With spring in full swing, businesses in the Downtown area of Waverly east of the still-closed Bremer Avenue bridge are getting ready for a hoped for exciting few months before the main artery in town reopens in early September.
On Thursday, April 3, shoppers descended on the East Bremer Avenue corridor to check out new shops, visit long-tenured staple businesses and spend money at local businesses working hard to thrive despite the bridge closure.
For Allison resident Mike Ball, the closure of the bridge was not going to stop him from shopping at one of his favorite businesses – Tenenbaum’s Jewelry store.
“I have to pick up some stuff from Tenenbaum’s. I’ve been coming here for years. No bridge is going to stop me from getting to Tenenbaum’s,” Ball said. “It is not hard (to get downtown). With the new road by the athletics complex (Cedar River Parkway), you can get right on that and come into downtown. For me, it is almost quicker because there are not as many traffic lights.”
Ball said he and members of his family have for many years visited downtown Waverly for shopping, dining and even to catch the latest flick on the big screen.
“We’ve come downtown (a lot), and we used to go to the movie theater all the time,” Ball added about the allure of downtown Waverly. “Things have changed, but we still come downtown quite often.”
Kelly Terrill, of Waverly, was downtown shopping with her mother, Sherry Loughran, of Manning.
Loughran said she was in Waverly visiting her daughter and her family, and the mom-daughter duo decided to go downtown for some quality time together. The pair purchased several candles from newly opened store The Prairie Bee.
“I decided to kidnap (Kelly) for a couple of hours to come down here and shop, because Love and Lace is one of our favorite stores to go to,” Loughran said. “Now, we’re just browsing along through the downtown to see what we can find.”
Terrill said the bridge closure hasn’t hampered her efforts to come downtown, noting that the “detours are really easy.”
“The one (detour) around the river (Cedar Drive) is a nice pretty drive, especially when the spring starts to hit with nice weather,” Terrill explained.
“There are lots of really fun, unique stores down here, and it is kind of fun to browse through them and find out what they are offering,” Terrill said. “Frederick’s (Sip N Eats) is always good, we like to go there, and stopping down to the Pour House for a drink.”
Businesses ready for summer customer crush
Aside from a good amount of shoppers, some businesses – like the new antiques store The Prairie Bee – were getting a fresh coat of paint. At others, like eatery and food store The Wild Carrot, staff were doing what they usually do: serving customers with a smile.
Candice Warby, owner of Whimsical Twist Painting, was carefully and creatively painting a pastoral scene on the front window of The Prairie Bee as shoppers entered the new store to browse pottery and other goods and nibble on courtesy snacks.
Warby, who lives in Cedar Falls, said she regularly is hired by business owners in downtown Waverly to paint windows, walls or do other artwork. She has previously done art for Essence Aesthetics, the Waverly Chamber of Commerce and others.
“I paint up here quite a bit. In the past, I’ve painted for Wild Carrot, I’ve painted at the chamber. I keep the chalkboard fresh at the Rack ‘Em Up (Apparel Company),” Warby said. “I love Waverly. Lots of good support up here.”
Like others who were around the downtown corridor on a sunny Thursday afternoon in early April, Warby said getting around the closed Bremer Avenue Bridge is easier than most realize.
“Getting here…it is one turn that is different and it takes one extra minute. The stores here in downtown are absolutely worth spending time in,” she added. “I love Wild Carrot, and I love coming to hang out there. But, just the variety of stores here is super impressive.”
Warby said business owners in the downtown area employ her for touching up their storefront or interiors, and mainly are looking for seasonal scenes to be painted.
“Right now, we’re doing lots of spring flowers. As seasons change, we’ll do summer scenes and bring in the fall leaves,” she added.
Inside one of the newest businesses in downtown – The Prairie Bee – owner Jan Kaste was chatting with pottery enthusiast customer Tom Singewald, who was admiring work by a renowned Minnesota pottery guru that Kaste happened to have in stock.
“(Business) has been going great. People have figured out the detours and have been coming in in a steady manner and checking out the store,” she said. “We are always getting in new product. Whimsical Twist is now doing some painting on the front window to give a freshness to the store.”
Singewald said two of his sons are potters and he was thankful to have a new antique store in downtown Waverly that has a large offering of pottery from well-known regional ceramic artists.
Tenenbaum’s Jewelry owner Ryan Rasmussen said he has been thankful for the role of the Waverly Chamber of Commerce in promoting the downtown corridor during the bridge closure with a variety of events and contests to engage shoppers.
Rasmussen also said business has been “pretty good” in the more than seven months the bridge connecting the east and west sides of Waverly has been closed.
“Really, I haven’t seen much of a downtick in business. I think because there are so few jewelry stores out there, when people have a jewelry need, they make a point to come see us,” he explained. “Honestly, from our perspective, things have been pretty decent. I wish we had a little bit more traffic out front just from an activities standpoint. But overall, I’d say business has been fine.
With the chamber’s spring time “Ladies Night Out Retail Event” slated for Thursday, April 10, and the annual “Waverly’s Art Walk” and the “Spring Retail Open House” both set for Saturday, May 3, Rasmussen said he hopes to see more people downtown in the coming months.
“We definitely want to see things pick up down here. I know other businesses that have a little bit different product line than us, they’re maybe hurting a little bit more because (of the bridge closure),” he added.
“It is important that (the Chamber of Commerce) is out there. They are promoting the downtown, there are periodic promotions and things out there for customers to get excited about,” Rasmussen said. “They do a really good job, and we have great support. Honestly, our community has also been a great supporter as well. It seems like they come out more for these events. Maybe even more so because they know the situation down here.”
Rasmussen said one thing he loves about Waverly’s downtown is the “great variety of shops.”
“You have great restaurants. You have some really great small businesses that have been around a long time,” he explained. “And honestly, getting over here is really easy. Once you where you are going, it doesn’t take that much longer to get here. It is just a matter of committing to get down here, and you will get the same service you always have.”
Food options abound
Aside from shopping, downtown Waverly has numerous restaurants and bars for locals and visitors to hit up for their gobble and guzzle urges. To celebrate those eateries and watering holes, the Waverly Chamber of Commerce is promoting Waverly Restaurant Week, which runs from April 4 through April 14.
Hosting establishments for the 10-day culinary celebration of Waverly include the Bremer Brewing Company, Sasquatch Jacks, Grumpy’s Roadhouse and Frederick’s Sip N Eats. Other downtown food options include the Wild Carrot, the Pour House, The Wooden Foot Saloon, Asian Garden and The Mixing Bowl and others.
Wild Carrot is one of those food-focused businesses , and owner Toni Fisher said business has been good but noted she is excited about the bridge reopening later this year.
“We are all still here. We are still here to serve the public. That is why most of us (downtown) have our businesses,” Fisher said. “We are just here for the community. We do soups and sandwiches, as well as exotic desserts. We have Love and Lace down here. We have Crawdaddy (Outdoors)…that is awesome having someone like them downtown. We really have a lot of nice businesses. You don’t have to go away from Waverly to do things.”
Fisher said she understands the need to repair and reconstruct the Bremer Avenue Bridge, and she hopes that shoppers and diners will come to the downtown in the coming months before the bridge reopens.
“It is just part of doing business. The bridge had to be redone,” she said. “Yes, it has been a challenge."
The ongoing promotional events coordinated and planned by the Waverly Chamber of Commerce have been a welcome assistance effort, she added.
“We’ll have ladies night (on April 10). In May, it’ll be the Art Walk, and things will start picking up. We need to get that bridge done.”
At local bakery The Mixing Bowl, owner Terri Meister said morning-time business has been a bit slower since the bridge closure, but she noted that otherwise, sales are good and she is continuing to bake fresh breads, doughnuts and other treats.
Business is so solid, Meister recently hired a new cake decorator for her staff – K’Lyn Waison. Both women were busy making assorted treats on Thursday afternoon, and gifted this reporter three doughnut holes as proof of their good work.
“We make everything from scratch here. We have no preservatives in our breads. We custom make cakes. We have every kind of pie you’d like,” she said of the bakery’s offerings.
Meister said the bridge closure has “made things different,” but she noted the key is to preserve and adapt to the closure.
“We still have some business, but it is mostly in the afternoon now. A lot of times you don’t have a customer til after 9 a.m., and we open at 8 a.m.,” she added. “The famous saying every has is, ‘I finally made it to this (east) side of town, so I thought I’d stop.’ If we haven’t seen (a regular customer) for a while, it is always, ‘Well, we couldn’t get around the detour.’”
“I would say it is not that hard to get around the detour,” Meister explained. “The chamber has been very supportive, and they’ve had a lot of great ideas.”
According to officials from the City of Waverly, the Bremer Avenue Bridge is expected to reopen by the Labor Day weekend in early September.
Until then, said Chelsea Petersen, executive director of the Waverly Chamber of Commerce, she and others at the chamber will do all they can to support local downtown businesses.
Petersen said in an email that the chamber has two messages for residents and visitors: “Support Downtown Waverly – We’re Open for You!,” and “Shop local. Shop Waverly first!”
“The Bremer Avenue Bridge construction has been ongoing since August 2024, and while we’re excited for its grand reopening in September 2025, we know it’s been a challenge for our downtown businesses,” Petersen stated in an email. “But here’s the good news — Waverly is still open, accessible, and full of fun events.”
Among those events are the Ladies Night Out, this Thursday, April 10, when attendees can “Visit 18 participating businesses for great shopping, gifts, and treats—perfect for Easter baskets and graduation gifts,” she noted.
And, although it has already started, Petersen said Waverly Restaurant Week continues through April 14.
“Enjoy signature dishes and special discounts at our amazing local restaurants. It’s the perfect excuse to dine out and support our eateries,” Petersen explained. “As the weather warms up, remember that getting downtown is easy — just follow the marked detours or park at Kohlmann Park and walk over the pedestrian bridge. Let’s keep Waverly’s heart beating strong by shopping, dining, and enjoying our local businesses.”