at the store at age 12, cleaning and stocking shelves.
Jake Spitzack
Staff Writer
For more than 50 years, people have visited the green-bannered building at 601 Marie Ave. to peruse the racks of fashionable threads or get a special outfit tailored just right, but that will soon come to an end. B & G Crossing owner Dave Gerkovich, 71, recently announced that he will close the business in early January and sell the building. Everything is on sale until he locks the door for the final time.
“It’ll be sad to see it close, but I’ve been thinking about it for quite a while,” said Gerkovich. “I want to spend more time with my wife and traveling…. I’ve been getting a lot of cards and flowers, and people stopping by to congratulate me on my retirement.”
Gerkovich isn’t selling the store because he wants a clean break when he walks away, and several people have already inquired about purchasing the building. The building itself has always been in his family. His father’s uncle, Kiki Gerkovich, built it 90 years ago and operated Marie Avenue Grocery there until handing it down to Gerkovich’s father, who changed the name to Marie Avenue Dry Goods and began selling fabric, patterns and clothing. During World War II and at the height of the Stockyards era, many workers and their families shopped at the store for uniforms and other supplies.
Dave started working at the store at age 12, cleaning and stocking shelves. The name was changed to B & G Crossing when his brother-in-law John Blaisdell joined the business. In 1976 Dave bought him out and assumed full ownership. Gerkovich has since refined the focus to men’s and women’s clothing, and tailoring outfits for weddings, proms and other events. He’s always had around a half-dozen employees, some of whom are also seasoned sewers, and they’ve worked hard to help everyone look their best, he said. Dave and wife Kasey were both born and raised in South St. Paul, and they have one daughter. Kasey spent her career with the state legislature until retiring a few years ago but has always lent a hand at the shop when needed. They fostered their deep relationship with the community by participating in the Kaposia Days parade and other community events, as well as promotions within the business community. For example, in the late 1980s, Gerkovich and fellow retailer Jerry Shultz – former owner of Schultz’s Shoes located down the block from B & G – began holding sidewalk sales outside their storefronts one weekend each summer. The sales caught on with other nearby businesses and the trend continued for about 20 years.
It’s no surprise that the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on independent businesses that were forced to close while corporate stores such as Target and Walmart stayed open. Gerkovich said the store lost a whole season of sales and that buying patterns haven’t been the same since. The main reason he’s kept the store open in recent years is because he enjoys connecting with all the people that come through the doors. He said he’s always tried to go the extra mile to take care of his customers and fill a need, and that he’ll miss seeing them. The next few weeks will be busy as he sells off his inventory and says goodbye to his many loyal customers. Come January, he will set his sights on retirement, a well-earned achievement for one of the city’s longest-standing retailers.