Last Call?
Been to Palmer lately? No? Well, that might be one reason The Cade, Palmer’s only bar, and one of the last businesses still open, might be closing down for good.
I say, “might be,” because, according to current owner Taylor Nellist, a sale is pending. But here’s what I know about pending sales… nothing is final until the check clears.
I hope a new owner comes through and saves The Cade, seen above, but I’m only cautiously optimistic. Not that it ever was, but owning a bar these days ain’t easy. Especially in a remote outpost like Palmer.
Times Have Changed
The old mining town has pretty much followed suit with the old mines. There are fewer miners working in the area than there were a couple decades ago, which means fewer patrons stopping by for one on their way home.
Unless a rural bar like The Cade is on a snowmobile trail, or is directly on the way to something… other than Suomi Location, it’s going to be a heavy lift.
A Family Affair
Nellist bought what was then the Cascade Bar from her family back in April of 2020. Remember April of 2020? When we weren’t leaving our houses? Needless to say, but I’ll say it anyway… that was a tough way to start.
“Having worked here for nearly 17 years, I’ve seen many changes, but the most significant was COVID-19,” Nellist says. “After the shutdown, the environment shifted; for example, our bar sport leagues have less than half the teams they had seven years ago. In response, we shifted our focus toward providing the community with great food and live music.”
And I’ll throw in, a decent place to wet your whistle and rub shoulders with some friendly locals.
Why Aren’t There More Bars?
I don’t want to discourage the Cade’s potential new owner, but owning a bar these days is more challenging than ever. Costs are going up… on labor, food, alcohol, and supplies, while the trend in alcohol consumption is changing, and for bar owners, not in a good way.
According to a report from Gallup.com, “People—particularly younger generations—are drinking less, with U.S. alcohol consumption reaching its lowest point in nearly 90 years as of late 2025.”
So, what’s behind this shift to sobriety? According to an article in Time, “Today’s younger generations are just less interested in alcohol and are more likely than older generations to see it as risky for their health.”
Oh boy, when young people abandon your product, your industry better look for ways to adapt. “Fortunately, there are many great options that people still want,” a local bar owner tells me. “There are so many excellent N/A beers now, and mocktails galore. People want low ABV [alcohol by volume] percentage or even N/A beers so they can enjoy being social for longer and without the headache in the morning.”
Option Management
Another contributing factor in the turn away from alcohol is the legalization of marijuana. In Michigan, and almost half of all U.S. states, recreational use is no longer against the law. Attend any social event these days and it won’t take you long to spot a vaper, or smell the smoke on your way in.
And what about that “being social” part? It’s still an important aspect of the bar experience, but for far less people. According to a report from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “The amount of time people spent with friends in-person decreased from 30 hours a month in 2003 to 10 hours a month in 2020.” And at least a few of those hours were spent in bars.
We’ll keep an eye on the situation at the Cade to see if that pending sale becomes a reality. I hope it does. There needs to be a meeting place in Palmer.
You’ve Got Mail
Maybe that should be a question. Did you get mail? Recent delivery patterns have been erratic, to say the least.
As a subscriber to the Mining Journal… still, I know when my carrier has been here, or hasn’t. Other than regular correspondence from AARP, I may not get anything but the paper, and when it’s not in my mailbox, I know something’s wrong.
If mail delivery in January was spotty, I’m not surprised. In fact, I’m more surprised it showed up at all. I had a hard time just getting to my mailbox, so I understand how my carrier might be a little later than normal.
Essential Personnel
There aren’t many professions that require employees to work in bad weather like the postal service does, and our recent depths and temps provided the ultimate test. If I couldn’t get my car out of the driveway, I wasn’t going anywhere. Walk? Are you kidding me?
And just when some started to question the need for daily delivery, Amazon, from what I was told, failed to agree to a deal with UPS so delivery shifted from brown to blue. Now, in addition to all the usual cards and letters, the direct mail you don’t look at, and the Mining Journal, your carrier is delivering all that stuff you didn’t buy locally!
In case you missed it, Wednesday was National Thank A Mail Carrier Day. Words are nice, and you can surely thank your carrier any day, regardless of its official designation, but here’s an even better way to thank them… make sure your mailbox is free of snow and ice and easily accessible. The job is already tough enough, we don’t need to make it any more difficult.
“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”
Whoever came up with that probably never lived through a U.P. winter.
Word on the Weekend
Speaking of closed bars, the former Vera Bar, on the second floor of the 906 Sports Bar building downtown, is coming to life tomorrow with a Valentine’s Indoor Market. The idea is to highlight crafts and foods, and have some warm fun. Nothing wrong with that. Tomorrow… 11 to 3.
And the annual Heikki Lunta Winter Festival is this weekend in Negaunee. Plenty of stuff going on, including the events of the Meijer State Games of Michigan. Heikki Lunta is all about snow, and whether there’s not enough, or too much, there’s going to be a festival.