It's the end of an era. After 31 years of selling groceries on Concordia's Main Street, Rod Imhoff will say goodbye in July.
"I'm 83 years old," Imhoff said. "A lot of people have been asking what's up with me, and I always say: 'I'm old.'"
Luke and Linnea Hood, and Garrett Hood will be the new overseers of the downtown space. "There's a lot of plans in the works," Luke Hood said. "It will be a commercial space that we hope will still offer meats and cheese, produce, and baked goods like bread. It will be closed for a while - we've got a lot of work to do inside to reconfigure the space. To make it a multi-use commercial building, we've got a lot to do with the plumbing and electrical and things like that."
One of the first things that will happen is that the store on Main Street will become the new home of Legacy Finishes, run by Linnea Hood. "We've been talking about Legacy having a downtown location," said Luke Hood. "The warehouse will be located here, too, which we really needed."
"We hope to have the warehouse relocated here by August, and the retail will come after that," Linnea Hood said. "The Legacy store will still be at Hood's on the east side of town for a while."
Signed documents are awaiting final flooring plans, but Ryan Swenson of Duis Meats fully intends to open a second location inside Rod's for his meats, cheeses, special seasoning and pies. "I really wanted another location downtown," Swenson said. "Luke and I have been talking for years, and this seems to be what will work out great."
It will be at least through the fall and perhaps towards the end of the year before Duis Meats opens a store on Main Street. "We don't have a timetable on anything yet," Swenson said. "There's still a lot to be figured out with the overall layout of the store. But I would love to be in there by the holiday season."
"We definitely want to have as short an interruption time as possible," said Luke Hood. "There's just a lot of things to figure out and work we have to do in the building to get it ready for multi-purpose use."
One thing people will notice soon is a completely brand new storefront of the Rod's building. "It will be completely redone," Luke Hood said. "There will be a new entrance for Legacy right on Sixth Street."
One thing that will not stop operating even for a day is the ice business. Renamed 'Rod's Ice', it will continue to serve the surrounding communities throughout the summer and fall. "That won't stop," said Stephanie Hood, who, as a teenager, used to bag ice for Imhoff in the summer. "Like we always used to say: Have an ice day!"
Rod's Thriftway first came into being in July of 1995. "I took over for Father Larry Letourneau," Imhoff said. "I had worked at Boogaarts for a long time. Larry's wife and my wife were sisters, and after his wife passed, I knew he was going to be a priest. So I moved to Concordia and took over the store."
Imhoff is a fountain of stories and anecdotes, and the Blade will take a deep dive into that history in July when Imhoff turns out the lights a final time.
When asked about his plans for the future, Imhoff smiled and said, "My oldest daughter likes to take us on trips. I've got a farm in Washington County that needs a little attention. That's a good place to get away. And I told Luke I'd help out with the ice business for a little while."
COMING IN JULY IN THE BLADE: Rod Imhoff reflects back on 31 years of selling groceries on Main Street.
