Westside Liquor Owner, Philanthropist Bob Feuling Has Died

(KNSI) – The family of Westside Liquor founder and owner Bob Feuling says he died Monday morning.

According to his son, Rick, his dad was a farm kid who went to work for General Motors and saved enough money to have a farm of his own. Early in his farming career, he had such a stellar reputation when turning struggling farms around a banker approached him to buy another farmer’s herd. Feuling secured a loan for that farm, but the cows were diseased, and he lost them. Rick says instead of calling it quits, his father “worked his way out of the hole” and carried on, selling milking equipment through the 1970s, essentially automating dairy farming for countless farmers.

According to the Westside Liquor website, Bob Feuling bought West Side Bar in Little Falls in 1979 and opened a small liquor store, which Rick estimates was “about the size of a closet.” A few years later, business was booming, so Bob and his new bride Linda bought a vacant grocery store nearby and opened a new 6,500 square foot store. The bar business had also taken off, and the Feulings bought Paul’s Bar in Little Falls, the Hitchin’ Post in St. Cloud, and the Blue Ox in Brainerd.

In 1991, they rented a portion of what is now their store in Waite Park, only to quickly learn they would need to expand, so they bought the whole place in 1993. Other locations in Sauk Centre and on the east side of St. Cloud opened in 1998. According to their website, from 2001 to 2006, the Feulings opened Westside Liquor stores in Willmar, Albertville, Sartell, and Baxter. Today, the Westside Liquor family is going strong in Albertville, Baxter, Little Falls, Rice, St. Cloud, Sartell, Sauk Centre, and Waite Park.

The Feulings are also quiet philanthropists giving to help build the Birth Center at CentraCare Health – St. Cloud Hospital, donating to support Holly Ball, the YMCA Promenade, Boy Scouts of America, and the Lions Club. Rick says his father tried hard to focus on supporting things that were good for families and good for the environment. While Rick says his dad was not a big hunter himself, he supported Ducks Unlimited, and Pheasants Forever because those organizations encouraged families to spend time together.

Bob was also heavily involved with the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association and was named its Board Member of the Year in 2014. The Feulings also own MacKenzie’s Boutique, West Side Learning and Event Center, and The Pantry, all in Sartell.

As much as Bob was known for owning and operating successful liquor stores, he was also known to many as a man who loved and cared for the people around him, his employees, and their families, treating them like family, too. Rick says through his whole life, he lost count of the people who told him they saw Bob as a second father to them. Rick says his dad had a deep faith in people and truly cared. He added anyone who showed up on the doorstep and asked for help; his dad was glad to give it.

Bob Feuling was 86.

Funeral arrangements are pending.
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