Senior Living Despite pandemic, county sees several new businesses

By Jamey Malcomb jamalcomb @pinejournal.com

The COVID-19 pandemic posed a monumental challenge to even the most seasoned business owners in Carlton County, but was even more daunting to those looking to open businesses in 2020’s unprecedented environment.

Despite the challenges, Cloquet and Carlton County saw a variety of new businesses open or change hands over the past year. From salons to restaurants to even a new day care in Esko, business owners braved the wild waters of the pandemic in order to provide unique and needed services.

Many of the businesses received an outpouring of support as they tried to gain a foothold in a difficult situation for any new business. Some people offered donations to help keep the businesses afloat during the shutdown and a local church partnered with another to provide a needed service in Esko.

Here is a recap of some of the businesses that opened during an extraordinary time.

Crowned Salon, Cloquet

Sarah Faust technically opened Crowned

Salon in Cloquet’s West End in October 2019, but spent most of the next seven months closed.

One morning a few weeks after opening, she arrived to find the store flooded by a burst pipe. After a brief closure, Faust was able to return to work, but it wasn’t long before the coronavirus forced Crowned to close for more than two months.

When Faust returned, her clients were masked, and she was conducting temperature checks before they entered the store.

During the closure, though, Faust’s clients did everything they could to support the fledgling business. Some purchased gift cards and products while other Cloquet businesses, like Bearaboo Coffee Escape, offered Faust gift cards to keep her properly caffeinated during the shutdown.

When Crowned reopened, Faust added stylist Mandy Weaver and customers were eager to return.

Even after a second COVID-related shutdown of more than a month last fall, Faust said customers stayed loyal and Crowned has been so busy they are currently unable to take new customers. The salon is booked through the beginning of April. Sweetly Kismet Candy Store, Carlton

As restrictions loosened on businesses and the area prepared for a different sort of Fourth of July holiday, John and Ashley Parrott of Wright opened their destination sweets shop, Sweetly Kismet Candy Store.

The pair started construction on the store in January 2020 before the pandemic took hold, but they were forced to open in decidedly different circumstances. Still, Ashley Parrott estimated the store — visible from I-35 at Highway 210 — saw more than 2,000 customers during the opening weekend June 26-28.

The Parrotts are no strangers to adversity, though. In 2018, their home was ravaged by a fire, leaving the kitchen severely damaged and smoke damage throughout the home. The family was home, but John, Ashley and their three children were not injured.

As they recovered from the fire and worked staggering hours at the store to prepare it for opening — often working

Business

From Page 4 past midnight before going home — the Parrotts relied on their faith as a pillar in their lives.

“So when it came to this it was just something we relied heavily on God for,” Ashley Parrott said. “He’s taken care of us through every other situation we’ve been presented with and we really had to have faith that this was going to happen and it’s worked out beautifully.”

Sweetly Kismet finished its first season at the end of 2020, but the Parrotts plan to reopen in early April 2021.

Growing With Love Childcare Center, Esko

Opening a day care center is a tricky proposition in any environment, but when compounded with a pandemic the task becomes monumental.

Amanda Groth did just that, transforming the basement of Northwood United Methodist Church in Esko into a child care center for up to 68 children — including eight infants and 10 toddlers.

The center is a partnership between Groth and the church to address a need in Carlton County. A 2020 survey showed the area seriously lacking in available child care. An estimated 240 infants and toddlers — about 31% of the total infant and toddler population in the county — need care but do not have a spot at a child care center or family provider.

Groth met Northwood Pastor Brian Cornell at a town hall in January 2020 to develop solutions to the child care shortage in Carlton County. The pair exchanged information, and by May the church approved a partnership to host Growing With Love. Groth had approximately four months to prepare the church and get all the required approvals to open Growing with Love.

Groth opened the child care center Oct. 5 and currently has 31 children enrolled. Even better for her and her students, they haven’t dealt with any pandemic related closures since opening.

Washington Avenue Laundromat and Car Wash, Cloquet

The Washington Avenue Laundromat and Car Wash in Cloquet didn’t open during the pandemic, but long time owners Paul and Jan Myers decided to retire in 2020, creating an opportunity for Tony and Ashley Anderson.

Tony Anderson— a plumber with AM Mechanical Plumbing and Heating in Duluth — had performed some maintenance work a couple years earlier and the Myerses mentioned they would be looking to sell the business when they retired.

Ashley Anderson works for Essentia Health in Duluth, but she and her husband were looking for a business opportunity closer to home in Carlton County.

The Washington Avenue Laundromat seemed a perfect fit because Tony Anderson’s family has a history of owning laundry and dry cleaning businesses. His grandparents, Charles and Donna Anderson, owned a pair of dry cleaning stores in Duluth in the 1950s.

Even when adding in the attached self-serve car wash, Tony Anderson has the experience to maintain the business better than most people.

The Andersons weren’t looking to make any major changes, but hoped to make some to give the interior of the store a makeover.

Mike’s Cafe and Pizzeria, Esko Mike Prachar operated Mike’s Western Cafe for 38 years, but the pandemic spelled doom for the Lincoln Park institution.

Prachar said he and his daughter, Andrea King, tried to do takeout for a short time, but the restaurant was not set up for delivery. What’s more, with just 12 booths, operating at 50% capacity simply wasn’t profitable, so Mike’s Western Cafe never reopened.

Prachar wasn’t ready to retire and had heard Eskomo Pies owner Pete Radosevich was looking to sell. He took the opportunity to lease the space and keep a sitdown restaurant in his hometown of Esko.

Even better, with Radosevich still owning the building and operating his law office next door, he was able to help train Prachar and King, and remains available to help out if they need it, Prachar said.

Mike’s Cafe and Pizzeria was blitzed with take-out and delivery orders this fall and had not yet opened the dining room when Gov. Tim Walz’s second shutdown order began last fall. When restaurants were allowed to reopen, the pizza parlor welcomed customers back for dine-in service.

The restaurant opened with a limited capacity Jan. 20 and has added some old favorites from Mike’s Western Cafe to their menu of pizzas, burgers and sandwiches.

Wright

From Page 1 distribution center,” Wright wrote in his biography.

Unfortunately, none of his designs for the stations had come to fruition, and Wright was nearing the end of his career.

So, when he learned the Lindholm family owned an oil company, he jumped at the opportunity to see one of his station designs come to life.

“Basically, Wright convinced my grandfather to let him do the project,”

Lindholm’s grandson Mike Mckinney told the Pine Journal in 2009.

Wright based the design on some of his previous plans, with some minor modifications made in light of local fire codes. He wanted it to be a step up from other service stations, and equipped it with a 32-foot copper canopy and a lounge for guests to wait while their vehicles were repaired. It cost around $75,000 to design and build, as compared to the usual $25,000, but Joyce Mckinney told the Duluth News Tribune that her father didn’t flinch at the price.

In the end, the design was unique and attention-grabbing, but not practical, according to former manager Donald Lynch.

“It’s unfortunate that Frank Lloyd Wright didn’t know anything about service stations when he designed it,” Lynch told the Duluth News Tribune in 1982, citing a cramped sales office and inaccessible bathrooms.

Wright designed both the Lindholm house and service station without ever visiting the area. He used topographic maps to chart out his plans, and sent his apprentice Robert Pond to oversee the service station’s construction.

Even though Wright never stepped foot in Cloquet, it appears the Lindholm and Mckinney families had ongoing communication with the architect.

In addition to visiting his Wisconsin home, the family also traveled to Arizona to see Wright, who designed a second home for the

Food

From Page 1 full, John Lind and his crew load them into the back of vans stationed in B&B’s parking lot. They usually begin distribution around 1 p.m.

As drivers pull into B&B Market, workers load a maximum of two bags into each car. They go until the bags are gone.

On a recent Thursday, John Lind said they gave away 260 bags in about 50 minutes.

“When it’s gone, it’s gone,” he added.

Not all of the cars get bags of food, and sometimes they have to turn people away.

“We just do what we can do,” John Lind said. The line of cars typically stretches approximately two miles along Big Lake Road in Cloquet, and starts forming as early as 11:30 a.m.

B&B Market employee

Irene Carlson said it’s clear how much the community needs the Food Train based on how many cars line up each week.

Due to complications with traffic early on, B&B Market stationed a sign instructing cars where to park along the road as they wait. The market’s parking lot also has two functioning exits, allowing for traffic to move smoothly in and out of the lot. family, but it was never constructed. While many described Wright as an egomaniac, Joyce Mckinney told the Duluth News Tribune that he was “sweet.” The family kept a photograph of Wright taken by Daryl Mckinney, in which he is pictured holding his glasses in one hand, looking to the side.

The effort saw a spike in donations around the holidays, but now it is leveling off. Kim Lind said the project has used $128,143.50 of its current funds.

John Lind said he is not sure how much longer they will be able to continue with the Food Train, but said he is grateful for what has been given.

“We wouldn’t be able to do this without the community,” he said.

To volunteer with the Food Train or learn how to donate, message B&B Market’s Facebook page or call the store at 218879-3555.

Joyce Mckinney told the News Tribune that Wright hated the photograph and had torn up the original, saying that it made him look old. Fortunately, she had made another copy, which the family still has today.

The R.W. Lindholm Station held its grand opening in 1958. Wright died five months later, having completed his final career goal.

While it is no longer owned by the original family, the station has come to be known as the Frank Lloyd Wright Gas Station and was registered through the National Register of Historical Places in 1985.

In 2008, then-mayor Bruce Ahlgren declared Aug. 7 as Frank Lloyd Wright Day in Cloquet.