ELK RIVER, Minn. — A Sherburne County landmark – Kemper Drug & Gifts – shut its doors in March, but a piece of its history is forever preserved thanks to a man with a mission to hold on to Minnesota relics.
“We're kind of the anchor store downtown, if you will,” said Deborah Leedahl.
Leedahl is a pharmacist and used to own Kemper Drug.
"It's been a pharmacy downtown for more than 100 years," Leedahl said. "Many of the staff knew many of the customers on a first name basis… Unfortunately, insurance companies have started working with what we call Pharmacy Benefit Managers or PBMs and their business model is to literally pay pharmacies pennies to fill prescriptions which just isn't sustainable."
Prior to the store’s closing, Patrick Anderson reached out to Leedahl about buying the sign. Anderson is a Zimmerman resident with a love for saving Minnesota history, so they reconnected to discuss him buying the Kemper Drug sign when the store was set to close.
"I love Minnesota companies," Anderson said. "The history behind it. I love saving history. I wanted to make sure this stayed in the area."
The sign weighs around 600 pounds. It is made of steel, wrapped in porcelain and dates back to the 1940s. Anderson said it was no easy task to take it home. Anderson didn’t want to share how much he paid for the sign but noted it was a fair price and he has no interest in selling it.
"Street permits. We had to do all that. Street closures," Anderson said. "I literally was on top of the roof saying, 'Don't drop! Don't drop! Don't drop!'"
He plans to get the neon redone and display the sign in his yard in Zimmerman.
"If the city allows it, we will time it up with the streetlight at night,” Anderson said.
If that doesn’t work out, he hopes to get the sign back to Elk River to be displayed somewhere in the city. He also hopes to have some sort of museum one day to open up his collection to others.
Leedahl said she’s not sure what she’ll do for her next career. She owns the former Kemper Drug building and said she has had a lot of interest from people looking to buy the building.
And number of items from Kemper Drug are available through two online auctions. For the first auction, click here and for the second auction, click here.
"The whole experience of closing has been pretty awful," Leedahl said. "But the day that Patrick was here was really fun… It's a way for the Kemper legacy to live on through someone who is excited about it. There's a lot of people that – this corner, the water tower and the Kemper sign – that is Elk River in their mind."
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