The newest photo of the Nisswa Post Office was taken Oct. 7, and it doesn't show Main Street. It shows a building on Smiley Road, south of downtown, where the post office opened this summer. That happened more than two years after the U.S. Postal Service picked the site, according to the Pine and Lakes Echo Journal.
The move is the clearest sign of a bigger change in how Nisswa works. In one season, the practical stops of an ordinary week have gathered around a single parking lot on Smiley Road. Meanwhile, the downtown building the post office left is being rebuilt for food, drinks and a rooftop view.
The Post Office Left Because It Ran Out of Room
Nobody pushed the post office off Main Street. Back in February 2024, the Postal Service said the Main Street building had a space deficiency and that it needed a larger facility, as the Echo Journal reported at the time.
By July 2024 the Postal Service had settled on 24314 Smiley Road. Another location came up along the way that shows where things were already heading. The Echo Journal noted that one option was space in a new building Schaefer's Foods planned next to the Spirits of Nisswa municipal liquor store. The post office ended up at its own Smiley Road site. Schaefer's building went up anyway and filled with the kinds of stops that used to mean a separate trip.
One Parking Lot, Most of the Week's Errands
In October 2025, Schaefer's Foods co-president Andy Schaefer told the Echo Journal that a 15,488-square-foot retail center was going up at the southern edge of the grocery store's parking lot. He said it was due to open by June 1, 2026, and that Cuyuna Regional Medical Center had signed on for a same-day clinic offering care for all ages. Spirits of Nisswa anchors one side of the block, and Schaefer has been working with the city on a possible expansion of the liquor store.
A year later, the tenants have names and addresses.
| Errand | Where it is now | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Groceries | Schaefer's Foods | Open |
| Mail and P.O. boxes | Nisswa Post Office, 24314 Smiley Road | Opened summer 2026 |
| Shipping, shredding, copies, faxing | Schaefer's Package & Parcel, across the lot from Schaefer's Foods | Ribbon cutting held Oct. 12 |
| Same-day medical care | CRMC Nisswa Clinic, 23930 Smiley Road, Suite 400 | Ribbon cutting Nov. 10 |
| Cards and toys | T.A.L.K. Cards and Toys, 23930 Smiley Road, Suite 515 | Listed in the Nisswa Chamber directory |
| Liquor | Spirits of Nisswa | Open, anchoring the block |
Schaefer's Package & Parcel takes UPS, FedEx and SpeeDee shipments and also handles document shredding, copying and faxing, according to the Echo Journal's Oct. 17 Business Bites. Put that next to the post office a short drive up the road, and almost anything that comes in or goes out of a Nisswa household can be handled in one stop.
The clinic is the last big piece. The Nisswa Chamber of Commerce is hosting a ribbon cutting for the CRMC Nisswa Clinic from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, with tours and refreshments afterward. RSVPs aren't required, but the chamber appreciates them.
The T.A.L.K. Cards and Toys listing comes from a chamber directory page dated earlier this year, so it's worth calling before making a special trip.
What Main Street Does With the Space
The other half of the story is on Main Street. The empty post office building there is attached to Main Street Ale House, and it's getting a new use. The Echo Journal reported Oct. 24 that Postal Pizza & Tacos is scheduled to open there in spring 2027. The paper quoted the Dough Bros Woodfire Facebook announcement:
"A new look and new concept will be coming to downtown Nisswa at the old post office location attached to Main Street Ale House. Construction will begin this fall with estimated completion in spring 2027."
The owners already know downtown Nisswa well. Mike and Chris Foy own Dough Bros and Main Street Ale House, as well as Ernie's on Gull. According to the same announcement, the new restaurant will have wood-fired pizza, authentic tacos, a full bar and a rooftop patio.
The change also affects Baxter. Dough Bros Woodfire Kitchen closes its Baxter location Nov. 7 after six years, and Dough Bros gift cards will be accepted at the new Nisswa restaurant. If you have a balance on one of those cards, you can hold onto it. It will still be good when Postal Pizza & Tacos opens next spring.
On a summer evening, a rooftop patio on Main Street is a very different way to use a building whose whole job used to be running the town's mail.
The Streets in Between Stay Unfinished Until Spring
The two halves of town are connected by local roads, and several of them will likely spend the winter half-finished. A change order on the Oct. 20 Nisswa City Council agenda asked to push the 2026 street project's substantial completion date from Oct. 15 to Nov. 13, and its final completion date from Nov. 30, 2026, to June 1, 2027.
The council packet gives two reasons for the delay. Easements on some roads took time to secure, and utility coordination and relocation slowed the work. It also spells out what is still open:
- Edna Lake Road, Roy Lane and Edna Lane still need their base and wearing courses. If the weather turns, the final wearing course waits until spring, and the gutter edges get temporary blacktop ramps to protect them from snowplows.
- East Roy Lake Road, Parkway Drive, Kander Court, Wooddale Road, Lendee Drive and Sumac Trail still need base course paving. Lendee Drive and Sumac Trail are the two named as possibly waiting until spring.
- Ditches and graded slopes get temporary seeding or mulch before the winter shutdown, with the rest of the turf work finished next spring.
The contractor, Anderson Brothers Construction Company of Brainerd, is keeping its unit prices for work finished in 2027, and the packet lists no budget impact. The packet is the request as it went to the council. The approved minutes will show the final action.
A separate item in the same packet came from the Edna Fawn Lake Association. It asked the council to consider lowering the speed limit on Edna Lake Road from 30 to 25 mph, citing hills, limited sight lines, walkers and bikers. For now, that is a request, not a decision.
The 2027 Plan Redraws How Traffic Reaches Downtown
The next road project goes right to the heart of downtown. The city's 2027 road bond page describes the current design direction. It includes a conventional intersection at Main Street and City Hall Street, a traffic circle at Church Street and Lakers Lane, and new sidewalks on Church Street. Streetscape planning is still underway.
Taken together, the two halves of this fall's story make sense. Errands now sit beside one big parking lot on Smiley Road. Downtown is getting a rooftop restaurant, and its streets are being redesigned with sidewalks and a traffic circle. The town is building Main Street around people on foot.
A public information meeting on the 2027 project is set for Nov. 10, the same day as the clinic ribbon cutting. The council packet's meeting calendar lists it at 6 p.m., while the public works report lists a 5 p.m. meeting at City Hall. City Hall is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Fridays from 8 a.m. to noon, so you can call ahead and confirm the time.
November at Both Ends of Town
The next month puts dates on both halves of the new layout:
- Saturday, Nov. 7. Dough Bros Woodfire Kitchen's last day in Baxter. Gift cards carry over to Postal Pizza & Tacos.
- Tuesday, Nov. 10, noon to 2 p.m. CRMC Nisswa Clinic ribbon cutting and tours at 23930 Smiley Road, Suite 400.
- Tuesday, Nov. 10, evening. The 2027 road project public information meeting. Confirm the start time with City Hall.
- Friday, Nov. 13. The requested substantial completion date for this year's paving.
- Friday, Nov. 27. City of Lights at 25532 Main Street.
City of Lights is free. The Nisswa Chamber lists train rides, Polar Express storytelling, food vendors, bonfires, carolers and fireworks. In its report to the council this month, the city-owned Pickle Factory said it planned an outdoor bar at the event serving hot chocolate and cider. That evening, the crowd will gather on the same Main Street where the old post office is being turned into a restaurant.
The post office's move, the clinic opening, the unfinished paving on Edna Lake Road and the Church Street sidewalks all change how a specific Nisswa address works day to day. If you're wondering what Smiley Road and the 2027 downtown plan could mean for your own street, Up North Signature Properties is happy to walk through it with you. Schedule a free consultation, and we'll start with the Nisswa you know today.
