Youthful Memories of an Evolving Downtown

There were no parking spots near the Farmer Store so around the block we went.

Mom knew that hauling grocery bags to feed seven for a week required parking close to the store. This was during my youth in the 1960s and early 1970s when downtown Red Wing had multiple grocery, bakery, clothing, shoe, jewelry, hardware and appliance stores. There were car dealers and full-service gas stations. The population of Red Wing was less than 11,000.

But downtown was always busy. It was hard to find a parking space, especially on Fridays and Saturdays. The intersection at Third and Bush streets was a free-for-all. I weaved in and out of downtown traffic on my bike six days a week for a couple years delivering the Minneapolis Star afternoon newspaper. But on early Sunday mornings delivering the Minneapolis Tribune, with barely a car in sight, I could ride down the middle of the streets and on the sidewalks. They were all mine. Later, I was a delivery boy for Corner Drug right on Third and Bush.

This was the downtown where we watched movies at the Chief and Sheldon theaters. We “catted the loop,” driving our parents’ cars through the center of downtown, again and again.

The Farmer Store was the only real department store in town. You could buy almost everything you needed under one roof. Groceries, clothes, hardware, appliances, shoes, even some furniture.

The really cool thing about the store was the aerial wires carrying transactions from point of sale to the cashier overlooking the store from the crow’s nest on the second floor. That and the smell of smoked meat. But it was just too small to compare to the larger department stores in the Twin Cities like Sears and Montgomery Wards. They didn’t have groceries but they were big. And they had aisles and aisles of toys!

Spreading Out

The Twin Cities had already started spreading out, creating a suburbia that provided massive amounts of room for large stores, malls and parking lots. I imagined Red Wing would soon be a Twin Cities suburb with many of those same stores. It was wishful thinking from a boy who had seen too many kid-focused TV ads.

I thought we were on the way when Burnside was annnexed and we got a large department store, Gibson’s, later renamed Pamida. It had a lot of stuff but it wasn’t a Kmart, the store I remember people hoping for back then.

Today, West Red Wing (as it’s often called now), hosts large chain stores Target, Walmart and Menards. And they all sell groceries. Pamida and Kmart are gone but they and the current big stores have helped draw in and sustain many other stores and businesses.

It’s funny to think that Burnside had been a neighboring township you had to drive through to get to the Cities. It didn’t have much more than one tiny grocery store, a bank, and a couple gas stations and restaurants. It was too far to ride a bike out there anyhow. I sure didn’t imagine that it would become Red Wing’s shopping district. Yet it might have been the plan all along.

Downtown’s Dilemma 

Maybe downtown Red Wing should be grateful that Burnside was available to provide space for the stores shoppers wanted. Red Wing’s beauty is also its hindrance. Downtown is hemmed in between the river and bluffs.

And in typical small-town America, risk-averse businesses stay close to the one main highway running through it. Moreover, the downtown of a successful small city should have prominent and well-maintained business buildings beyond just Main Street. Red Wing has that.

The downtown of my youth is gone. Many of the businesses from that time have been replaced by big box stores or moved to West Red Wing strip malls. There are still vacant buildings and parking issues. I suppose that should be expected over time.

It’s not all bad, though. Even small businesses can expand their customer base by selling on the internet. And Red Wing has maintained and updated key parts of downtown, including Old West Main Street. The Levee Park landing for the riverboat cruise lines was perfect. The downtown city parks are well maintained.

Every city has at least one draw or no one would live there. Red Wing’s River town image and its many unique draws are almost a secret that is just starting to spread. I spot tourists often when I go downtown, year-round. Maybe today’s downtown climate would benefit from a large bank of EV charging stations located where people can walk to downtown restaurants, coffee shops and parks.

What will today’s kids remember about downtown when they’re my age? There doesn’t seem to be as much to draw kids downtown now. Certainly some of that activity has moved to West Red Wing. Years ago, kids were upset when soda fountains disappeared from drug stores. Now, even most of the drug stores have moved out.

West Red Wing itself is not immune to store churn but vacant properties anywhere can lead to bold new ideas. 

Maybe that’s what keeps Red Wing’s evolution both challenging and interesting.