A future place for innovators, bakers and makers to be surrounded with support.
GRAFTON, ND. On Thursday, November 6, approximately 50 resource partners and stakeholders from across the state gathered at the 532 Hill proposed business incubator in Grafton for a Partners in Progress event. The project, initially proposed in 2021, is marking a milestone as it prepares to let bids and begin construction with a completion date in Q1 2027. A new name of the building, The Reyleck, was also announced.
Marking a Milestone
“We were delighted to share that our redesign is complete and we are preparing to bid construction” said Dawn Mandt, executive director of the Red River Regional Council. The floorplan has been rightsized for our market and offers flexible uses and cost savings while keeping the vision of the project intact. The floorplan and renderings were shared at the event.
Unveiling the Name: The Reyleck
To honor the entrepreneurial spirit that has always occupied this building, Amy Suda, RRRC President and Walsh County Commissioner, unveiled the new name for the facility.
Suda went on to announce the new name of the facility – The Reyleck (pronounced “relic”) – a place where the entrepreneurial spirit will be alive and just as thriving days of the W.W. Reyleck’s Department store.
It will be a place to plant seeds of new businesses, support existing small businesses, and become our own “rural center for innovation” right here in Grafton, serving the entire region – Walsh, Pembina, Nelson, and Grand Forks Counties and beyond. A model for the state of North Dakota.
“The store was always lively, filled with a wonderful variety of merchandise and bustling with customers,” said Suda. “In retrospect, I may not have realized it then, but the experiences and sense of community I found at Reyleck’s undoubtedly helped shape my passion and determination to one day become a small business owner myself.”
In the mid-90s, Bob Reylek (having removed the “c” from the name), a grand nephew of W.W. Reyleck began researching his family’s lineage and visited Grafton. He’s traced the lineage back to the mid-1600s and found a long line of businessmen and store owners. Reylek is now 86 and living in Minneapolis and Florida.
“I had the honor of speaking to Bob Reylek last week and was able to share our thoughts on honoring the long-term impact the Reyleck family had in Grafton,” said Brenda Baumann, Project Manager for the RRRC. Reylek endorsed the use of the family name.
History of the Building
Walter Winslow Reyleck, a native of Austria, moved to Veseleyville, North Dakota — a Czechoslovakian village 16 miles southwest of Grafton in 1884. In 1887, he opened a store named “The Chicago Store” in Grafton with two partners. His wife, Josephine, was the company’s vice president. This was just three years after Grafton was incorporated as a village and Walsh County was established. This was two years before North Dakota became a state. In 1911, the store was renamed W.W. Reyleck Department Store and moved to 532 Hill in 1916. In 1927, Reyleck retired and the store was purchased by D.J. LaBarge.
Between 1946 and 1995, two prominent Grafton families – the Callahan’s and LaBarge’s were instrumental in the growth of the department store, catering to the region’s needs. The 1970s and 80s were especially vibrant and the children of Richard LaBarge and Merlyn (Murphy) Callahan joined the business until its closure in 1995. This was its 108th year of operation.
In 1996, David and Linda Lot purchased the building and relocated their True Value store from across the street following a fire. True Value was acquired in 2004 by Kerry and Carole DeMars until they relocated and expanded to include a lumber yard in 2015. In late 2022, the City of Grafton purchased the building and donated it to the Red River Regional Council for this incubator project.
Kande Callahan Koehmstedt, daughter of Murphy Callahan and former employee, and Kerry and Carole DeMars were celebrated at the event. Koehmstedt has shared one of her favorite features of the department store was a basket on an elevated pulley system that would carry money from the front of the store to the business office in the mezzanine in the rear of the building.
The project has funding commitments totaling more than $2.2 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration, Red River Regional Council, City of Grafton, Walsh County Job Development Authority, U.S. Bank Foundation, Marvin and Polar. ICON is the project architect and MBA Development is the construction manager.
For more information visit www.reddriverrc.com.
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