Longtime downtown Fargo staple Zandbroz Variety closing in June

Zandbroz Variety — the bookstore, gift shop and more that helped rejuvenate downtown Fargo starting in 1991 — will close in June.

While a buyer could end up taking helm of the century-old Broadway building and operating a retailer there under a different name, the Danz family — Greg, Renee and daughter Josie — is ending their involvement in the iconic store.

“The last few years have been our best ever, and I’d rather go out on top while things are good than any other way,” Greg Danz said Wednesday. “We feel really good about what we’ve accomplished.”

Through the past 30 years, downtown Fargo has transformed amid an influx of housing, restaurants, boutiques and investment from North Dakota State University. When Zandbroz opened, such a future seemed an impossible dream.

“Our downtown was a bleak landscape that the city had largely ignored in pursuit of unbridled growth and commercialization (i.e., franchises and strip malls),” the family wrote in a lengthy farewell Facebook post on Wednesday. “We saw the beauty and possibilities of what a downtown should be: a conservation of beautiful old buildings, a utopia of opportunities for small independent businesses that would bring new energy and ideas and a place that celebrates diversity and encourages embracing creativity.”

Brothers Jeff and Greg Danz (hence the name Zandbroz) opened their first location in Sioux Falls, S.D., in 1989, which remains open. The Fargo store opened in the former Leeby’s grocery store and for many years included a coffee shop and eatery in the back called Dakota Soda. That later converted into a space to sell used books.

As a bookstore, Zandbroz has been known for stocking regional and lesser-known authors while offering a venue for readings and music. The store counts many regulars from the Twin Cities as well as Fargo-Moorhead.

“The first person I told from Minneapolis was [author] Louise Erdrich, she’s a good friend of the store,” Greg Danz said, though he couldn’t convince her to open a Fargo outpost of Birchbark Books to take Zandbroz’ place.

There’s no closing date set yet beyond early June, and Danz said he wants to keep the closing “short and sweet.”

As for what’s next: “Retirement does not quite describe what awaits; instead, an exploration of the unknown without the pressure or vigilance required to keep Zandbroz open and vibrant seven days a week, 360 days a year,” the family wrote on Facebook. “Josie is in Virginia, incorporating Zandbroz’s essence and Fargo’s teachings into the life she’s building and the work she’s pursuing in a new environment.

“We feel a deep attachment to and appreciation for those we affectionately refer to as Zandbrozians,” the post went on. “You have grown older with us, your children have become our customers, and we’ve shared your sorrows and joys. You have allowed us to survive and thrive and were there for us through the rise of e-readers and Amazon, floods and a pandemic. We will miss all that Zandbroz has ever been, but we’ll miss the Zandbroz community most of all.”