ltd. History
Freson Market Ltd. began on October 20,
1955 when Frank Lovsin opened a butcher shop with his two
partners, Frank Resek and Frank’s
father, Leo Resek from Edson, Alberta. The name Freson was
derived from a combination of the letters in the respective
partner’s names. The letter “F” in Frank,
the letters “RES” in Resek and the “IN”
in Lovsin were put together to form the name “FRESIN”.
The bank manager at the time however, misspelled the name
on the company documents, nobody argued the proper spelling,
hence the name Freson Market Ltd. was born.
The first butcher shop was in Hinton, Alberta
and the cost of the building was $2700. The original building
was built on skids and was on a thirty day ground rent policy.
It was 24 feet wide and 30 feet long with a power plant in
the back.
Frank Lovsin was the only employee at the
start. The first full time employee was Natalka Luchka and
the first part time  employee
was Jack Kilba. Frank’s brother Joe started in the summer
of 1956. In October of 1956, Pete Chalick Sr. was hired and
became a long standing partner of Freson Market Ltd. Dan Lovsin,
Frank’s youngest brother started in 1958 and is still
remains a senior partner.
In 1962, Frank wanted to expand his horizons
and look for another town that he might be able to do business
in. After one delayed attempt, the downtown IGA in Peace River,
Alberta was built. Frank Resek moved from Edson to Hinton
to manage the store. In 1962, Dan Lovsin came to Peace River
to help Frank with the new venture but it was not long before
they were expanding again, taking Dan to Fairview to run that
newly acquired store.
 As
the company grew, the demands of being a store manager and
overseeing the entire operation was too much. Frank left managing
a store and became General Manager of Freson Market Ltd. Bev
Tansem helped Frank perform the administrative duties while
Frank planned, developed and oversaw the operation of all
stores. As the company continued to expand, more administrative
and office personnel were added. The office currently employs
8 full time clerks, one accountant, 3 computer technicians,
a director of operations, a information technology manager,
human resource manager and a training and development manager.
Mike Lovsin, Frank’s son is president of Freson Market
Ltd. with Frank being Chairman of the Board.
 Through
the years, Freson Market has adapted and changed from its
humble beginning almost 50 years ago. The company has welcomed
the changes proactively and even today continues to evolve
and keep pace with the ever changing grocery industry. From
keeping up with the pace of technology to competing with large
supermarket chains to continually training the employee base
of nearly 1000 employees, Freson Market continues to thrive.
This success can be attributed to the commitment to providing
quality products, good value, a clean shopping environment
and outstanding customer service. The emphasis on the customer
and the ability to adapt to the everchanging grocery landscape
will enable Freson Market to remain a vanguard in the industry.
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“What so ever a man soweth, that shall he also reap,”
Galatians, 6:7
