Author Archives: Candace Renalls

Andi’s Closet celebrates new site

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A couple of months ago, Andi’s Closet moved from tight quarters on the first floor of Fitger’s Brewery Complex to bigger store space on the lower retail level.

Now, the women’s clothing store with a youthful focus is well settled in its new digs and ready to celebrate.

So they’re having their grand opening celebration on Saturday, with giveaways, appetizers and beverages.

After fours years located just inside the mall’s Superior Street entrance, owner Andrea Agar had longed for more space. That opportunity came up last winter when Stacy Foster, owner of the Benetton store on the lower level decided to close her store and open a new store, Eva Morris, a block away.

So the switch, and the renovations of the old Benetton store space, happened in April. A wall was knocked down to create even more space for the store’s offerings of contemporary clothing for women ages 25 to 50, with a focus on premium denim.

The ceremonial ribbon cutting was this morning. But the big celebration happens Saturday, from 3 to 8 p.m. Stop in for free appetizers catered by the Midi restaurant, champagne and cupcakes. They’ll be free gift bags with coupons for up to 50 percent off single purchases. More than $700 in brand name items will be raffled off througout the event. And while supplies last, customers will receive a gift with their purchase.

Andi’s Closet’s former space on the street level is now home to Lotus on the Lake, a new women’s boutique. It’s owned and run by Kelly Yetter and Jackie McLean, who formerly worked at Catherine Imports. That downtown store, which also was once located at Fitger’s, closed in December.

Fee-free Dylan tickets

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So what’s cheaper  — getting your Bob Dylan Duluth concert tickets through Ticketmaster or at the DECC ticket office?

The DECC. Big time.

It became a personal mission to find out at 10 a.m. Friday when ticket sales for the July 9 concert began. That’s when I dutifully called Ticketmaster to get my ticket and got right through.

Total cost for the $68 general admission ticket? $84. That’s $16 in fees. For two tickets, that’d be $32. For five tickets, that’s an extra $80. Wow.

No thanks.

I thought I’d take a chance and try the DECC box office. I’d be downtown later anyway. I got there about 2 p.m., parked in one of the free 10-minute spots in the back and, without a wait, got my ticket for $68. No extra charges.

When I told another ticket buyer there how much he had just saved, he got a little giddy at the thought of not handing over a bundle to Ticketmaster.

Me, too.

By the way, if you buy the same ticket through Ticketmaster online, Ticketmaster charges a little less in fees. It’s $80.20 online. That’s $12.20 in fees.

So — if you can — head to the DECC if you want to avoid those extra fees.

JCP’s home makeover

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In case you haven’t noticed, the Miller Hill Mall’s JC Penney store has been going through quite a makeover in the last year or so.

We’ll not get into the controversy over that here, but the piece de resistance just might be what they’ve done to their upstairs home department. If you’re looking for eye-popping colorful housewares and home accessories, check it out.

The home departments at numerous JC Penney stores around the country have been renovated, with their celebratory unveilings this weekend, beginning today.

Similar to their revamped clothing departments that feature designer brands in distinct areas, the new home department boasts designers such as Michael Graves and Jonathan Adler. And despite that big court battle by Macy’s to keep Martha Stewart’s home offerings off JC Penney’s shelves, her stuff is there, too. (Yeah for us, since we don’t have a Macy’s anywhere near us).

That housewarming event at the Duluth JCP store (and others around the country) is today through Sunday.

 

Grandma’s unveils addition

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Construction of the latest addition to Grandma’s Saloon & Grill in Canal Park — which includes a rooftop lounge with great views — is complete and will have its grand opening celebration this weekend.

The celebration will include happy hour prices from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the upstairs bar. And all weekend, nachos and select beverages will be half price.

The 1,850-foot addition includes a more prominent entrance with an added canopy to protect customers from the elements. Inside, there’s an expanded gift shop with more locally made items, new restrooms and an expanded seating area. It also includes a lounge extension on the rooftop deck. That deck, by the way, is no slacker. It features stone tile flooring, padded furniture, granite table tops and a see-through, glassed-in railing system to prevent any obstruction of those great views.

Grandma’s officials have said the expansion was long overdue, since the business has grown so much since its beginnings in the 1970s. And the new restrooms are much bigger the old ones, which often had waiting lines.

Bug market, big returns

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Sure, you could listen to the experts about what the stock market will do.

But how reliable is that?

The return of the cicadas this summer — now that’s something you can bank on.

These locusts make their appearance in mass every 17 years in the Northeast. And when they do, stocks go up nearly 21 percent on average. That’s double the historical average. And that’s been the case since 1928, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Howard Silverblatt, a market data whiz, saw the cicada correlation but, according to the Journal, warned against reading too much into it.

“You can prove nanything you want,” he told the Journal. “Start with your answer, and I have the data to prove it.”

Ya, but 85 years of stock-rising coincidences? That’s hard to swat away.

Downtown store openings galore

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Several stores recently opened in downtown Duluth , though not all store signs are up yet. They’re all locally owned and operated and not associated with retail chains.

Port City Antiques opened quietly on Saturday at 120 W. Superior St. The new antique mall with about 30 dealers fills the 6,000-square-foot space that formerly housed the Saw-Mill Unpainted Furniture Store.

Jerry Fredrickson, founder and former owner of Father Time Antiques in Canal Park is behind the new mall.

Some dealer have more items to add to their displays and a couple of Twin Cities dealers have yet to move in. But so far, it’s looking good. I found something I had to have within minutes of walking though the door on Sunday. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, except Sundays when they’re open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A block to the west, Superior Ballroom Dance Studio opened a storefront at 208 W. Superior St. on May 1. Led by award-winning dancer Andrea Kuzel, it’s the only dance studio around devoted to teaching ballroom dance to adults in the Duluth area. And classes for children are coming this summer, too, she says.

For more information about private and group lessons, call (218) 348-1928 or just stop in.

Over at Fitger’s Brewery Complex, Lotus on the Lake, a new women’s boutique also opened on May 1 on the Superior Street Level. The space previously had been occupied by Andi’s Closet which has moved downstairs.

The store offers moderate to upper end clothing for women ages 35 and older as well as jewelry, paper goods and home decor similar to what Catherine Imports carried in the Duluth Technology Village. Catherine’s, which had quite a fan base, closed late last year.

That’s because Kelly Yetter, Catherine’s former store manager and Jackie McLean, Catherine’s office manager, are behind this venture. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.

As we previously told you, Eva Morris, another new women’s boutique opened recently at 732 E. Superior St., next to Coppola Artistica and Va Bene Italian cafe.

It offers clothing at affordable prices to women of all ages and includes larger sizes. Owner Stacy Foster previously operated Colors of Benetton at Fitger’s which closed in January. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 12 to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

While it’s not a storefront, Northland Special Events opened a showroom just inside the front door of the Torrey Building, 314 W. Superior St., on May 1.  The site also serves as the wedding and event planner’s offices, floral studio and design center. They plan to have regular hours come fall, but until then, it’s by appointment. Call (218) 499-9449.

 

Plaza gets Engwalls greenhouse

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The Burger King block headed for redevelopment at 21st Avenue East and London Road in Duluth has its costs. Like the Engwalls satellite greenhouse that has set up shop on the corner in late spring and summer for years,

Well not this year. The Burger King property was sold last winter, ending the agreement Engwalls had with the previous owner.

“Whatever is going to happen with that corner, they weren’t interested in having us there this year,” said Rod Saline, owner of Engwalls Florist, Greenhouse and Garden Center in Hermantown.

So instead the greenhouse is going in the parking lot of Burggraf’s Ace Hardware at Superior Street and 13th Avenue East.

“We’ve been in the Plaza area before,” Saline said. ” This made sense from a visibility point of view. It’s in a known shopping area, so there will be traffic. We think there’s some good positioning, visibility and good synergy with Burggraf’s. They are a small, independent retailer just like we are.”

The framework for the portable greenhouse went up this week outside the hardware store, while it went up last week at their other satellite site at Kenwood Shopping Center. The covers of the greenhouses will follow.

With April’s record snow, their opening will be pushed back a few days. Instead of opening  during the first week of May, they might not open until May 7 or May 8, Saline said.

But that’s OK.

While a lot of their hanging baskets sell for Mother’s Day, from a gardening perspective, plant sales don’t take off until the third week in May, he said.

 

Eva Morris boutique opens

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When Stacy Foster closed Benetton, an upscale women’s clothing store she owned at Fitger’s Brewery Complex, she had a plan.

She would open another women’s boutique in a storefront on Superior Street, a block to the east. But instead of the Benetton brand of tailored European clothing topping at size 12, Foster wanted to offer more affordable clothes to women of all ages, including middle-aged women who need larger sizes.

The resulting store — Eva Morris (a combination of Foster’s paternal grandparents’ first names) — has opened at 732 E. Superior St., next to Coppola Artistica and Va Bene Italian cafe.

The new store gives Foster the greater flexibiity with her store hours that she had sought. The new store — offering women’s clothing, accessories and gifts — is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.

You can check it out on Facebook.

Hobby Lobby up and running

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Officially, the new Hobby Lobby in Duluth opens at 9 a.m. Monday in the old Miller Hill Kmart space.

Unofficially, it quietly opened Thursday to allow its new staff to become acclimated to their jobs before crowds of customers arrived.

On Saturday evening, however, there was a crowd. Although the parking lot lights weren’t on, the store was aglow with plenty of people coming and going. So I stopped in to check it out.

It’s a nice store, with an extensive home decor and storage section that I lingered in for quite a while. Fun stuff with prices already 30 percent off. And the scrapbooking section made me want to start scrapbooking. Other than that, there’s the usual floral, hobby, fabric, frames, art and craft items that you would expect in a leading arts and crafts store.

By the reaction of the customers, I’d say they were liking it, too.

On Monday, the store will hold its grand opening celebration with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that will see local officials, business people and chamber of commerce ambassadors.

Hobby Lobby, based in Oklahoma City, has more than 520 stores and is the No.3 arts and craft retailer in the country. The chain had looked for a suitable location in Duluth for years before the Kmart site at Mall Drive and Maple Grove Road, near Miller Hill Mall, became available last year. It’s Hobby Lobby third store in Minnesota.

“We are very pleased to become an integral part of the Duluth community by adding new jobs, revitalizing an empty facility, and providing exceptional selection, service and value in the crafts and home decor market — all of which enables us to share in the economic growth of both the community and the stae,” John Schumacher, the chain’s assistant vice president of advertising said in a statement.

In Duluth, under store manager Ben Horst, it’ll be competition for the Michaels Arts and Crafts at the nearby Stoneridge Shopping Center.

Hobby Lobby store hours will be 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday but closed on Sundays.

Candy gifts downtown on V-Day

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This just in from the Greater Downtown Council:

Members of the Clean & Safe Team won’t just be greeting people as they walk the Skywalks and streets of downtown Duluth on Valentine’s Day. They will also be handing out more than 700 boxes of candy hearts to folks they come across, just to put a smile on their faces.

Each box will carry the message: “We love having you in the Downtown Waterfront!” So get ready to smile, if you’re among the lucky 700.