TOWER- Back in 1986, the city of Tower decided to sell its municipal liquor store and bar, and Denny Erickson decided it could become a family business that would help support the family cabin on the Pike River. The Ericksons had moved to the area in 1969. The plan worked, and the family cabin continues to host dozens and dozens of Ericksons throughout the year.
“My dad died in 1992,” said current D’Erick’s owner Dave Erickson. “My mom called all of us kids, one at a time and asked if we wanted to keep it going.”
Of the nine kids in the family, Dave was the last she asked, and he was the one who said yes.
At the time, Dave was working full-time as the EMS Chief for the St. Paul Fire Department. He had a bachelor’s degree in both business and fire safety, and a master’s degree in public safety. Not quite the normal resume to run a bar, but he said he really wanted to keep the business in the family. He shared his parents’ love for the family cabin, which served as a vacation spot for the always growing clan, which now numbers over 80 with the addition of great-grandchildren to the first three generations, a total of 78 Ericksons.
Dave ran the business as an absentee owner until he retired in 2004 and took over the day-to-day management.
The bar’s finances had suffered a bit without an owner on site.
“I got the business stable and up-to-date,” Dave said. “I righted the ship.”
But now in his late 60s, with some health issues and a desire to spend more time out of the area, especially in the winter, Erickson decided it was time to sell the business. His wife Lisa retired from Delta Airlines in 2020, and has been working with Dave, along with Dave’s brother Dale, the past two years.
Business has been good and growing. While the pandemic certainly hurt, with the help of federal relief payments they were able to keep the off-sale open and their full-time bartender on the payroll while the bar had to remain closed.
“My parent’s legacy was to have the bar to take care of the cabin,” Dave said. “And now I will take the proceeds of the sale and set up an account to pay the expenses on the cabin.”
Dave said having a bar is like taking care of a child who never quite grows up.
“I start at five or six in the morning catching up on the bookkeeping,” he said. “Then it’s time to stock the off-sale and bar, and make sure all our staff can make it in.”
Lisa has been a huge help stocking the off-sale, Dave said, since he can’t handle that type of physical work on a daily basis anymore. The two also take turns filling in if staff can’t make it. The bar currently has one full-time employee, and about eight part-timers.
The decision to sell the business was made in July, after Dave talked with his entire extended family over the Fourth of July weekend.
“None of my siblings said they could take it over,” he said.
Dave and Lisa’s first choice is to sell the business to a local family. The business is uniquely suited to being run by a couple, they said.
“The business is profitable,” he said, “and it pays a respectable wage for the owners.”
This July was the bar’s best month ever.
The off-sale store has faced competition from the opening of the Ledge Liquor Store and the new large liquor store in Ely, but after initial drops in sales, has continued to show growth.
The construction of an outdoor patio has really helped grow the on-sale business, Dave said. “Our local business has exploded, even if it seems that tourist traffic is a little down,” he said.
Regulars, who have become like family to the Ericksons, show up at the bar each morning right before 10 a.m., in time to watch “The Price is Right.”
“It’s been a great 35 years,” he said. “But it is time to move on.”
Anyone interested in learning more about the business can call Dave at 218-753-4071.