Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

[Silophant]

I'm sure it wouldn't be cost-effective to have two locations so close together, but it would be cool if the Dayton's Project could land some of these hip Minneapolis retailers.

[Anondson]

Disappointed it took so long, but not surprised, to consider pop up stores in long-vacant spaces.

http://www.startribune.com/minneapolis- ... 477783653/

[grant1simons2]

Faribault Woolen Mill is opening up next to Northern Coffeeworks on Washington.

Edit: Humdinger and Sons moved to 404 Washignton Ave N

[Oreos&Milk]

Disappointed it took so long, but not surprised, to consider pop up stores in long-vacant spaces.

http://www.startribune.com/minneapolis- ... 477783653/

Your unsurprised and disappointed at the same time about this positive news? You might want to get those "winter blues" checked out if it does not go away soon. I mean it's been almost a month without any snow!

[LakeCharles]

Disappointed it took so long, but not surprised, to consider pop up stores in long-vacant spaces.

http://www.startribune.com/minneapolis- ... 477783653/

Your unsurprised and disappointed at the same time about this positive news? You might want to get those "winter blues" checked out if it does not go away soon. I mean it's been almost a month without any snow!

What? He wished it would have happened sooner, meaning he also thinks this is positive news.

[VacantLuxuries]

I'm disappointed they're calling them "pop ups", which implies they view these as temporary until they can find their unicorn business-as-usual tenant who wants to take up 40,000sq ft. They really should be permanently dividing these spaces to reflect the reality that gigantic retail stores are a huge liability for a building, even if it means they only have to find and manage one tenant.

[rhettcarlson]

Faribault Woolen Mill is opening up next to Northern Coffeeworks on Washington.

Edit: Humdinger and Sons moved to 404 Washignton Ave N

Cool to see North Loop-caliber retail spread east down Washington. Too bad the middle chunk of Washington from about Hennepin to 5th Ave was completely wiped of its original small scale fabric that supports this kind of retail. Oh well, we're going in the right direction.

[Silophant]

Not specific retail news, but the Solhem people that presented the Grumpy's project to the DMNA last night mentioned that three (of the five?) walk-up live-work spaces in Borealis (along 8th) have in fact been rented for commerical use. Which makes me feel better about the live-work spaces we're starting to see in other projects along streets I had wished would have stayed commercial. Like the City Club Apartments along Marquette, for example.

[twincitizen]

Too bad the middle chunk of Washington from about Hennepin to 5th Ave was completely wiped of its original small scale fabric that supports this kind of retail. Oh well, we're going in the right direction.

Tear. Down. The Gateway. Again.

But more realistically, every single building along Washington between Hennepin and 3rd Ave S needs the Penney's treatment.

I would fully support the City giving financial incentives (grants, tax abatement, etc.) to get more Penney's-like additions to this specific stretch of Washington.

[MattW]

Too bad the middle chunk of Washington from about Hennepin to 5th Ave was completely wiped of its original small scale fabric that supports this kind of retail. Oh well, we're going in the right direction.

Tear. Down. The Gateway. Again.

But more realistically, every single building along Washington between Hennepin and 3rd Ave S needs the Penney's treatment.

I would fully support the City giving financial incentives (grants, tax abatement, etc.) to get more Penney's-like additions to this specific stretch of Washington.

Totally agree. I have a friend that lives at Latitude 45 and walking to his place from the bus is just a wasteland.

The Depot doesn't help much either. Imagine if we could move the farmers market there.

[amiller92]

There's been construction going in inside the train shed recently, I think for event space? I'm pretty sure it's historically protected, and legitimately so, but man it would be nice to not have it there.

[LakeCharles]

The worst is the Wells Fargo Operations Center. If that thing could get razed, I'd be delighted.

[Silophant]

Yeah, the Depot shed is being enclosed and converted into event space. Better than parking, I guess...

The Crossings actually has a little storefront space on Washington that's been occupied by the MEDA offices for forever (without ever opening their blinds), but they're moving, so I guess there's a chance that'll sell to someone that would have an actual storefront. Probably not though.

[grant1simons2]

Not specific retail news, but the Solhem people that presented the Grumpy's project to the DMNA last night mentioned that three (of the five?) walk-up live-work spaces in Borealis (along 8th) have in fact been rented for commerical use. Which makes me feel better about the live-work spaces we're starting to see in other projects along streets I had wished would have stayed commercial. Like the City Club Apartments along Marquette, for example.

http://mspmag.com/shop-and-style/northe ... is-moving/

Hazel and Rose is one of the businesses moving in to Borealis

[Qhaberl]

I just moved to downtown Minneapolis from uptown. Went over to the CVS at 11th and Hennepin this evening to get a few things. I was speaking with someone who works there, and they told me the CVS will be closing on March 31. The same person also told me that the CVS over on, I believe it’s Portland and ninth, will be closing in a few months. Anyone have any info about this?

The person I spoke with told me that whomever owns the space wants them out one week after they close. That could mean there’s something in the works.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[twincitizen]

Oh wow that would be a huge loss for downtown if both of those CVS stores closed. The Hennepin one I could see having lost a lot of convenience food/drink sales to Lunds over the past 5 years. The closure could be related to CVS taking over Target's pharmacy operations (i.e. the pharmacy at Target is 2 blocks away). Remember, the Dinkytown CVS (in Sydney Hall) closed shortly after the miniTarget opened nearby.

But the Skyscape location would seem to still not have a ton of competition (nor would there seem to high demand for another user to come along and pay high rent for that space). If anything, the Skyscape location has more potential customers than ever, with the K-A/HQ block and all the other residential development nearby.

[Tyler]

Went into the Skyscape location for the first time ever a few weeks ago. Midday on a Saturday, it was completely dead.

[grrdanko]

The CVS on Hennepin is consistently terrible. I stopped going there.

If there are two people in line you'll wait for over 10 minutes. Many toiletries are locked up and you need a staff member to unlock it adding more time. I wouldn't be surprised if this one closes.

The CVS on Portland doesn't have any other stores around. I'd be surprised if they closed this one.

[Silophant]

Bizjournals confirms it. I'm also surprised the Portland location is closing - the east half of downtown will be even more of a wasteland, even as the residential population continues to grow.

[twinkess]

Wow, pretty surprising the Skyscape one is closing, it's consistently busy whenever I go there. This will be a big negative for the neighborhood. Although maybe not surprising considering the sign in the dairy section today: