After 76 years as a family-owned and operated business, Northpark has announced it will be closing its doors.

Saturday, April 06, 2002

After 76 years as a family-owned and operated business, Northpark has announced it will be closing its doors.

Elaine R. Langemo, president and CEO, announced in a letter to friends, neighbors and customers that she will be closing her store.

&uot;As an independent business owner, I would have liked nothing more than to continue working at the store for many more years. However, health issues and the economic conditions of these times have forced me to close the business,&uot; Langemo wrote.

Her daughter, Kathy Langemo Dugdale, said, &uot;Like many family-owned businesses, it runs on the energy of the owners. We have wonderful managers, but without a full-time owner-manager, it’s obvious the time has come to close.&uot;

Dugdale said like any business, Northpark has a life cycle, and the announcement that the store will close does not negate all its years of business history.

According to the 1988 Freeborn County history book, Richard and Gladys Schacht purchased the North Side Drug Store in May 1926. Richard was employed as a pharmacist in a Rochester Drug Store, and Gladys was a nursing supervisor in one of the Kahler hospitals. The North Side Drug Store at that time was in the hands of receivers, and banker James Nelson convinced the couple that they should buy the closed store. Nelson was enthusiastic about future growth of the North Side, which was commonly called New Denmark. In addition, the graveled Highway 65 to Minneapolis passed right in front of the store on Bridge Avenue.

Not long after they settled in their store, the Great Depression hit. The Schachts took advantage of the highway running in front of the store by advertising their soda fountain with a large malted milk sign. This was a traffic stopper, and the soda fountain business grew, becoming well known for colossal sundaes, malts, and other fancy dishes. In the early days, all the fountain syrups were made in the store; fresh chocolate syrup was made every day. They also made their own Eskimo pies and popsicles. The store was open at 8 a.m. to get farmers’ business when they came to the cooperative creamery across the street, and closed when the last customer left for the day, often after midnight.

With the increased traffic, gift lines and perfumes were added, and free gift wrapping was introduced to the area. The store name was changed to North Side Drug and Gift Shop.

As the business grew and prospered, space became a problem. It was about this time, in 1950, their daughter, Elaine, and her husband Robert Langemo both graduated from the School of Pharmacy at the University of Minnesota and entered into partnership with the Schachts. The family immediately began making plans for a new 100-by-32-foot building on the other side of Bridge Avenue. This new building was the first major construction in Albert Lea after World War II. There were many other obstacles to overcome, as there were still allocations on steel and concrete, and much negative advice on not to build at that time as it was at the peak of cost. But when 25,000 people attended the grand opening in 1954, it proved to the Schachts and Langemos they had made the right decision.

In the new store, new gift lines, fashion jewelry and children’s clothes were added. It wasn’t long before the drug and gift business increased so that it crowded out the soda fountain and the Walnut Room was added to display all the fine china, silver and crystal lines and a new bridal registry service. Elaine Langemo studied under the National Bridal Service and earned the Registered Bridal Consultant Certificate. As these new departments grew, space again became a problem, and in 1961 the building was more than doubled in size. The pharmacy was moved into new and larger quarters, The Sibley Shop was opened, and the Gem Shop was added. Robert Langemo was a gemologist, having earned his certificate on diamond grading from the Gemological Institute of America.

The name of the greatly enlarged store was changed to Northpark. In 1979, a complete Hallmark card shop and a men’s shop were added. Then in 1980, the last addition to the building provided room for a new enlarged office space and a certified fitting room in which orthotic supports and appliances, compression hose and prosthesis were fitted.

Northpark did its last extensive remodeling project in 2000.

Robert Langemo died in 1998, while vacationing in Rome. While the couple’s children chose to pursue other career avenues, they continued to help their mother make decisions on the store. Dugdale is the senior accountant at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and her brother, Steve, is a pharmacist in the Twin Cities.

Dugdale said without her father’s involvement, they decided to close the jewelry area. After that, because they couldn’t find a full-time pharmacist, they decided to close the pharmacy in September of 2000.

Elaine Langemo continued to pour her energies into the store, and referred to it as her &uot;second home -&160;maybe my first&uot; in an interview in early 2001.

&uot;It had been their whole lives,&uot; Dugdale said of the store. &uot;Mother loved the business. It was a big part of the whole family.&uot;

She added, &uot;We want people to know how much we appreciated our loyal customers over the years.&uot;

The process of liquidating the inventory begins this week. The building itself is going up for sale as well, Dugdale said.