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Saturday, July 12, 2008

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General store era comes to a close

PINE RIVER

By RENEE RICHARDSON

Senior Reporter

PINE RIVER - After more than 60 years in Pine River, Silbaugh's Department Store is closing.

When Jackie Silbaugh Wetrosky was growing up, owning the store her parents ran was the last thing she intended to do. Such are the ironies of life that she ended up spending 30 years inside the store on Barclay Avenue. Now the thought of ending that legacy by closing the store her parents started is an emotional one.

On a warm sunny afternoon last week, Jackie sat on the store's back step, wiped away a few tears and talked about the past and the future.

"It's been good," she said. "It's been a good, good life."

Jackie grew up in Pine River. She left the area for an education at the University of Minnesota and work in the Twin Cities. Years later she returned and worked at Crow Wing County Social Services in Brainerd. Her husband, John Wetrosky, was manager of Marv Koep's Nisswa Bait Shop from 1970 to 1978. And when they thought about opening their own bait and tackle shop, Jackie's father said if they wanted to go into business he had the store for them.

Silbaugh's Department Store on Barclay Avenue in Pine River is closing after more than 60 years in business in the city. Brainerd Dispatch/Renee Richardson
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Walter and Jeannette Silbaugh, with a last name from Prussian ancestors, opened their Pine River business in 1947. Over time it evolved into that store that once was a staple of small town America - the general department store where a shopper could find a little bit of everything.

But those days are fading and the Wetroskys said they were feeling more and more like a dinosaur. The small farms and small lake resorts are no longer present as they were when the store was thriving. Large regional shopping centers and big box stores lured away shoppers. Jackie said it wasn't that people didn't want to support the business in their own city, but as they worked and commuted to Brainerd and Baxter it was easy to stop and pick up what they needed after work instead of shopping in Pine River.

Over time, it all added up.

Jackie said that's the saddest part and she's disappointed they couldn't keep the business going.

"On the other hand," she said. "This is going to be a celebration. It's not the end, it's a change."

The Wetroskys gave themselves three years to see if things would turn around. In Year Two of their plan, with an economy that doesn't appear to be changing for the better, the two decided it was time to call it quits.

John Wetrosky said he knows many people will think the Alco store just down the street, which opened this spring, is the reason behind the closing. But he said they'd be wrong.

"Alco has nothing to do with this decision," John said.

Actually, the Wetroskys said they were pleased when Alco announced it was locating in Pine River. They knew they wouldn't last much longer and they didn't want their customers to be forced to leave Pine River to shop for the basics. The turning point, the Wetroskys said, came in the 1980s when the big box stores like Kmart opened in the Brainerd area. John said Silbaugh's would have white sales for sheets and pillow cases and get merchandise in by the semi load for the events. That business left after Kmart opened, he said.

"Nothing you could do brought that back," he said.

The regional buying trips they took to Minneapolis saw the number of vendors shrink from filling five floors with sales representatives to barely surpassing a single floor. Major brands they went to for years for inventory went out of business. They felt they were battling against a strong tide.

"It was well worthwhile," John said of owning the business. "We had a lot of good years. I'd never regret doing that."

The Wetroskys have a daughter, Anna, who is attending the University of Minnesota. The Wetroskys expect to remain in the Silbaugh's building for the time being, perhaps renting other space in Pine River if the department store building is sold or leased. They plan to continue to operate and expand their Unicel phone service business and keep the tuxedo rental business.

The store will close on Tuesday and then open for its going out of business sale on Wednesday morning.

RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.

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