Les Schwab Tires Coming to Paul Bunyan Drive, Opening Set for 2027

A 74-year-old building at 750 Paul Bunyan Drive NW has been torn down to clear the way for a new Les Schwab Tires store at the corner of Delton Avenue and Paul Bunyan Drive, with the chain targeting a 2027 opening.

Jeff Lowry, Les Schwab's North Central Region manager, confirmed the Bemidji location is part of an intentional Minnesota push. The chain operates more than 600 locations nationwide and currently has 14 in Minnesota, with the nearest to Bemidji sitting in Grand Rapids. "We've grown by around 30 stores a year," Lowry said. "We've primarily focused our growth recently in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota."

The new store will offer tires, brakes, shocks, alignments, undercar work, and oil changes. Les Schwab was founded in 1952 in Prineville, Oregon, and is headquartered in Bend, Oregon, where more than 8,500 employees work for the company.

The demolished building carries its own chapter of Bemidji history. Frank Nei constructed it in 1952 to house the 7-Up Bottling Co., which he ran with his sons Eugene and Gordy. The business later expanded the building and added Pepsi-Cola to its product line before Nei Bottling Inc. relocated to the Bemidji Industrial Park in 1990. Frank's grandsons, Jeff, Brad, Mike and Greg, now serve as principal shareholders in the company.

In recent years, the building turned over through a string of tenants, all of whom have since found new homes. The Glass Doctor moved to a newly constructed building at 675 24th St. NW; Battery Wholesale Inc. and Northern Stone shifted to 3116 Gillett Drive NW; TrueJourney Financial Advisors took space at 228 Fourth St. NW; and Tintmasters and TM Autosports relocated to 4840 Highway 89 N.

For Bemidji drivers accustomed to the roughly 90-mile trip to Grand Rapids for Les Schwab service, the new location will put a full-service tire and automotive shop directly on one of the city's most-traveled corridors.