WINONA, Minn. – A somewhat acrobatic burglar dropped through a rooftop access panel into the old Schuler Candy factory on the West End and got away – apparently with nothing. A manager for Midwest Co-Pack, the current occupant, notified police about 4 p.m. that a cabinet had been ransacked during the night but with nothing missing. A later check of surveillance video showed a masked man on the roof – apparently up there either by climbing a ladder that he brought along or by leaping from the roof of a neighboring garage. Police actually had responded to an alarm at the building, at 1000 West Fifth Street between 9:30 and 10 the night before, but neither the manager nor police found anything amiss. The alarm was reset. Not until the afternoon was surveillance video reviewed. The tape showed a masked man dropping through the ceiling. He fled out the front door when the alarm sounded. The video showed a man in a light color T-shirt, trousers and shoes. Although masked, his eyes and mouth and also his arms led police to conclude he was Caucasian.
Mystery on West Fifth Street. What was burglar after? Cabinet jimmied open but nothing missing. Image: Steve Lunde
Paris. Mjdwest Co-Pack owner. She calls her Dora the company co-founder.
Midwest Co-Pack profile
Midwest Co-Pack, owned by Minneapolis entrepreneur Amy Paris, purchased the former candy factory at 1000 West fifth Street in 2017 to produce her line of Licks holistic vitamin gummies for pet dogs and cats. Midwest Co-Pack does contract work a certified food manufacturer, processor and packager. The plant utilizes equipment that once produced Schuler gummies for people.
Candied past
Candy has a long history in Winona, mostly for Schuler chocolates and its nationally marketed Cherry Humps before its fruity gummies came into fashion. Winona candy-making dates to 1894 when Abraham Ramer and E.F. Grade opened Winona’s candy-making plant at 62 East Second Street. In 1907 three brothers, Charles, Frank and George Schuler, bought the company and ran it 65 years. They built the West Fifth Street factory in 1941.
Ownership and name changes
In later years the plant went through several ownerships. The name became Brock, then Brach’s, then Ferrara. Farrara closed the plant in 2017 and moved production to a more efficient facility in Illinois. It was then that Amy Paris bought the plant and created Midwest Co-Pack. Many of the 120 fulltime and 80 seasonal employees were kept on to manufacture her line of gummy pet vitamins. The plant also puts out 20,00 pounds a day of finished products under contract for companies with other brand names.