Designer jewelry brand David Yurman will open its first Twin Cities store at Galleria, right next to Kate Spade. That’s one of several big moves happening at the Edina shopping center this spring. Here’s a rundown of the news:
Small world: the Allen Edmonds Dalton boot was designed by Twin Cities architect Jim Dayton, who also designed the retailer’s new store prototype.
- Allen Edmonds, the Wisconsin-based national retailer of premium men’s footwear, is also opening this spring at Galleria, next to Twill by Scott Dayton, which has carried a small selection of the brand. ”They are a great addition to enhance the men’s offerings at Galleria,” Dayton says.
![Russell + hazel is moving its flagship to Galleria, opening by March.]()
Russell + hazel is moving its flagship to Galleria, opening by March.
- Russell + hazel, the locally-owned paper brand, will open by early March in the space beside Good Earth. When I told you last fall that r + h was moving its flagship store from Linden Hills to Galleria, they didn’t actually have a signed lease, so it’s nice to confirm that the store will indeed open—just as our modern notepads and chic binder pages are running low.
- Pumpz & Company, the locally owned women’s designer footwear and accessories boutique, will take the Three Rooms storefront, and expand it for maximum visibility, to include the corner now occupied by customer service (which temporarily moves across the aisle to the former Bissinger’s space). The extensive build out will be completed in time for fall arrivals.
- Fawbush’s, another longtime locally owned Galleria store, is about to undergo a complete remodel, which should be complete by mid-April.
- Lululemon, already announced for the center, is scheduled to open March 7.
There are more store renovations to come, as Galleria presses its retailers to bring their A-game. From my recent conversations with Galleria’s new management team, it’s clear they are sensitive to perceptions that local stores (Three Rooms, Whymsy, Papagallo) are being pushed out in favor of national chains. I think there is some house cleaning going on, but not with malign intent. Independent stores that were perhaps past their prime, or in need of a refresh are being asked to do just that—for their own benefit, as well as the center’s. The local stores that are currently thriving at Galleria seem amenable to the nationals that are coming, and aware that they only add to the center’s overall cache.
“We need the national names to identify Galleria to shoppers. The lesser known locals can be marbleized into the mix, and then discovered by those shoppers coming here for the stores that are familiar to them,” says Pumpz & Company owner Marlys Badzin. “A project of only one-off boutiques will have the same fate as Riverplace.”
A deal is in the works for yet another national brand, also new to town. The priority, leasing manager Jennifer Smith told me, is to keep Galleria unique. That might mean a one-of-a-kind local store, or a national brand that does not have other locations in the Twin Cities. With the next announcement, Galleria will be virtually 100 percent occupied. Management is currently evaluating several expansion scenarios that could happen within the next couple of years.
