Tag Archives: superior

West Duluth CVS opens, Superior is next

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The new CVS pharmacy in West Duluth opened quietly Sunday, marking the pharmacy giant’s entrance into the Twin Ports market. By Monday, people were filtering in at a good rate, greeted by a cheerful store staffer.

The actually grand opening will be this Sunday, the same day a new CVS store is set to open at North 28th Street and Banks Ave. in Superior.

The West Duluth CVS, at Grand and 46th Avenue West, is right across the street from a Walgreens store. Locating its stores across the street from the industry leader is part of CVS’s aggressive, combat strategy for market share. Regardless of how one feels about that, I got to admit, the new CVS store is downright pleasant. Far from the stark warehouse feel of a lot of stores, colors are pleasing, the ceiling isn’t overly high with the stark industrial look that’s popular now. Sections are labeled clearly. A curving walkway helps you along. And with shelving just shoulder high, it’s easy to see across the store to to what you want and it’s easy to reach anything.

“The big thing with CVS is we want customers to see our pharmacy so they know where to go,” said one store staffer. And, he said, no one will have to strain to reach anything high.

The West Duluth CVS is big enough to have a craft section for kids, seasonal items, even some clothes and boots. It employs about 30 people, the staffer said.

A third CVS coming to the Twin Ports, at Superior Street and 12th Avenue East in Duluth, has been delayed. The Plaza strip mall  — to be razed to make way for CVS — has been vacated except for the Beijing Restaurant, which had a long-term lease and is the lone holdout. Last we heard, construction could be delayed two or three years as a result.

Le Bistro to close April 16

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Le Bistro restaurant in the former City/County Complex in Superior will close April 16, a victim of the sluggish economy.

The fine dining restaurant, in operation nearly five years at the complex at 1409 Hammond Ave., will  keep its normal Tuesday-through-Saturday hours serving lunches and dinners until then, says owner Barbara Krause

“When we first opened, business was good,” she said. “Then, every year it just went down a little bit and a little bit.”

And as business dropped off, she would have to lay off staff, she said.

From a high of 35 employees, the restaurant now employs 12, said Krause who took on more roles as her staff shrunk.

She blames the closure on the poor economy and road construction.

“It’s been pretty tough,” she said. With the majority of their customers coming from Minnesota, she said any time there was road construction or bridge work, business was hurt. And more bridge work is coming this summer, she said.

“It’s a sad thing,” Krause said. “I wish it wasn’t happening, but that’s the way it goes. We really had some wonderful clientele. And I think the people who did come to our restaurant truly enjoyed it.”

News of the closing was posted Thursday on the  restaurant’s website, thanking those who have supported them over the past 4½ years. It gave a special thanks to the ladies from the Red Hat Society for their continuous patronage and support.

“We will miss you all,” it said.

Seeing the writing on the (economic) wall

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It is a bit ironic that a local non-profit that helps businesses, even through economic downturns,  is itself a victim of the downed economy.

The Northeast Entrepreneur Fund, expecting its needed federal funding and grant money to be slashed in 2012, recently laid off seven full-time employees. That’s nearly half its staff.

The entrepreneur fund helps businesses get started and grow in the region and also lends money.

Another group boosting business in these parts is the Area Partnership for Economic Expansion which focuses on recruiting companies to the Northland. Its CEO, Rob West, credits the Northeast Entrepreneur Fund for being proactive rather than reactive to expected cuts coming.

Many non-profits rely on funding coming from federal governement and other government agencies and foundations and don’t feel the impact on recession until three, four years later, he said.

“They’re really feeling the crunch (now),” he said of the entrepreneur fund. “It’s very, very sad, but to their credit, they saw dark clouds on the horizon and reacted now. A lot don’t.”

The fund stepped up and took care of it, he said, adding, “It’s sad, but it’s what you have to do.”

Johnson Bros. Furniture is not closing

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Don’t be fooled by those big signs announcing  “Calling It Quits! Retirement Sale” on the sides of Johnson Bros. Furniture in Duluth.

Ditto for the “You Win! We lose! Calling It Quits!” banner in the front of the store at 1832 W. Superior St., with announcements of 40, 50, 60 and 70 percent off.

The furniture store, long a fixture on West Superior Street in Lincoln Park is not closing. Nor are the family-owned company’s other stores in Superior and Cloquet.

I checked it out in September when the signs first went up. There’s been a big sale going on there ever since. While the store manager I talked to then said the store was, indeed, closing, other store staff said they had not been given any notice that they would soon be out of jobs.

Skeptical, I tracked down owner Larry Johnson at the Cloquet store.

“None of the stores are closing,” he said.

And the big retirement? That would be his father, co-owner Don Johnson, who’s retiring at age 83.

But the 93-year-old business will go on.

If the store was closing, after three generations of operation, that would be news. But since it wasn’t, I let it go.

But people continue to be misled by the signs and wonder why the News Tribune hasn’t done a story on a longtime Lincoln Park furniture store closing.

Cause it’s not.

Gardeners take it inside

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What could be more pleasant than a leisurely garden market and outdoor eatery set up on the grounds of Fairlawn mansion overlooking the big lake in Superior?

Indeed, it was a great idea six years ago when Fairlawn’s first garden market was held to raise money for the restoration of gardens at the historic mansion.

But any event held outside in the Twin Ports in May to mid-June is a gamble. Bone-chilling cold, rain, high winds, storms, even snow are possible.

Each year, nice weather seemed to elude the event.

So this year, the event will be held inside — at the Superior National Guard Armory, 32 N. 21st St., across from the Superior YMCA.

"For five years we were hammered by nature," Superior Public Museums Director Susan Anderson told a group attending a recent "Garden  Talk"  session at Fairlawn. "The smartest thing we ever did is move this thing inside."

The event , from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, will offer plenty of plants and yard and garden decor to buy, both practical and whimsical, from about 25 garden and landscape vendors and artists. Admission is $2 and lunch can be purchased all day. For more information, call (715) 394-5712.

Fraser’s plans for Lake Assault Boats

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With its acquisition by Fraser Shipyards, Lake Assault Boats has moved its small operation from Elk River, Minn., to Superior.

Jim Korthals, chief operating officer for Fraser Shipyards, said Lake Assault’s founder will work with five other Fraser employees, including one new hire, as Fraser plans to possibly build Lake Assault’s production up to 30 to 40 boats per year.

“We are going to be undertaking the custom design of all the boats and fabrication of all the boats,” he said. “We are very proud of what we have here.”

Fraser Shipyards is developing a marketing plan to determine the best way to approach production of Lake Assaults’ custom fishing boats and emergency response vessels for authorities.

“Building boats is part of Fraser’s core competencies,” Korthals said. “It’s what we’ve done since 1890, so building big boats or small boats, its all part of the core competency.”

If growth is possible, Korthals said Lake Assault’s employment could double within several years.

Big bucks sought for damages to laker

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Following a conversation this morning with Brent Reichert, attorney for American Steamship Co., I learned that the company could seek up to about $5 million in damages for the partial sinking of the Walter J. McCarthy Jr. at a Superior dock two winters ago.

You may recall the well-publicized mishap. The McCarthy arrived at Hallett Dock No. 8 in Superior on Jan. 14, 2008, with the 1,000-footer’s crew planning to tie up for the season. But while they were maneuvering the laker into place, it struck a piece of submerged concrete and punctured its hull. Water poured into the ship, flooding its engine room and causing the vessel to come to rest in about 20 feet of water.

As we reported last week, American Steamship has filed suit against both Hallett Dock Co. and Fraser Shipyards, also of Superior, claiming that their negligence led to the accident. But we had no information at the time about how much money the carrier was seeking.

Wonder no more.

Reichert said it cost about $4.3 million to repair the McCarthy. But repairs also kept the vessel from getting out of the gates quickly at the start of the next shipping season, and Reichert calculates the laker lost $500,000 to $600,000 in revenue as a result.

Tack on another $135,000 spent to contain and clean up prospective pollutants from the wounded ship, and the total bill could run from about $4.9 million to $5 million.

 

Coal takes a lumping on the lakes

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Movements of coal on the Great Lakes continue to be slow compared with last year, but Midwest Energy Resources Co. in Superior hasn’t seen business fall off as big a cliff as its smaller competitors.

Lakers carried 3.2 million tons of coal this July — 26 percent less than they did during the same month last year, according to the Lake Carriers Association.

Meanwhile, 2.5 million tons of that coal was loaded onto vessels at Midwest’s Superior terminal in July — 13 percent less than during the same month last year.

“We’ll probably finish this year off 2 million tons and change from last year. But relatively speaking, in this economy and for this port, we’re still doing a respectable level of business,” said Fred Shusterich, Midwest’s president.

He explained that the low-sulfur Powder River Basin coal Midwest handles is used to generate baseload electricity, power a variety of industries and to fuel steam plants throughout the Great Lakes region. As counterintuitive as it may seem, Shusterich said Midwest benefits from a relatively diversified clientele.

For the year-to-date through July 31, Great Lakes freighters handled 14.2 million tons of coal — 28 percent less than they did last year and 30 percent less than the five-year average.

For its part, Midwest shipped nearly 9.4 million tons of coal through July 2009 — 12 percent less than it did last year and just 5 percent less than its five-year average.
 

Good bye Boathouse

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I have some sad news to break to Twin Ports diners. The Boathouse Restaurant, one of the brightest lights on Superior’s culinary scene, has closed.

Jack Bratrud, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Nancy, said the decision to close was largely the result of a weak economy and a failed bank loan.

The couple was in the process of trying to sell the business to their son and chef, Kirk Bratrud, and he had been approved for a loan to purchase the restaurant, so long as an appraisal backed up the value of the property.

But Jack Bratrud said that appraisal came in much lower than expected, scuttling the deal. He said he was greatly surprised, because the latest appraised value of the property was
“much lower than just five years ago.” This was even more remarkable to Bratrud in light of recent improvements to neighboring property, including Vista Fleet’s recent build-out of a shop and ticket station.

The Bratruds were counting on the loan, and Jack said there simply wasn’t sufficient time to switch gears and approach a new lender.

The Boathouse Restaurant structure is owned by the Bratruds, but they lease the underlying land from the city of Superior.

The Bratruds opened the Boathouse, located on Barker’s Island, in 2003. Their son, Kirk Bratrud, a well-known and respected chef who earned a reputation for his former prowess at Bayport Cookery, headed up the Boathouse’s kitchen.

Bratrud was known for his commitment to using fresh local produce, Lake Superior fish and other regional ingredients in his dishes. The 80-seat restaurant also featured a wood-fired grill.

The Bratrud family also formerly operated the popular Mrs. B’s Inn in Lanesboro, Minn., where Kirk cut his teeth as a chef.

No word yet on where Kirk Bratrud will direct his talents in the future, but I, for one, hope he’ll stay in the area.