April 25, 2024

Not only is the original Zandbroz Variety staying open, but the brothers who founded it may once again work side by side.

When Greg and Renee Danz announced on Wednesday that they will retire in June and close their 33-year-old store in Fargo, the Facebook post offered reassuring news in the second-to-last paragraph: “We are pleased to tell you that our Sioux Falls store will remain open and continue to serve Zandbrozians everywhere.”

Jeff Danz, Greg’s older brother and co-founder of the bookstore-and-much-more, confirmed that he has no interest in retiring. In fact, the Sioux Falls Zandbroz Variety will mark its 35th anniversary next month.

“My retirement plan has always been death; that’s always been my intention,” Jeff Danz said, half-seriously and half-joking.

Greg Danz has tired of shoveling snow during Fargo’s long winters, his brother said. In addition, Greg and Renee’s daughter, Josie, the store’s longtime manager, recently moved to Fredericksburg, Virginia, and another key employee now works with the South Dakota Historical Society Press.

“He’d been thinking about it quite a while, and being down two key people, he put it in motion,” Jeff Danz said.

The Danz brothers both worked for the family business, Lakeside Dairy, when they decided to open a book and stationery store with other products on Phillips Avenue in downtown Sioux Falls. In the 1980s, the business district was struggling. The Danz brothers’ decision to open a storefront when so many were empty played a pivotal role in turning around downtown’s fortunes.

“I was just remembering how much we were able to do prior to Amazon and Barnes & Noble,” Jeff Danz said. “In 1989, none of that existed. I was thinking about how different downtown was and the bookstore business. We were smart enough to do more than books, or we probably wouldn’t be there. It surprises me how much things have changed.”

The first year, however, the Danz brothers worked together at the store, which included a soda fountain, while keeping their day jobs so they knew they’d have a paycheck coming in. When their father sold Lakeside Dairy, the proceeds went into a family trust, and he offered to help his sons expand.

The brothers considered opening a store in Rapid City, at Lake Okoboji or in the Omaha Warehouse District. They chose Fargo because Greg and Renee Danz owned a cabin at nearby Battle Lake, and the brothers had attended Moorhead State across the Red River in Minnesota.

The Sioux Falls Zandbroz offers 6,000 square feet, with the Fargo store 2,000 square feet larger. Greg Danz, who is enthusiastic about books and promoting authors, has filled his extra space with shelves of books, his brother said.

“They have two times as much book inventory as we do,” Jeff Danz said. “It’s a testament to Greg’s passion for books and his relationship with authors.”

“We have hosted countless authors, musicians and community events because we believed in the writing, the music and the efforts,” Greg Danz wrote. “We are proud to have given shelf space and provided a stage for many fine local and regional authors like Bill Holm, Jim Heynen, Adrian Louis, Mark Vinz, Amy Thielen and Kimberly Diede. We were delighted to bring luminaries such as Louise Erdrich, James Welch, Dave Eggers, Susan Power, Leif and Lin Enger, and many more to Fargo.”

The Danz brothers work closely as they operate the two stores, with daily phone calls between them. Jeff Danz has been responsible for bookkeeping and payroll for both stores. With the Fargo store’s closure, he will have more time to devote to his own interests.

“That will take a lot off the table,” he said. “That’s only dawned on me recently.”

The Sioux Falls Zandbroz has a backroom filled with collectibles. Jeff Danz plans to spend more time collecting items and make more art. In college, he was a sculpture major and a painting minor.

Zandbroz Variety has always featured items that couldn’t be found elsewhere, and both stores pioneered products that today are viewed as routine. Greg Danz pointed out that the Fargo store was the first in its city to offer cappuccino drinks and other coffees.

“Zandbroz has been lucky to grow and blossom alongside many of the brands we carry – some of which we’ve incorporated into the store since our first years in business – and we’ve been honored to partner with and showcase new brands and products along the way,” Greg Danz wrote on Facebook. “We’ve always been faithful to our character and essence, but the brands and products we’ve incorporated allowed us to showcase our style and personalities. We’ve loved sharing who we are and what we believe in with all of you.”

That won’t change in Sioux Falls, Jeff Danz said. His brother will still be involved with the Sioux Falls Zandbroz, and, he said, “It would be nice to work together again.”

The renaissance of downtown Sioux Falls has been a boon to Zandbroz, Jeff Danz said. Even the downturn caused by the pandemic had its positives — it allowed Zandbroz to develop relationships with the small entrepreneurial companies that were started, particularly in stationery and body care.

“In the last five years, our business is up substantially,” Jeff Danz said. “We’ve been able to carry a much broader inventory, where before we sometimes had to be more cautious than we liked.”

After 35 years in business, Zandbroz Variety now is welcoming third-generation customers, he said.

Greg Danz spoke for both brothers when he shared how he feels about Zandbroz Variety in his Facebook post.

“Zandbroz is our identity, a reflection of our family and a testament to all we believe in and stand for. We are incredibly proud of what we have accomplished and all that we have had the opportunity to share with our community for the past three and a half decades,” he wrote. “Our aim’s always been to be more than just a store; our goal has been to pique curiosity, tickle the senses, entertain, enchant, delight and allow you to see things differently. Mainly, we strove to bring joy and beauty to this community.”