Often times a tragic event can alter the lives of people forever, both positive and negative.

When Rosemary Domeier died at 2 1/2 years old in 1932, her mother Agatha was devastated and she didn’t know what to do. Because times were tough financially, her husband Emil, who toured with his band and was often on the road, decided to help Agatha pass the tough times by building her a small grocery store out of the family’s single stall garage.

This small grocery store, which kept Agatha busy for many years, became what is now Domeier’s German Store, one of New Ulm’s most famous shops. Agatha ran the store along with her children, Bernice, Kathryn and Marlene, who runs the store now.

The store is now famous for its German gifts, foods, candies and pretty much anything else related to the country. It’s located at 1020 South Minnesota Street and even though the hours are limited now, it still remains a popular tourist destination 81 years after opening.

A new store in town

Domeier’s store opened on July 18, 1934. It was the size of a single-stall garage and it had a gas pump in the font. The store itself grew a couple times, expanding in both 1948 and in 1955. It was located on Minnesota Street, a gravel road which was at the time Minnesota Highway 15, leading to Iowa. The store drew customers from all over New Ulm, including customers from as far away as the current Kraft Cheese Plant. Many customers would trade eggs for flour or berries for sugar. Men would also walk two miles or more for chewing tobacco.

Domeier’s served as a corner grocery store for many years and it was one of several in New Ulm at that time. Huge chunks of ice cut from the Minnesota River were delivered to the store to serve as refrigeration even into the late 1940s. Bread was delivered from Eibner’s Bakery and Tillman’s Bakery and milk was delivered from Dannheim’s New Ulm Dairy and later by Oak Grove Dairy. Fresh hamburger and sausages were delivered by Schnobrich’s New Ulm City Meat Market.

In the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s there were many neighborhood stores similar to Domeier’s. In the downtown area, there were stores such as Kloeckel and Penkert, Bergs Grocery, Piggly Wiggly and Red Owl. Also, larger grocery stores were not open on Sundays because of the Blue Law, even when stores such as Madsen’s and others were located in New Ulm. Therefore, smaller grocery stores such as Domeier’s benefitted from the larger stores not being open because they were allowed to be open on Sundays.

Owners of the smaller grocery stores would get home from church and get the store ready for the busy business day once church was out. It wasn’t uncommon for extra deliveries, such as milk, to be made on Sunday because of the high demand.

A good thing slowly comes to an end

The Blue Law kept the bigger chains of grocery stores from being open on Sundays until 1969 when the Minnesota Supreme Court overturned the Blue Law for grocery stores. This allowed the supermarkets to be open, meaning customers would drive past Domeier’s and to competing grocery stores on Sundays. For years, Domeier’s was open every day of the year with the exception of Christmas. But that changed after Sunday supermarket shopping and regular customers became more infrequent.

The store was owned by the Domeier family and it had no employees other than the family. The family had to take turns enjoying their holiday dinner on days such as Easter or Thanksgiving while the others in the family worked in the store.

Items such as spoiled fruits and vegetables were not thrown away, but instead the bad parts were cut off and eaten by the family. Customers also ordered in small quantities, meaning it was difficult to sell big portions of meat because money was so tight.

In the late 40s, Agatha’s daughter Kathryn and her husband Bob DeMarce ran the store for two years. After that, Bernice and her husband Donald Morris ran the store for six years while Emil and Agatha had a drive-in restaurant called Dumphy’s Drive-In on Highway 15 South. After that, they ran a small cafe on South Broadway. In 1955, Agatha and Marlene returned to the grocery store and Emil died in 1957.

A slow transition

After Emil died, Agatha, who was the storekeeper, a gardener and hobbyist, turned the store over to Marlene and this allowed Agatha to build a greenhouse. There, she grew plants and sold them in the store and she began to travel throughout the United States and took trips to Europe to visit the birthplace of her mother. Using that as inspiration, she decided that Domeier’s would start to become a German-themed store, but it didn’t happen overnight.

Over the years, more and more German items were added to the inventory. By 1969, when larger supermarkets were more and more prominent, Domeier’s was selling German foods, gifts and music items to meet the demands of the war brides from Germany. The new wives, who were first coming to America, needed the cooking supplies in order to continue cooking the meals they had made back home and were unable to get here. In this case, Domeier’s was the only place in town to get such supplies.

The store also became known for its Christmas decorations on the outside of the store. Local artist Carl Pfaender was commissioned to paint religious scenes on canvas for the store’s windows and the store won many awards for its decorations.

Meanwhile, Domeier’s was becoming more and more of a popular destination for tourists. Even mayors and dignitaries of Ulm, Germany and Bavarian Prime Minister Alfons Goppel made a visit and the store was featured in magazines and newspapers.

In 1984, “The Gift of Song,” a TV movie, was filmed at Domeier’s and the Holiday Inn. The movie was filmed during the summer and the store was completely turned around by the film crew. Despite the heat, the flower boxes outside were filled with evergreens, artificial snow covered the trees and there were piles of artificial snow on the sidewalk. Local citizens acted as extras for the movie and they were dressed in typical winter gear. The movie starred Dick Fan Patton, Neil Sedaka and The Gatlin Brothers.

Present day store

Domeier’s still has its distinct sign post on the corner, which is called a Wegweiser. A photo of it was taken by Flip Schulke, a well-known New Ulm photographer, and placed in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Marlene also helps give the store its personality. She knows all of the longtime, loyal customers and greets them by name, especially during the holiday season when they come back to New Ulm for a visit. Many longtime customers come back specifically for the candy and the memories.

Marlene also continues her radio show, “Music from Germany,” on KNUJ AM. The show, which started in 1984, runs every Sunday from 4:08-5 p.m. Domeier’s also continues to do well despite having limited hours. For shop times, call 507-354-4231.