About this location
A few stories people tell about this place
1. One foggy morning, as a delivery driver unloaded groceries into the backroom of Tare Market Nokomis, he noticed an old canister labeled ‘special order’. Curious, he opened it—and found himself staring at rows upon rows of tiny handwritten notes. Each note read simply, ‘Take one item from any shelf, but replace it with something unexpected.’ The delivery driver laughed and took a banana from the fruit aisle, replacing it with a tube of toothpaste. As he walked around, people began finding strange substitutions—an apple swapped for a bar of soap, a loaf of bread replaced by a pack of batteries. By lunchtime, everyone in Nokomis was talking about the mysterious prankster who had left the market full of amusing surprises.
2. One day, while stocking shelves in Tare Market Nokomis, a young employee overheard an elderly customer muttering, ‘I thought I saw something move behind those boxes.’ The employee looked around nervously but saw nothing unusual. Later that evening, while restocking the same aisle, she noticed a familiar box had been slightly moved. Smiling to herself, she decided it was just her imagination playing tricks. Turns out, it was actually a mischievous neighborhood cat named Whiskers who loved exploring the store after hours.
3. One night, after closing, a security guard at Tare Market Nokomis heard strange noises coming from the dairy section. Curious, he approached only to see a small child giggling and pointing at the milk bottles, which seemed to be moving on their own. The guard smiled, thinking it was some prank by a local kid. He called out gently, ‘Hey there, little one!’ But when he turned around, everything was quiet—except for the sound of milk splashing onto the floor. Turned out, an overeager delivery driver had accidentally knocked over a crate while unloading new stock.
4. One afternoon, as a delivery driver was restocking the dairy aisle at Tare Market Nokomis, he noticed something peculiar on one of the milk crates—a tiny note scribbled in pencil: ‘Take what you need, leave what you can.’ Curious, he picked up the note and found another identical one beneath it—this time reading: ‘If you take eggs, please crack one back.’ Smiling, he decided to play along, leaving behind an extra carton of yogurt. Over the next few days, more notes appeared: one requested bananas for breakfast, another asked for applesauce for baking. Soon enough, the entire neighborhood stopped by Tare Market Nokomis just to drop off or pick up whatever they needed, creating a friendly exchange that became known as Nokomis’ Secret Grocery Game.