The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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December 18, 2009

Brett's building celebrated (4+)

Former employees recall the old days

By Brian Ojanpa

For a centenarian plus 20, she looks pretty good.

The Brett�s building in downtown Mankato celebrated its 120th birthday with an open house Thursday, and though it bears little resemblance to its halcyon days as Mankato�s finest department store, attendees had no trouble waxing nostalgic.

There was Karen Slipy, who once worked in Brett�s beauty salon, trying to orient herself as she toured the renovated building.

Mankatoan Kris Howard Connors also was on hand, recalling her employment stints at Brett�s in the 1960s and again in the 1980s, when she was a buyer for the store.

�We always thought of Brett�s as a mini-Daytons,� Connors said of townspeople�s perception of the store as a downstate version of the vaunted Twin Cities retailer.

Connors had just come off an elevator from the building�s fourth floor that, like other areas of the building, has modernized while retaining a generous amount of original decor such as tin ceilings, slat floors and brick walls.

The Brett�s building was built in 1890, when George E. Brett moved operations from his Empire store a block away to the corner of Front and Jackson streets.

The building contained four floors of merchandise, including a basement restaurant, and for decades served as a vanguard southern Minnesota department store.

Its reign ended in 1992 with the arrival of River Hills Mall, and for more than 10 years the building sat vacant.

Restoration of the property began in 2003, and the building now is 90 percent occupied by varied local businesses ranging from a hair salon/art gallery to engineering, architectural and management firms.

Building developer Gordon Awsumb said the yeoman work of restoring the structure was mitigated by the care its former owners gave it.

�Structurally, it�s a good building. It wasn�t like something from 1890 that was just a wreck. The Brett family really kept it up very well,� Awsumb said.

On Thursday he met plenty of people who recalled Brett�s in its heyday, including those who spent much of their lives there.

�One lady who worked here 25 years came back today and she was crying,� Awsumb said.

Former Brett�s employee Connors understands that type of emotional response.

She recalls when, as a buyer for Brett�s, she was toying with the idea of attending a fashion merchandising school in New York until a business-savvy acquaintance dissuaded her.

�They said, �If you work at Brett�s, that�s as good as going to school.��

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