ST PAUL, Minn. — Grand Avenue has long been a key business district in St. Paul. With dozens of retail stores and restaurants stretching across three miles, the corridor serves several neighborhoods and also attracts customers from throughout the region.
A string of high-profile closures and vacant store fronts along portions of Grand Avenue have prompted questions about what is happening in the area, but according to the Grand Avenue Business Association (GABA) there have also been 11 new businesses along the corridor in the last year.
So what is really happening?
For years, the intersection of Grand Avenue and Victoria Street has been a focal point of retail traffic, with plenty of loyal customers.
"I love Grand Ave, especially Cafe Latte," said Aisha Eady, who says she makes a special trip to the the intersection from her home in Bloomington once every month or so. "There's a lot energy in this area, there's a lot of fun things to attend. It's really an awesome, sort of centerpiece of St. Paul."
But Eady says she's noticed more and more change during her last few trips to pick up a few of her favorite truffles.
"You see the construction paper up in the window and you just kind of wonder what's happening?" Eady said, referencing what used to be the Pottery Barn across the street. "It's really kind of concerning."
The closure of Pottery Barn in early January, marked the latest of several retail business to vacate two, large buildings near the intersection in a little more than a year. In that time, no new tenants have emerged.
"We had J Crew, Lululemon, Anthropologie, Pottery Barn... a lot within this block here," said Accala Sullivan, Salon Manager at Juut, recalling the exodus.
Sullivan says Juut has managed to weather the inevitable drop in foot traffic that has followed the closures, thanks to their own loyal customers - many of whom book appointments in advance.
But in-store sales of hair and beauty products remains uncertain, after nearby Salut Restaurant also closed it's doors in January.
"You definitely feel it when restaurant (closures) happen," Sullivan said. "Because when people are in the area (to eat), they will bop over for this item or whatever it might be."
Despite that uncertainty, Sullivan says Juut's owner remains optimistic about the shopping district and customer base, and she says they have now responded - in writing - to questions and concerns about the salon's future.
"We actually received information from our owner just yesterday morning, that we're staying here in St. Paul," Sullivan said. "I think it's needed. Just to make sure that this community is supported. For sure."
Juut isn't the only business vowing support in the face of the uncertainty. Despite the vacant store fronts nearby, the owner of Red Balloon Bookshop, Holly Weinkauf, says the children's book store is coming off a record holiday season.
But Weinkauf says foot traffic in January has taken a hit.
"We're sad that we lost (Salut) as a neighbor," Weinkauf said. "Especially during the warmer months, having that patio filled with people was always a great thing for business."
As a GABA board member, Weinkauf says it's true that other areas of Grand Avenue are enjoying a period of growth, but she would describe the area around her business differently.
"We're definitely in a state of transition," she said.
While some of that transition can be attributed to general shifts towards online sales and more sporadic foot traffic following the pandemic, she says you can't tell the story of the transition at Grand and Victoria without acknowledging the property owner tied to all of the vacancies.
Earlier this month, KARE 11 reported that the closures in the area were all happening in the two retail spaces owned by the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS), which is one of the nation's biggest public pension funds.
"The local leasing agent responds, but when we get to the regional level, we don't get a response," Grand Avenue Business Association President Chris Jensen said back in January. "Their portfolio is so large that they don't have any idea the effect this is having on our community."
As the vacancies began piling up, a group of business, neighborhood and city leaders came together to work on a plan to seek answers and open a line of communication with STRS about what is happening.
"We just wanted find out, what are the things we can do to help engage with that property owner?" Weinkauf said.
With all of the spaces now sitting vacant, Weinkauf says the hope is that STRS is will to break up the large footprints once occupied by those large national chains, in favor of smaller or more flexible options for local businesses.
It's a stategy already utilized in the building shared by Cafe Latte, which STRS also owns.
"Having those stores on Grand Avenue, maybe at one point, was a valuable thing," Weinkauf said. "But now, I think people are looking for more unique destinations that give them a different kind of experience."
It's a strategy that makes sense to Eady.
"I don't think I ever came down here to see a Lululemon or a Pottery Barn," Eady said. "I can get that in other places."
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