West End Liquor owner Kip Earney. Melissa Thorud/Republican Eagle.
Go Brazen owner Valerie Brigham. Melissa Thorud/Republican Eagle.
S/O Discounts owners Shawn Chaska and Oksana Paverud. Melissa Thorud/Republican Eagle.
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The West End District is full of local businesses that are eager to welcome visitors and shoppers back to an open and finished Old West Main Street.
The Old West Main project was broken into multiple phases, this year the finishing touches were made on the two year long project.
With the addition of the new pedestrian bridge and the new road, businesses are hoping to draw in more crowds this upcoming holiday season.
The West End District businesses have formed a group and have started to promote themselves as the entertainment corridor.
A website was recently created for the West End District that has an interactive map of the area locating where each business is and what they specialize in.
There is a variety of businesses from restaurants, art and clothing to lodging, auto repair and salons.
West End Liquor owner Kip Earney. Melissa Thorud/Republican Eagle.
Kip Earney has owned and operated West End Liquor for 39 years. He and his wife run the store, and it has always been a family business for him.
“This was a family business back in 1984-1985 and we are the only local ones left in Red Wing. We’ve been here, and we are all part of the community and grew up here, so it’s been a good business to me,” Earney said.
West End Liquor has been a staple in the community for many years. Aside from being a standing store for as long as it has been, they also participate in community events and they support the local community in any way they can.
“We do all the functions in town, we do a lot of the business after hours events and we do events that are really big like the Holiday Wine Tasting every year. We’ve been here long enough to have a really good customer base,” Earney said.
They help people within the community with events and recommendations when it is needed.
“We are full service, we do everything and people come in when they have events and need some answers. Me, my wife and our workers all know how to get them going in the right direction with what they might need,” Earney said.
“We will deliver and set up and tear down for people, we go beyond,” he continued.
The store offers a variety of products, they have more than 400 craft beers in their store and they have a large wine selection as well.
“We have more than 400 craft beers, we really hit that hard and our wine selection is the best around for sure. We also are on the app Untapped and it lists the best beer selection in towns and it shows everything we carry,” Earney said.
The building that West End Liquor is in has historically been a liquor store for many decades. Before Earney and his wife took over it was previously run as a liquor store.
“There has been a store here for 70 or 80 years,” Earney said.
The road closures did hurt business, but the store has loyal customers and many residents went out of their way to continue to visit Earney.
“I’m the only business that really sat on the pivot point so we were at the ending spot and starting spot for two years in a row,” Earney said.
“Even with five months of construction in 2021 we had one of our best years ever. As soon as the street opened it definitely got busy again,” he continued.
The businesses worked closely with the construction crews and the city throughout the project. The city prioritized the businesses and made sure they were getting what they needed during the construction times.
“I’ve sat on committees for six or seven years in relation to this project and everything you see being done down here has gone through the business owners. It wasn’t just designed and thrown at us, but we had a say in everything which is really cool,” Earney said.
Go Brazen owner Valerie Brigham. Melissa Thorud/Republican Eagle.
Go Brazen is a fun clothing store located in the West End District. They carry a variety of sizing, colors and there is something for everyone inside their shop.
Go Brazen has called the West End District their home for six years. Owner Valerie Brigham spent her first year on the road and then decided to open the shop in Red Wing.
“This originally started on the road and my sister helped me start this business,” Brigham said.
“I drove through here one day, and I just thought it would be great. When I got the store my friends helped me paint it and fix things and fix things and fix more things,” she continued.
Her store is a collection of funny candles, magnets and stickers alongside rooms full of fun clothing items.
“We carry a variety of sizing from 3X to smalls, and I’m really known for some of the funny candles and gifts that we carry,” Brigham said.
“We also have shackets galore and buffalo plaid and holiday themed shirts and sweatshirts,” she continued.
Brigham wants to bring more people down to the West End District and remind the community that they are there.
“Our recent big event brought a lot of people down here. I would say that around 90% of people that I asked, ‘Where are you from?’ were all from Red Wing. Many of them said that they never really think of coming down here,” Brigham said.
During the road construction business was tough for Go Brazen.
“Sales took a definite hit, but we got to choose having the project split in half and that was good,” she said.
“It looks gorgeous now, and I think businesses will reap the benefits of the construction. I’m glad it’s over and I’m so excited to see what happens next,” she continued.
With the revitalization of the West End District, many businesses are in agreement with Brigham in that they hope to see more faces come into their stories this holiday season.
“We are Red Wing’s sassiest store for sure,” Brigham said.
S/O Discounts owners Shawn Chaska and Oksana Paverud. Melissa Thorud/Republican Eagle.
A relatively newer store to the West End District S/O Discounts offers a unique business to the Red Wing community.
Shawn Chaska and Oksana Paverud have always been fascinated by the world of liquidation and their hobby turned into a business once they dove in during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This started with my fascination with storage wars, and I started looking into it, and I discovered the liquidation world,” Chaska said.
“We started this business on a whim and a dream with $1,000,” he continued.
They bought their first pallet for $500, and they didn’t know what to expect.
“We tried this out and bought the pallet and had no idea what to expect. We had this giant box with tons of stuff in it, and I thought, ‘What are we going to do with all of this?’ and we took to eBay and Facebook,” Paverud said.
They started right before the COVID-19 pandemic and then as the pandemic continued they put more attention and effort into their business.
“We started out of our house, and we were licensed with the city in July of 2020 to be able to sell out of our house,” Chaska said.
In November 2021, they decided to take a leap of faith and open up their business into what it is today.
“We grew and developed a little more and then in November of 2021, we decided no better risk than now to open up a store and we saw the economy really changing during that time,” Chaska said.
“It went from coming out of COVID and everything being fast paced, but prices were skyrocketing and knowing what we knew in the liquidation world we thought we could offer something to people at a highly discounted price,” he continued.
Their store offers a variety of items and at a large discount which is great for gift giving and shopping on a budget.
“We wanted to give people the opportunity to buy things they wouldn’t normally buy, because it is too expensive. It gives them the opportunity to try things out at a lower cost or get something they normally wouldn’t get,” Chaska said.
Because they started their business online this helped with getting people in the door right when they opened.
“We had followers and customers prior to opening that helped us get our feet off the ground. This is a beautiful historic area of Red Wing and we wanted to bring life to the area of Red Wing,” Chaska said.
“We have a lot of people stop in from out of town because of the ads they see online and Facebook,” Paverud added.
The road closures hurt their business and posed challenges for them especially as a new business.
“We’ve used social media a lot and utilized that to get out there and let people know that we are here,” Chaska said.
“Also partnering with the community and the organizations has really helped us since opening like the Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Main Street. You need that extra support and you also want to support your community too,” he continued.
Anchor Promotions, Apparel and Signage provides their services from the West End District.
“We have been open for more than 18 years and offer everything from marketing and graphic design, promotional products, printed materials, branded apparel, company stores, fulfillment, and indoor/outdoor/vehicle/boat signage and more,” owner Brenda Stelter said.
Anchor Promotions offers a variety of services and is a unique business in the West End District. They are the one stop shop for anything businesses might need to help promote their business.
“We offer full service marketing to businesses and the community – we make it easy so you only have to come to one location for all your needs,” Stelter said.
Signworx closed their business recently and Anchor Promotions, Apparel and Signage collaborated with them to acquire their customer’s artwork and digital files.
“We are excited to provide our top-notch customer service and help you with your future needs,” Stelter said.
Anchor Promotions helps businesses with small projects to large ones. Now with the Old West Main project completed they are hoping to draw more customers into their business as well.
“ We love the new look of West End and are excited to be part of it,” Stelter said.
“ We are local and work with the surrounding areas, we answer our phone and get back to you and we care about our customers,” she continued.
The West End District has more to offer and for more information visit their website with listings of the businesses at redwingwestend.com .
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The Republican Eagle is a weekly newspaper established in 1857 covering the city of Red Wing and surrounding communities. RepublicanEagle.com publishes new content daily. Our beat reporters are on the ground covering local government, schools, sports, business and culture.