Beaver House leases building to city of Grand Marais for temporary liquor store

Kalli Hawkins | February 14, 2024

An iconic building in downtown Grand Marais will soon swap out the beaver flicks in exchange for beer, wine, and liquor.

The Beaver House, owned by Tyson Cronberg and his family since the 1960s, closed following a Feb. 7 liquidation sale. The business will soon transition to a temporary municipal liquor store as the city of Grand Marais undergoes construction of the new city hall/liquor store in April.

Cronberg is leasing the building to the city of Grand Marais for the duration of the construction project. Construction of the new city hall/liquor store is expected from Apr. 1 to Dec. 18, 2024.

“Ty has been kind enough to lease it to us,” Chris LaVigne, the Grand Marais municipal liquor store manager, said. “That’s going to work great.”

In early Dec., the city of Grand Marais began searching for temporary liquor store locations in preparation for the construction project. The Beaver House was identified as a viable option, given its high-traffic location in downtown Grand Marais.

LaVigne said the liquor store staff will begin moving into the Beaver House in mid-March. He said the slower winter months have given him and the staff time to organize inventory in preparation for the move.

The Beaver House will finish cleaning and prepping the building in the coming weeks before the city moves in. In a Feb. 7 Facebook post, the Beaver House said, “We are selling off all inventory and plan to update, winterize, and remodel the interior of our building.” Numerous community members showed up during the liquidation sale to purchase a sweatshirt, beaver flick, or fishing gear before they were moved into storage.

The space is much smaller than the existing liquor store, LaVigne said, but he hopes to have as much product available as possible. “We’ll have limited cooler space,” he said. “Not as many sizes of items or as many packages.”

In the next month, LaVigne anticipates having a sale on select items to reduce inventory.

It’ll be great. It’s been needed for a long time,” LaVigne said.

On Feb. 14, the Grand Marais City Council approved the lease with the Beaver House. According to the lease terms, the city will take possession of the Beaver House building on Mar. 1. The lease states the city will rent the Beaver House for $4,500 a month until Dec. 31, 2024. The city has the option to rent the space on a month-to-month basis following the expiration of the lease in case the city hall/liquor store construction is delayed.

“I can’t express how excited everybody is that’s involved in this project too,” City Administrator Mike Roth said during the Feb. 14 meeting. “Thank you to everyone who’s put a lot of effort towards making this work.”

He said, “For us to be able to contribute to its long-term viability by stepping in and paying some rent and demonstrating again what a great location it is by doing a dynamite retail outfit there. It’s a win-win for sure. Tyson’s super excited about it.”

Photos from the Feb.7 liquidation sale below