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I didn't know Paul A. Durbahn well, but I did enjoy the time I did know him.
I met him during the recent Honor Flight of WW II veterans to Washington D.C.
.
He ran the Stewartville Star weekly newspaper for years, so we had a lot in common.
I'm glad I had the chance to know him briefly during that amazing trip.
He's the guy in the U of M hat
My condolences to his wife and family.
Paul A. Durbahn, 81, of Stewartville, died unexpectedly Thursday at his
home.
Safe (I believe that is a person's name, not a description) Weight Training and Athletic Center… that's the answer to the earlier tease about a northwest Rochester fitness business.
The sign was going up during this sunny afternoon in the Bandel Road commercial center that also houses KTTC and King's Flooring.
I should have more on this soon.
Here's some from a piece in a today's paper by Laura Gossman. Wykoff has its own grocery store again.
When Dan and Bev Gleason decided they wanted to sell Gleason’s Grocery Store in Wykoff, several people in the community came together in hopes of creating a cooperative grocery store.The road to ownership of the downtown building has been rocky, but the new co-op has opened.
Wykoff Regional Food Co-op board member Gail Lembke of Chatfield said the legalities in attempting to start a grocery store have been a learning experience.
She said the group has gone through three different deals, all of which fell apart. In the meantime, the Gleasons agreed to lease the building to them.
“We decided we couldn’t wait around for lawyers and bankers,” Lembke said.
While the grocery store will be a co-op, they’ve decided to call it the Wykoff Grocery Store.
The store has a bakery and hopes to have a deli ready by next summer.
The shelves are slowly being filled with pastas, sauces, snacks and sodas — anything you’d find at a small town grocery or general store.
The new Rochester Goodwill building is springing up quickly like so much other commercial construction in Rochester during these days of sunshine.
I spun by there Thursday and saw it had significantly moved along since was there last.
So expect Goodwill to move to the southside of Rochester sooner than later.
Here's one that slipped by me.
Warners’ Stellian appliances opened their new Rochester store 1318 Apache Drive S.W. Saturday.
This is ahead of their expected June opening.
The St. Paul-based retailer remodeled the former Guyer’s store and has set up operation there.
While Guyer's had to close, Warners' is pointing out its free delivery, free appliance recycling and free installation as key differences that will help it succeed here.
They have six on staff now, but are interviewing for more sales staff. The hope, they says, is to hire at least two more.
Expect a grand opening in mid- to late June.
It sounds like a new fitness business – i.e. a place you pay to sweat – is coming to northwest Rochester in early June.
After I finish these reps with a 24 ounce Mountain Dew, I'll see if I can clean and jerk some more details.
Demolition is crunching along at Crossroads Plaza, soon-to-be Walgreens Plaza across from the Olmsted County Fairgrounds, along south Broadway.
My question – and I think the questions other folks have – is when is O'Reilly's Auto Parts store going to close? And is it going to be part of the new incarnation of the Walgreens Plaza?
I have talked to a couple of folks at O'Reilly's corporate office and no answers have come back yet.
I realize they are busy with the Checkers deal and all, but it would be great to fill in those blanks.
Dirt is moving like crazy at the Shoppes on Maine development in south Rochester.
The obvious missing piece out there has been a restaurant. You have Target South. You have Lowe's. You have PetSmart. You have Maurices. You have Catherines. You have Think Bank.
Soon you'll also have Best Buy South, MGM Liquor, the Deb Shop and Noodles, which is very close to opening.
But what about a sit-down restaurant and/or bar?
Dirt is now moving at the Point – the land east of Pond Five – basically kitty-corner from Think…I think.
That spot is being prepared for up to three restaurants. Talks are reportedly pretty far under way, but nothing is locked in.
Another restaurant is eyeing a space near the entrance from 48th Street, behind the main sign.
Again, no deal yet.
But I'd guess there is enough momentum that an announcement of at least will come in the near (always subjective) future.
Dirt is also moving for three buildings – one for a single commercial tenant and the other two will be the typical Opus multi-tenant style – to be built by Pond Five and Pond Six.
I realize the locations are vague. I should have better descriptions by the time my Monday column hits the streets.
