For Maly Xiong, Maplewood Mall is home.
Anytime, hungry patrons order soft pretzels from Xiong at Pretzelmaker, which she’s run for more than 20 years, Hmong pepper burgers from one of her sons who own Blueprint Burgers, recently freshly made in her family’s shop. You can get the papaya salad of Reopened the restaurant Quench.
“My heart is inside Maplewood Mall,” said Xiong. “It’s the perfect mall, not too big, not too small.”
Over a year ago, the future of East Metro Mall was in question after its owners filed for bankruptcy. But new owner Brookwood Capital Advisors has revived the nearly 50-year-old shopping mall by leasing space to dozens of local businesses like Xiong.
It also welcomed non-traditional tenants such as medical academies and discount stores, including a Bin Mayhem store due to open this month.
“I really like the way [the mall’s] Maplewood Mayor Marylee Abrams said: “It feels like an incubator.”
Maplewood Mall was built in 1974 and was until recently owned by Washington Prime Group, a spin-off of mall giant Simon Property Group. The pandemic recession forced Washington Prime to file for bankruptcy and sell some properties. In June, Brookwood bought the mall from Washington Prime for his $27.5 million.
Brookwood Capital founder Ben-Wadih Hamd said: “It’s there. And number two, it’s a market with high incomes and well-growing demographics, and I don’t think it’s going anywhere.”
Nashville-based Brookwood is a small, seven-person company that “eats, sleeps, and breathes what you buy,” says Hamdo. The company deals directly with real estate leasing.
“One of our goals was to diversify the retail experience for our customers and bring unique businesses that attract different people and their attention.
Ben Hamd said about 70% was occupied when the group bought the mall. Currently, about 90% to 95% is occupied by many unopened tenants. Brookwood brought in his nearly 30 new businesses. Many are led by entrepreneurs of color or people in the early stages of business.
But like many other Twin Cities malls, traffic at Maplewood Mall is still well below pre-pandemic numbers. His September traffic at Maplewood Mall was down 12% compared to the same period in 2019, according to data firm Placer.ai. Many of the busy malls have recently been updated, but Brookwood has no plans. Extensive renovation of Maplewood Mall.
Terasha Winston, director of the Phlebotomy Academy of Training, is one of Maplewood Mall’s newest tenants. Winston teaches students how to become phlebotomists who draw blood from patients so they can obtain a national certification.
“What is the most common blood type?” Winston asked her class one weekday afternoon.
Along the back wall of the former retail space were fake weapons, face shields and blood collection tubes. Students would think they were in a normal classroom if it weren’t for the occasional shopper walking by the large glass windows with their bags.
Winston said he likes being at the mall because it has free parking and lots of food options for students. Her visibility in the mall also translates into her free advertising, she said.
“Even from the morning, we have received quite a high evaluation from the elderly. [when] they pass by. …the Maplewood Mall community is very supportive,” says Winston.
Xiong, too, is happy to have a new business at the mall. In early October, she reopened her Southeast Asian quick-service restaurant, Quench, after she said it had been forced to close twice in recent years by her former mall owners to give up her place to other tenants. Told.
When Xiong heard that the mall had a new owner this summer, he wrote to Brookwood Capital expressing interest in reopening Quench.
“We are very happy that the new owners have welcomed us with open arms,” Mr Xiong said.
Anthony Abouweid recently opened a Shadow Games trading card store in the mall.
Prior to opening the store, Abousweid was building an online fan base playing a digital card dueling game. He continued to reinvest in his collection and eventually began reselling cards he no longer needed. Abouweid has found that by using the store, he can save money and buy directly from distributors.
Abouweid believes it is the first black-owned official tournament store licensed to host Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game competition.
“It’s a safe place here. Most of my customers are uncomfortable elsewhere,” he said. “It’s important that people feel included.”
Despite the revival, the mall still has challenges to overcome. Sears’ southern anchor spot, which closed in 2018, remains empty. Seritage Growth Properties owns the shuttered Sears and its extensive parking lot. Late last month, Seritage shareholders approved a plan to sell all assets, but it’s still unclear what will happen to the Maplewood space. According to Maplewood city staff, no official plans have been submitted to the city for the site.
The mall’s Facebook posts about new local businesses regularly generate hundreds of likes, which means there are no critics wanting to see more national chains. not.
“This was my daughter’s favorite place to spend time on the weekends. I loved shopping there for her and I. Great clothing like Vanity. I really miss the store.DEB was good too.I love Maurice.
Ben Hamd said his company offers a mix of local and national retailers and plans to continue to do so.
“We just want to keep it full by opening it up to local, national and regional tenants that make sense for existing businesses,” Hamdo said.
Comments
Post a Comment