Ingebretsen’s

Ingebretsen’s has been at the corner of 16th Ave. and East Lake Street for over 80 years. If you need a bag of Bilar Candy Cars, a Pippi Longstocking doll, the latest release from Värttina, or anything else from the Nordic realms, this is your spot. The boys and I visited while waiting for a puppet show at Heart of the Beast, and we had a grand time reading Snipp Snapp Snurr books, looking at the cookie stamps, and charming the lovely ladies with our knowledge of trains.

Ingebretsen’s seems at first to be an odd holdout from days gone by–it’s surrounded on all sides by panaderas and taco shops–but I think that its longevity on this corner speaks to the immigrant experience of a hundred years ago and today. The Scandinavians were in the great wave of immigration from 1880 to 1920, and certainly put their stamp on Minneapolis despite the protests of the Yankees who preceded them. And Ingebretsen’s new neighbors (including Taco Taxi) are making their mark on our culture as well, enriching it in ways we can’t even imagine.