Business News

December 2007

Come celebrate New Years resolutions at CorePower Yoga
December 22, 2007 - CorePower Yoga will open its 5th Minneapolis location in the Lumen on Lagoon building (southwest corner of Lagoon and Emerson) on Dec. 29th. CorePower Yoga will offer a variety of yoga classes ranging in style and intensity in a new facility containing showers and locker rooms, and offer yoga clothing products.

October 2007

Food, Sweat, Lace, Glass and a little bit of "Green"
October 13, 2007 - A whole lot has happened in Uptown in the last two months. Snap Fitness is set to open today at 1207 Lagoon Avenue. Pizza Nea closed its doors at its Uptown location. Sawatdee changed its name to Uptown Thai. Victoria's Secret began construction at their 100% corner location in the old Gap space. Construction at The North Face has continued and most of the walls are up. Homegrown Glass opened at 2827 Hennepin Avenue. Twin Cities Green, an environmentally-friendly home and life products store will soon open at 2405 Hennepin Avenue.

August 2007

Snap into Gear: New Fitness Center Coming
August 11, 2007 - Snap Fitness, a 24/7 fitness center offering month-to-month memberships, will open in mid-October. Located at the Lumen on Lagoon project on the southwest corner of Lagoon Avenue and Emerson Avenue, Snap Fitness is the first announced retailer for the condo/retail building.

June 2007

Bras, Underwear, and More
June 27, 2007 - Uptown is about to become a bit more intimate, as Victoria's Secret will open in the space formerly occupied by The Gap. The store, which will occupy the entire building at 3000 Hennepin Avenue, will involve their Pink concept. The Pink store concept, according to Wikipedia, has at least three stores and feature's everything pink including the dressing rooms and walls. Construction of the store's interior will begin no earlier than August 2007, with an anticipated opening likely in late 2007 or early 2008.

May 2007

American Apparel is Coming!
May 16, 2007 - Sweat-shop free, US clothing company American Apparel is opening its first Minnesota location in Uptown. The LA-based retailer signed a lease and will occupy 4,200 Sq. Ft. of space currently occupied by American Eagle. The store should open before the end of 2007. American Eagle will close after a little over a year in its Uptown location. Urban Anthology has the remainder of the space available for lease.

American Apparel typically occupies urban locations on the street as opposed to in a mall. Miguel McKelvey, a location scout and store designer for American Apparel who is with Jordan Parnass Digital Architecture, answered a few questions for OurUptown.com.

OurUptown.com: This store will be the first store in Minnesota, does American Apparel plan on opening more stores in the state and/or the Twin Cities?

Miguel: We are always on the lookout for new locations where American Apparel can contribute to the development of the community. Whether or not there are locations in Minnesota that make sense is still to be determined.

OurUptown.com: What attracted American Apparel to Uptown?

Miguel: We keep our ears to the street - talking to our friends about cities and neighborhoods and places that might work for [American Apparel] stores. Uptown was one of the places that bubbled up in various conversations as a cool community of progressive young people. Additionally, a lot of requests came through the website from people in Minneapolis, specifically asking for a store.

OurUptown.com: Does American Apparel typically get involved with the community where it has stores?

Miguel: There are a lot of different examples of [American Apparel's] involvement in the various store communities. From in-store concerts by local bands, to sponsored parties at local bars, to participation in street fairs, etc.

OurUptown.com: Will American Apparel sell a "winter" line to cater to the Minnesota climate?

Miguel: I don't know this specifically [...] but I can say that [American Apparel] does have a lot of merchandise suitable to winter weather. I live in NYC and the merchandisers here do a great job of putting outfits together in the storefront windows showing their "winter" merchandise.

OurUptown.com: Is there anything that the community should know about American Apparel that may not be obvious?

Miguel: I think the most interesting thing about American Apparel is that it's made up of a lot of progressive thinkers who are interested in change - and who actually make stuff happen. There's very little corporate B.S. that gets in the way of moving things forward, and that's refreshing and exciting, for both employees and customers.

March 2007

More than Ice Cream!
March 31, 2007 - Hungry for more than Ice Cream? Just added to the menu at Blue Sky Creamery is an assortment of quick-served meals such as soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers, fries and more. Their focus is on fresh food, meaning that their meat isn't precooked or frozen and their buns are made daily onsite.

Restaurant Miami Brings the 1980s to Uptown
March 8, 2007 - A 1980s Miami-themed restaurant/bar just became Uptown's latest creation. Restaurant Miami, located at 913 W. Lake Street near Bryant Lake Bowl, opened its doors last month.

January 2007

2007 Brings a Wave of Change
January 21, 2007 - With the closings of Caruso's Gelato Cafe, Tibet's Corner, Gap, Global Village, and the upcoming closing of Estes Uptown News - it's not hard for some to wonder what is going on in Uptown. Not all the news is negative however. Amazing Thai will open at the end of January where once was Panera Bread and North Face will build a new building where the UPS Store and Tibet's Corner was occupied. The UPS Store will open this month at 28th and Hennepin where Saint Sabrina's occupied before moving to 27th and Hennepin to a building they bought. Many uncertainties remain regarding Calhoun Square and its redevelopment plans (when will it begin, what will it be, who will occupy it, etc.) and that uncertainty is beginning to have an impact on the perception of Uptown. A slew of news articles highlighted concerns and the community will meet with Calhoun Square's owners in February to better understand the situation. What's up in Uptown in 2007? Change.

Past Years

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