2025, Business, gardening, Seasons, Uncategorized

Hunkered Down for Winter

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Bachmans is a fixture in my life.  In addition to the many times I stop by in the spring, summer and fall, it’s also located on my main conduit for when I am out and about.  I go by it five or six times a week.  Last week was the first time I’ve visited the shop in January.

Two things took me there.  I’ve written about the hot sauce bird seed cylinders that I discovered – it turns out they have them at Bachmans.  Also, if you go to visit your mother and forget that you need to mail your Bachmans bill before the trip, you can stop by the store and they will process the payment for you on the spot.  Saves a stamp as well!

I got there right at 10, when they were opening and the gal unlocking the door said she would let me in but that I would need to leave using the gift shop/Patrick’s Bakery door.  As soon as I stepped inside, I saw why.  What I consider the main part of the store was absolutely empty.  No bulbs, no seasonal anything, no shepherd’s hooks, no fertilizers, no merch on the endcaps, nothing.  And looking out the sliding doors towards the back were row after row of empty tables and shelves.  It was the eeriest feeling.

The gal at Customer Service told me they do this every winter; they start to ramp back up towards the end of February.  That’s when people start thinking about seeds and getting started indoors for the eventual return of warm weather. The gift shop is open through the winter – if you need something for Valentine’s (including cut flower bouquets), Bachmans is ready for you.

Luckily the bird seed section on the far wall towards the back is still available.  It’s nice to know I won’t have to drive to St. Paul if I need another hot sauce cylinder before spring!

Do you have any seasonal shops?

26 thoughts on “Hunkered Down for Winter”

  1. At least they’re still in business. A few days ago, Linda went to our town’s oldest mall for an indoor walk. It was once a busy place, anchored by Sears Roebuck and a precursor to the Lazarus stores (I forget who that was).

    It was sad. Only 3 vendors survived the trials of 2021, and they all closed at 6:00 PM. The place was quiet as a cemetery.

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    1. THere are some ghostmalls here, too. One has been revitalized with offices like DMV, County offices, etc and a new, fancy grocery store. That seems to be working. Others have closed entirely. One has become a winter walking facility.

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      1. What once was a mall in Holland, MI has become “half-a-mall”, and the Lakeshore campus of the nearest community college has taken the other half. Odd thing, though, the city is not in that community college’s district, so local students attending the local campus have to pay “out of district” fees.

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  4. Our Runnings, a farm store, has the new seeds in. We need to order our seeds soon. Our mall is reportedly getting a Hobby Lobby soon. We used to have a Herbergers, Penneys, and Kmart, but no more.

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  5. I second the Farmers’ Market. About this time of year, I realize how much I miss a better vegetable selection than what the local Aldi offers. I know the co-op has a great selection, but husband doesn’t shop there (too expensive, he says). How does Door Dash work?

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    1. I’m not really sure about how Door Dash works, but I used Instacart during the pandemic. You go to the store website and find where you can shop online. You put the things you want into your cart. Somewhere during the checkout you should be able to see something offering delivery. You might have to download an app. You pay a fee for the delivery with your grocery checkout. At least that’s the way it worked when I used it several years ago. I have closed my Instacart account and deleted the app now. I’m really not a fan of having store shoppers choose my produce, and rushed delivery drivers dumping my groceries outside my door.

      Maybe if you called your Co-op and asked about delivery options, they’d have a better answer. Our Co-op just started Instacart deliveries. During the pandemic I would call in my order and pay online, a shopper would choose my items, and someone would meet me in front of the Co-op and put my bags in the back of my car for me.

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  6. Hello from the Deep Freeze, Baboons,

    4:00pm and -8° here when you want an indoor mall. I suppose my favorite seasonal shops are garden-related: seeds, dirt, plants, and pots–all the good stuff. At the same tiime are plant sales which I love. Picha Nursery here donates the profits of their sale to the Old Birch Woods preservation; the Hennepin Co Master Gardener plant sale donates to their education programs; the Friends School Sale at the State Fair Grounds donate to the Friends School. Four months to go until that season! Four months and 70° to go.

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      1. VS–that is a really empty store. I suppose they give it all a good cleaning while it is empty after all the dirt, etc of the rest of the seasonal stuff.

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  7. I’ll join the others who mention the Farmer’s Market; we don’t go to any of the local winter markets. Garden stores are mostly seasonal; however Tonkadale out in my neck of the woods has a lot of green indoor plants year ’round and is a lovely getaway in midwinter when one is starving for the sight and smell of live plants.

    There’s a small, family-owned candy shop in St. Paul called Regina Candies that we visit at Christmas/St. Nicklaus Day and Easter. The pectin jelly beans and Jordan almonds are my favorites.

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  8. -46 wind chill this morning as we drove the dog to the groomer who lives in a little town 10 miles away. We drove west, into the wind, and warning lights on the dashboard came on to tell us that temperature sensors in the engine weren’t working. The warning light went off as we drove east back home.

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  10. I used to go to the Dayton’s auditorium shows in the downtown Minneapolis store every year. There was a public TV special about it recently. I usually didn’t take the elevator to the eighth floor when I went there. They had the escalators operating, so I’d go up eight floors on the escalators. It was always kind of spooky/interesting to go through those spaces. At one time they had a lot of furniture and rugs and even appliances in the upper floors, but over the years whole categories of merchandise disappeared and spaces sat empty.

    There was one floor with personnel offices that were still used, but it was a sort of lonely floor.

    I don’t remember what was one floor nine, ten, or eleven. The 12th floor had the restaurants and the women’s lounge.

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