Tag Archives: Miller Hill Mall

Home-based biz go shopping

Posted on by
Reply

Got a home–based business?

Here’s your chance to show it off and reach potential customers. The second annual home-based business show will be held Aug. 18 at Miller Hill Mall in Duluth.

The “My Own Biz” show will feature businesses around the region that are home-based. Their products and services will be showcased as well as information on how you, too, can start your own business from home.

Among the products that drive these businesses are cosmetics, jewelry, health products, website creation, desktop publishing and a heck of a lot more. Many contractors and consultants are home-based as well.

The show will be held inside the mall in the atrium area by the Barnes & Noble Bookstore. The mall was chosen because it’s the largest retail shopping site in the region. That means maximum exposure and more attendees, according to Lundeen Productions which is coordinating the event.

So if you want to sign up for a table display, call (218) 727-1177. Cost is $195. About 20 businesses have signed up so far, but up to 30 could be accommodated. For more information, visit www.moreatthemall.com.

Oh, by the way, if you have a home-based business, you’re part of a big trend. The number of home-based businesses in the United States is growing at twice the rate of businesses over all, data shows

Duluth Culver’s opens May 24

Posted on by
1

Get ready for another new restaurant opening in Duluth.

The new Culver’s restaurant will open Monday, May 24, near Miller Hill Mall. It’s the latest in a series of new restaurants to open in recent months in the mall area, including Buffalo Wild Wings, Texas Roadhouse and Five Guys Burgers and Fries.

“We’re really excited for our location,” said owner Kyle Mehum who also owns the Culver’s in Superior and Two Harbors. “We’ve been waiting to get into Duluth, we’ve looking for the right site.”

They found it off Central Entrance, on Mall Drive, between the Miller Hill Mall and Home Depot, a site that’s expected to draw shoppers, area workers and travelers.

Culver’s, a restaurant chain that’s considered somewhere between fast food and casual dining, will have a drive-through. It will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Construction began in October on the $1.3 million, 4,700-square-foot restaurant. About 90 percent of it is complete inside. Outside, curbs, sidewalks and patio and landscaping still need to be installed and the parking lot blacktopped.

It’ll be the same high grade fast food and prices as the other Culver’s restaurants, but it’ll look nicer and more contemporary.

“Culver’s gives you choices,” Mehum explained. “We could have done the same white building.”

Instead, he went with with Culver’s new “metro prototype” design which has nicer finishes, inside and out. Outside, it has stucco stone and cement board siding. Inside, it has light and dark maple colors, classier tables and chairs with dark blue vinyl,  dark gray slate tiles, a more spacious dining room and a more pleasant atmosphere.

“It probably fits in better up there,” Mehum said of the mall area. “Up there, there’s a nicer look with a lot more new buildings going up. I chose to make it more subtle and upscale. I think people will be pleasantly surprised when they walk in up there.”

With the opening approaches, he said Wednesday, “We’re ready to hire.”

That begins in earnest Saturday with a job fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the restaurant. About 80 positions will be filled, including management, cashiers, kitchen and maintenance positions, both full time and part time. Many jobs will start at minimum wage, $7.25 an hour, but experience also is a factor, he said.

He’s expecting a big turnout Saturday, perhaps up to 200 applicants, including many students looking for summer jobs. People can also apply online at www.culvers.com. Training will start the week of May 17.

 

Retailers more friendly in poor economy

Posted on by
Reply

My holiday shopping trip to the Miller Hill Mall area was somewhat echoed by today’s New York Times story.

I wasn’t treated like a king at luxury stores, like the Times says, but it seems like retailers are more courteous and helpful this season of diminished sales expectations.

At Target and Best Buy, customer service reps helped me navigate the hectic check-out area to the most available register.

A few weeks ago, a trip to Pottery Barn in St. Paul was over-the-top friendly. A small army of sales people mauled me with profusive kindness when I walked in.

The recession was given as a reason for the effusiveness in the Times story. And I think online shopping has something to do with it as well.

Has your holiday shopping experience been a positive one? Share your thoughts…

New Duluth restaurant bucks trend

Posted on by
9

One of the major criticisms of Duluth’s food choices is that this city is sometimes light years behind everybody else.

Well, folks, here’s a reprieve.

The Five Guys Burgers and Fries store that will have its grand opening Monday near Coldwater Creek in Miller Hill Mall is one of the first in Minnesota.

Five Guys, based in Lorton, Va., opened its first Minnesota store in Edina in May, according to the Minneapols-St. Paul Business Journal, and will soon add stores in St. Cloud and Maple Grove to make progress on its goal of six or seven by 2011.

While Duluth remains without a Chipotle (tear), it isn’t behind the times with every chain.

Servers will dance at Texas Roadhouse

Posted on by
Reply

If you want to work as a server at the new Texas Roadhouse opening near Mall Hill Mall in January, it will help if you don’t have two left feet.
Part of servers’ duties will be routinely breaking into a line dance, says Mark Prosen, a managing partner in the project.
The eye-pleasing new restaurant on Mall Drive across from Home Depot and Olive Garden is readying for a Jan. 25 opening.
“It’ll have a Western feel, a down-home steak house,” Prosen said. “We throw peantus on the floor, serve fresh baked bread, and the servers line dance every 45 minutes.”
The restaurant will have a staff of 200, including cooks, dishwashers, serving assistants, hosts as well as 80 servers.
Those interested in working at the new restaurant should stop by Caribou Coffee across Central Entrance from the restaurant from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. beginning Nov. 16. The following week, applications will be accepted at the restaurant from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Training of new employees will start in January and will include line dancing lessons for the servers, Prosen said. 
 

Your career change could come Saturday at Miller Hill Mall

Posted on by
Reply

Looking for a career change?

The My Own Biz expo Saturday at Miller Hill Mall could be your fresh start.

About 25 home-based businesses will set up from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday to sell their products and services and help people start their own businesses.

The expo, hosted by Lundeen Productions, "will showcase a number of businesses with opportunities just for you — as well as displays for the fantastic products and services they market," said a flyer for the expo.

For more information, contact Lundeen Productions at (218) 727-1177 or go here.

New restaurant in Miller Hill Mall

Posted on by
11

Five Guys Burgers and Fries is planning to open in December in Miller Hill Mall.

The 2,300-square-foot restaurant will serve a basic menu of burgers, fries, hot dogs, grilled cheese and soda. The point of differentiation, however, is its 15 different fixings options.

"We are a fast-casual restaurant that does not serve pre-made food," said Molly Catalano, a Five Guys spokeswoman."We focus on freshness and quality. We are not upscale, but we have quality service in a no-frills way."

The location of the restaurant in the mall is not yet known.

Five Guys began near Washington, D.C., in 1986 and has expanded to more than 470 locations in 36 states. Every week, Five Guys opens about 15 to 20 new restaurants. Five Guys joints in Minnesota currently reside in St. Cloud and Edina, with other plans to expand to Maple Grove within the year.

Two new food options open in Miller Hill Mall

Posted on by
Reply

Miller Hill Mall now offers two new dining options in its food court: Chicken Now and Pretzelmaker.

Chicken Now, with a specialty of made-to-order chicken wings, has about seven locations across the U.S. from Florida to California, and its Miller Hill Mall location is the first in Minnesota and part of 10 opening nation-wide this year.

Chicken Now will offer a variety of types of chicken, fries and texas toast that can be dipped in its "Grandma’s Sauce," as well as sides such as coleslaw, mashed potatoes, corn and macaroni and cheese.

Twin Ports Business reported the Pretzelmaker opening months ago, but we’ll refresh your memory.

Pretzelmaker has more than 350 stores nationwide and serves up parmesan, ranch, garlic and cinnamon sugar pretzels, as well as Pretzel Bites and Pretzel Dogs, which are hot dogs wrapped in a pretzel.
 

Eat up.

 

Two new food options open at Miller Hill Mall

Posted on by
Reply

Miller Hill Mall now offers two new dining options in its food court: Chicken Now and Pretzelmaker.

Chicken Now, with a specialty of made-to-order chicken wings, has about seven locations across the U.S. from Florida to California, and its Miller Hill Mall location is the first in Minnesota and part of 10 opening nationwide this year.

Chicken Now will offer a variety of types of chicken, fries and texas toast that can be dipped in its "Grandma’s Sauce," as well as sides such as coleslaw, mashed potatoes, corn and macaroni and cheese.

Twin Ports Business reported the Pretzelmaker opening months ago, but we’ll refresh your memory.

Pretzelmaker has more than 350 stores nationwide and serves up parmesan, ranch, garlic and cinnamon sugar pretzels, as well as Pretzel Bites and Pretzel Dogs, which are hot dogs wrapped in a pretzel.

Eat up.

Eddie Bauer to close fewer stores than feared

Posted on by
Reply

Last month, Twin Ports Business made mention of potentially deep cuts by Eddie Bauer that could result in the closure of about one-third of the company’s stores.

Well, the outlook appears less grim at present. The Seattle Times now reports that the retailer’s new buyer has unveiled plans to keep about 300 of the chain’s 370 stores open. This would equate to closing about 19 percent of the company’s stores.

Information about the fate of individual stores has yet to be revealed, but the outlook for the survival of the store in Duluth’s Miller Hill Mall appears decidedly brighter.

Golden Gate Capital, based in San Francisco, submitted the winning bid in a bankruptcy court auction of Eddie Bauer’s assets, plunking down $286 million in cash. A judge is expected to take up the offer Wednesday, and if it is accepted, the deal could close in early August.

Eddie Bauer, based in Bellevue, Wash., employs about 8,600 people.

This isn’t Golden Gate Capital’s first foray into the clothier’s market. It purchased another clothing retailer — J. Jill — from Talbots for $75 million last month.