Downtown Minot has always known how to do Christmas.
Long before glowing screens and online carts, this stretch of the city was the place where the season came alive. Where errands turned into experiences and shopping felt like celebration. It was where you ran into your neighbors, friends, and business acquaintances during the hustle and bustle of the season, but still took the time to catch up. Downtown Minot has long been a hub of holiday spirit so let’s take a little trip down memory lane.
In December of 1965, Downtown Minot proudly called itself “the heart of the area’s largest and most complete shopping district,” home to nearly 700 businesses offering what they promised was the perfect trifecta: variety, service, and price. Their motto said it all, “If it’s in town, it’s downtown.” With all these benefits, Christmas shopping wasn’t a chore, it was a pleasure.
You can almost hear the jingle of the doorbells and feel the cold air brushing past wool coats as shoppers moved from store to store. At S&L Department Store in the early 1960s, practical met festive with fleece-lined snow boots for under four dollars, stylish leather boots for less than nine, mohair sweaters for $12.95, and holiday dresses ready for Christmas Eve dinners and church services. Just down the street, The Jupiter Store tempted families with bicycles for under thirty dollars, board games like Sorry and Monopoly, aluminum Christmas trees, rolls of wrapping paper, and cans of mixed nuts. Nearly everything you needed to make Christmas morning feel full and bright.
But the magic of Christmas downtown didn’t start in the 1960s. It goes all the way back to 1886, when Minot itself was barely more than a beginning. With no churches yet built and only a handful of established congregations, the town gathered on the corner of what is now Main Street and Central Avenue. That’s where Minot’s first Christmas tree stood, decorated with care and hope. Gifts were hung from its branches, and every person, every single one, left with at least a bag of candy. It was messy and imperfect and exactly what a community looks like at the start.
Fast forward to present time and now, when I stand in my shop downtown and talk with people searching for Christmas gifts, the goals remain the same: something meaningful, something nostalgic and something that feels just right, I feel that same thread pulling through time. The prices have changed. The storefronts have evolved. Gone are the days of S&L Department Store, JCPenney, Sears, Woolworths, and Jupiter. But the heart? The heart is still here.
Now we find locally owned antique shops, specialty stores, coffee stops, restaurants, art studios, jewelry stores, boutiques, and more right in the heart of our community. These businesses are the heartbeat of the holiday season and keep the magic of this slice of our city going strong and provide shoppers a unique experience that feels like a moment of nostalgia at every stop.
Recently, I visited with a lady who moved to Minot just a few weeks back and was looking for special gifts to send back home and to family around the country. She loved the opportunity to shop local and was enjoying the chance to make Minot feel just a little more like home. I also helped a long time customer finish up her holiday shopping with a handful of hand picked gifts for some tough to shop for people on her list. These are just a few of the opportunities I have to create community. It feels magical to know that we are a part of the history of our downtown and are able to keep the spirit of the holiday alive one shopping experience at a time.
As I spend time shopping with my downtown neighbors, I love that each shop offers a different experience, but with a sense of comradery. It is a spirit of unity that allows the downtown core to thrive through the decades.
The magic of Downtown Minot at Christmas has never been about things alone. It’s about warmth in the cold, conversation at the counter, stories shared while browsing, and traditions quietly carried forward. Every December, downtown reminds us that Christmas isn’t just something we buy, it’s something we keep alive, together.
