More restaurants going dark

/in , , , /by

Lots of restaurants closing this summer here in the Twin Cities, and rumors are flying around about more coming:

  • Salt Celler closed in St. Paul on July 30.   Owners say they are going to renovate and reopen with a new concept under the same name.
  • Café Levain has closed in Minneapolis on Chicago Avenue.
  • Trattoria Tosca closed in Linden Hills.
  • The Pilgrimage Café closed on 38th Street in Minneapolis
  • Kaskaid Hospitality closed Zio Italian at MOA, converting it to a Cowboy Jacks in October with a partnership with The After Midnight Group.  They closed Salsa a la Salsa, and will convert it to Game Sports Bar.

 

 

 

A 2nd Dunkin’ Donut deal is signed for the Twin Cities

/in , , , /by

donut

Vantive Group, a Dunkin’ Donuts franchisee, is opening a new 2,000 sf shop at 2425 Rice Street in St. Paul.   A separate franchisee group, Kod Kod Enterprises, will open the first Dunkin’ Donuts in the Twin Cities in New Hope.    Colliers is representing both franchisee groups.

 

 

 

New Bohemia adding more locations to the Twin Cities Market

/in , , , , , , , , , , , /by

Since its first location in Minneapolis in 2012, New Bohemia Wurst & Bier Haus wurstphothas been on a tear to take over the wurst and sausage restaurant niche here.   They have opened locations in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, Eagan and Mankato, and now have a deal signed for a location in Roseville at Snelling Avenue and County Road C.      And that isn’t enough for this interesting and innovative restaurant group – the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports they are also looking for locations in the Southwest metro in Eden Prairie and Bloomington, the East metro in St Paul and Woodbury, and Northeast metro in Blaine and Lino Lakes, as well as outstate Rochester, then onto other states.  Brian Ingram, COO, was quoted in the Pioneer Press back in February, stating “We’d like to get 12 stores by the end of the year.  We’ve been looking at places like Eden Prairie and Woodbury.   We’ll probably open one in Wisconsin as well.”

These are guys who like to think outside of the box.  Inside their restaurants, customers sit at long communal tables.  The menu includes craft beer and traditional brats, but also smoked Antelope is on their menu, along with alligator, wild boar and yak – ACK!

Need a Blucy burger for lunch??

/in , /by

bdp-logo-stp 2

Now three locations to go for that Blucy burger (a big burger stuffed with cheese – bleu, American, cheddar, pepper jack, or even a breakfast burger).  The Blue Door Pub has opened a new location in the Twin Cities at 1514 Como Avenue SE in Minneapolis by the University of Minnesota.  Blue Door Pub also has locations in the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis and on Selby Avenue in St. Paul. 

Eat in or take out.   Some competition for Matt’s Jucy Lucy!

Ace is the place

/in , /by

ace-hardware logoAce Hardware is opening another store in Minnesota, with their new location at 2286 Como Avenue in St. Paul. Frattalone’s Ace Hardware purchased the building and will operate this store. At 7,000 square feet,
it is the smallest of the 21 Frattallone’s stores
in the Twin Cities. The plan is to open this March. 

Jake and Pat Mori will open their first Ace Hardware store, also intended to be this March. They have leased 14,980 square feet at the Westview Center in Hastings, taking some of space previously occupied by Goodwill.  

Ace Hardware is a cooperative based in Oak Brook, Illinois. They have 4,600+ locations, over 135 of which are in Minnesota – with annual revenues of over $13 billion. Ace was originally privately owned, and became a cooperative in 1973. Therefore, all the retail stores are owned by independent retailers – members who are owners of the Ace cooperative – and who need to adhere to strict standards to maintain the Ace brand. The advent of the hardware superstores back in the late 80’s and into the 90’s had a big impact on the smaller stores, but clearly Ace has found their niche of convenience and service with their customers to survive and thrive. 

Deb Carlson, who has completed many Ace Hardware deals in Minnesota and western Wisconsin says, “Ace is a great retailer to bring to cities and small towns with new and relocated stores. I have the opportunity to work not only with the Ace development guys on vetting markets and sites, I also get to work directly with the independent retailers on insuring they get the site and the deal they need to make a store work. Even with all the Ace stores in the market, we continue to look for more opportunities to grow the brand.” 

Look for more Ace Hardware stores opening in 2016 and beyond.  

 

2015 a Success for U.S. Shopping Centers; Will 2016 Be a Challenge?

/in , /by

Vacancy in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area retail market is below the Country’s average. This is our strongest year since the recession, fueled by grocery anchored centers and regional mall activity here. We believe Minnesota will continue to beat the U.S. metrics of GDP growth and consumer spending in 2016, as well as unemployment, and retailers will continue to expand, relocate and right-size in our market in the near future.

Read our Q4 2015 Marketbeat for more retail real estate insights around the U.S.