Busch Block
Busch Block in 1954
Built: 1883
Architectural Style: Late-19th Century Commercial Style
Architect/Builder: Friedrich Busch & William Busch
Currently: Heimie’s Haberdashery
The Busch Block, completed in 1883, is a fine looking building, especially with the ornate limestone adorning the upper floor windows.
But as good as the building looks, it is more known for how it made the people of Red Wing look. For almost all of the building’s 150-plus years men’s clothing stores have filled its storefront.
Alfred Josephson started his clothing store in 1878, but didn’t settle in this location until 1901. Josephson’s, as the store was called, was owned by three generations of the family for 114 years. In those 114 years, the family only ever used a hand-powered cash register and never accepted credit card payments, relying exclusively on cash and checks.
In 1992, 101 years after Josephson’s moved into the building, the family sold it to Tom and Denise Withers, who kept the name and ran it for 30 more years. Though the new owners began accepting credit cards, the Star Tribune reported in 2008 that they were still writing receipts on forms purchased in the 1940s. Those receipts were around for 60 years because a clerical error led to a delivery of 50,000 forms instead of the 5,000 they had ordered. The forms are so old, in fact, that they list the business’s phone number simply as 11.
In 2023, Tom and Denise Withers sold the business to St. Paul’s Heimie’s Haberdashery, a business with a 100-year history of its own. So the name has changed, but the legacy of quality men’s clothing remains.
While the success of the clothing stores means the Bush Block has never had to house other businesses, it did serve a dual purpose. Both Elliot and Tom Josephson, the second and third generation owners, respectively, were scout masters for local Boy Scout troops. The long basement of the building served as an archery range, so their scouts could earn their merit badges.
Of course, all those years are just one way to measure the history of the Busch Block. What those dates don’t tell you is the innumerable weddings, proms, and job interviews that Josephson’s, and now Heimie’s, have furnished for nearly 150 years.
