After 15 years in business on University Avenue, Mike Udo closed his small storefront and late last month opened the doors to a newly expanded grocery store in the former home of Hamline Hardware Hank at Snelling and Englewood streets. I opened it.
Although he’s still moving products from store to store, the new Udo’s Grocery now offers sit-down dining and everything from jollof rice with braised chicken to mixed meat dishes with egusi seeds and egusi seeds. , which offers a kitchen serving Nigerian home-cooked meals. A side of starchy fufu.
“I feel very, very good,” said Udo, who used $25,000 from the city of St. Paul’s STAR grant to fund the new dig. “The community has been very supportive.”
Mike Udo stands in front of Udo’s African Restaurant and Grocery on Snelling Avenue in St. Paul on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. The store occupies the site of a longtime neighborhood hardware and hand hardware store. The Hardware Hank store closed in March 2020, just before the coronavirus pandemic, and the storefront remained vacant until Udo’s African Restaurant and Grocery opened. (John Oti/Pioneer Press)
His store is not the only new or expanded store to open recently in the “Little Africa” commercial corridor. The Minnesota United sports team follows the exit of several notable stores, including the long-established Ethiopian restaurant Fasika, the large furniture store At Home, and the huge CVS on the corner of University and Snelling streets. A small number of new companies are setting up shop in the shadow of this. New giant metal loon statue.
Dilla’s Ethiopian Restaurant is working to open a St. Paul location at 1625 W. University Ave., next door to the long-established Axman Surplus location, according to the Midway Chamber of Commerce. This restaurant is popular on Riverside Avenue in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis.
Gene Gergel, executive director of African Economic Development Selections, said his nonprofit will be building a series of business counters and microshops that will settle in the former Great Fan retail building on Snelling between Blair and Van Buren streets. He said that the project was selected and is currently being renovated. He hopes to identify a larger grocery store by mid-October. AEDS will move its headquarters to the second floor of the same building around November 1st.
Just south of Snelling Street and University Avenue, a hot yoga studio known as Hot Works is scheduled to open on the ground floor of the Pivot apartment building at 431 N. Snelling Street, near Bremer Bank. The St. Paul Department of Safety and Inspection recently imposed various conditions, including requiring employees trained in first aid and CPR to be on site during business hours.
A Spirit Halloween store opened last week in a strip mall at 1400 W. University Avenue, about two blocks east of Allianz Field, and will be offering costumes and other spooky holiday menu items through at least Nov. 3. Employees say they may open another store if sales are strong. We will continue as a Christmas store for a few more months.
Chad Klas, executive director of the Midway Chamber of Commerce, said each opening in the Snelling/University area is a positive sign, especially after an increase in loitering, panhandling and daytime drug dealing around the vacant CVS. has received negative attention.
“The more positive energy and store openings, the better, because positive activity is good and when people have open stores, they’re less likely to wander,” Klass said. said.
Store rents will rise “abnormally”
Near University Avenue and Pascal Street, a series of longtime black-owned businesses had to weather significant rent increases after new owners purchased the buildings in May, leaving them in their place. There are questions about whether it will remain. Tim Wilson, owner of music store Urban Lights, has lived on the street for 31 years, and although he misses the foot traffic associated with the heyday of the now-demolished Midway Shopping Center, he has no plans to leave. he said. His customers included those who stopped by the Foot Locker and other stores that used to be across the street.
“We’re sticking with it,” Wilson said Thursday when patrons called him to the store counter.
Barber Trey Johnson cuts Kendrick Coffey’s hair Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in the Cold Cuts Lounge in the back room of the former Ultimate Look Barber Shop (now known as the Powder Room) in St. Paul. I cleaned it up and rented a chair there. (John Oti/Pioneer Press)
Adjacent hair salon Blessings and wig and accessories store Earth’s Beauty Supply also remain open for now, but owner Sawi Nebo said that could change. He has run a shop and salon on the street since 1990 and before that on Selby Street. “My customers aren’t used to locking up all their products, but they have to be just to survive,” Nebo said Thursday during a break between customers at his wig store. “People using drugs come in and out with the product.”
Christina Robert started as a “shampoo girl” at Blessing Salon in 2009 and later became a full-fledged hairstylist. When the longtime owner of Ultimate Look Barber Shop decided to go out of business this year, she saw an opportunity to purchase the store this summer and keep it open under the new name Powder Room. Male stylists from commercial tenant Cold Cuts Lounge currently work in the back room, while female stylists work out the front.
“The building was sold before we knew it,” said Robert, who was surprised to find that his rent had doubled. “That person came in and raised the rent exorbitantly and changed the terms of the lease.”
Still, she said she agreed to a three-year lease.
“I think this is a good area for growth,” Robert said. His store is directly across from the Allianz Field soccer stadium and the proposed hotel and office building site. “But the city is bringing in new businesses and we need to take care of the businesses that have been here for a while.”
Community Town Hall October 17th
City Council President Mitra Jalali, who represents the neighborhood, is calling for new legal measures, such as non-criminal administrative sanctions, to hold offending property owners accountable for their negligence. Some community advocates say the region needs a more targeted approach that combines resources from different levels of government.
In late September, the Hamline-Midway Coalition launched the Stabilize Snelling and University campaign, aiming to petition City Hall, Metro Transit and Ramsey County for new intersection-specific resources.
The wish list is scheduled to be presented to elected officials at Hamline University’s City Hall on Oct. 17, and includes prompt action from the city’s Department of Safety and Inspection for known problem vacant properties. response strategy, likely to include more resources from Metro Transit. It includes security and surveillance at the Snelling Avenue light rail stop and expanded street assistance from Ramsey County and its homeless assistance partners. Jalali said he plans to attend.
Jen Nelson, executive director of the Hamline-Midway Coalition, said another major goal of the new campaign is to turn the vacant CVS into a community center or equivalent, “a magnet for trash.” Instead, he said, the goal is to make it an asset for the region. And doodle. ”
Nelson said there’s reason for optimism because of the influx of new businesses near the intersection.
“The more spaces are filled, the more people will come into the neighborhood and see all of the many assets that are there,” she said. “I think there’s a lot of reason to be hopeful when you see how this region is actually thriving and vibrant in the face of this challenge.”
First Published: October 6, 2024 5:56 AM
