HOUGHTON — Tadych’s Econofoods will soon have a new name and a new owner. Coborn’s Inc., a Minnesota based grocery retailer, is in the process of purchasing the Houghton grocery store, as well as five other Tadych’s Econofoods outlets in the U.P. and Wisconsin.

On Monday morning, representatives from the two companies met to finalize the ownership transition. In addition to the Houghton location, Coborn’s will acquire Econofoods stores in Marquette and Iron Mountain, as well as three locations in Wisconsin.

After the acquisition is finalized, the store’s name will change to Tadych’s Marketplace Foods. While the stores will continue to operate under the Tadych name, the Tadych family’s business, T&C Markets, will play no role in managing the stores. Coborn’s will continue to employ the roughly 800 people who work at the six store locations. Jon Dittmann, store manager at the Houghton location, said that customers are unlikely to notice changes for the first six to 12 months of new ownership. Signage bearing the store’s new name will be put up on the outside of the building, and updates to the interior and exterior of the building may be completed in the future.

“I’m not sure what they have in mind for changes. Right now, they’re just trying to get all of the behind-the-scenes stuff taken care of,” said Dittmann. “I would say probably late summer, or early fall, is when customers will actually be able to see changes.

Dittmann expressed confidence in the new owners and optimism about the future of the store.

“It’s in good hands. It’s another employee-owned company, I actually feel really good about the transition,” he told the Gazette on Monday. “We’ll be able to keep the employee-owned family business feel, instead of becoming more of a corporate type.

“The name on the building has changed, but the internal workings, the customer service in stores, is going to stay the same.”

Coborn’s Inc. is an employee-owned company that operates grocery stores across Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The purchase of Econofoods marks the company’s first venture in Michigan.