Kiger's Notebook

New salon concept ready to launch in south Rochester

A new twist on hair salons is ready to roll into south Rochester.

Austin and Kari Lucas are setting up a Sola Salon Studios franchise in 5,200 square feet of space in Shoppes on Maine. Sola Salon is taking most of the strip of empty spots along the north side of the complex that houses MGM Liquors and the former Best Buy store.

The concept is more like a mall than a traditional beauty salon. It will be a collection of 26 private studios that will be available for lease by licensed stylists and professionals in related fields. Three sizes of models will be available.

"We're not in the salon business," explained Austin Lucas. "We're in the business of putting people into business."

Each studio is its own independent operation with its own name, retail products, prices and hours.

"They keep all of the money. They can start their own salon without any of the usual headaches of starting a business," he said. "This is several steps further than stylists renting a chair, like you see in many salons."

If everything goes as planned, construction should begin soon. The hope is to have the studios ready for tenants by early to mid-summer.

Besides a space, Sola Salon provides the hydraulic chairs, sinks and whatever other basic equipment that is needed.

Access to the studios is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That allows the tenants to be open when they want to work.

Three Sola Salon Studios are open in the Twin Cities, and two others are under construction. This will be the first one outside of the metro area.

Flurry of activity at forlorn, orphan lot

So a sharp-eyed reader recently spotted a crew quickly putting up a security fence around the forlorn and often forgotten parking lot without a development, Willow Creek Market at south 48th Street, across U.S. 63 from Shoppes on Maine.

After about six or seven years without any activity, a new fence definitely caught my attention.

When checking it out, i.e. snooping, I spotted some new cars parked in a corner of the lot. When I realized that all of the vehicles were made by Mercedes, the light bulb finally clicked on over my head and this thought bubble soon joined it.

"Hhhmmm... the new Mercedes of Rochester dealership that is getting close to opening across the highway still has its lot full of construction machines. But they would need to be bringing in inventory to prepare for the opening…"

It seems a safe bet that Mercedes is staging its cars on the lonesome orphan lot, while construction wraps up.

Temporary or not, the activity seems positive for the site. Rochester's Hamilton Real Estate is the listing the property these days.

Shoppes on Maine poised for growth as Mercedes readies for opening

While downtown and the northwest quadrant of the city have been seeing a lot of action in recent months, one shouldn't forget southwest Rochester.

The sprawling Shoppes on Maine commercial development on Rochester's South Broadway may not be exploding with growth, but it seems to be bubbling along.

It was car dealership Rochester Toyota that first put what was an empty field on the map in 2006. And now another dealership, Mercedes-Benz of Rochester, is gearing up to hit the gas again for the area that I once labeled as "Rochester 2.0." Yeah, I know… Sometimes I'm a little over dramatic. Heh.

Anyway, look for the lights to go on inside the shiny glass walls, and the doors of the dealership to open in late March.

That should bring in more traffic to that area and, in turn, attract the interest of more businesses.

Look for Cherry Berry frozen yogurt to sweeten the deal as a new franchise should start serving in the strip center in front of Lowe's. It will be next to Portrait Innovations, which is a photo studio that is going strong since opening in 2008. I recently messed up and misreported that it wasn't open. It is very open and seems pretty busy, too. I'm sorry about that.

Miracle Ear is also very active in the Minnesota Lakes Dental building. It recently moved out of the Sears store in Apache Mall to join the Shoppes on Maine mix.

Of course, there have been some places, such as the more than 30,000-square-foot Best Buy store and the nearby Mattress Firm store, that have emptied recently.

However, one of my sharp-eyed spies let me know last week that the "For Lease" sign has been taken off of the ex-Best Buy, and lights were on inside.

Does that mean a deal is starting to surge to plug in a new business there? I'm not sure, but I'll keep an eye on it.

Mercedes shifting into high gear to build Med City dealership

I popped out to the groundbreaking at the new Mercedes-Benz car dealership Monday morning. They have done an amazing amount of work in less than a week out there. The dirt is really flying.

While out there, I had a flashback to September, 2006 when I went to another groundbreaking for a car dealership out there at the Shoppes on Maine area. That was before Target, before Lowe's, before Wherenberg and before my mustace went gray.

That groundbreaking was for the Rochester Toyota dealership owned by Rob Gregory.

Coming back to the present, here's some on the Merecedes groundbreaking:

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Construction of a new Mercedes-Benz car dealership is shifting into high gear in south Rochester as it drives toward a goal of opening sometime in March.

The Ballweg Family of Dealerships is moving its Mercedes dealership from Wausau, Wis., to a spot at Shoppes on Maine near Target South and Rochester Toyota.

Officials from Ballweg and Mercedes were at the site Monday for a ceremonial groundbreaking as big machinery roared by moving dirt in the background.

Ballweg CEO Jason Brickl says the project is moving forward quickly because of interest in Mercedes in Rochester.

"They did a market study and Rochester looked incredibly appealing," he says.

Jack Holt, Mercedes' franchise manager for the central region, said the company's research found that this location looks very promising.

"We think Rochester is the right place to be and we think we have the right partner in Ballweg," he says. "We think this will be great."
Already, area customers have been calling to inquire when the dealership will open.

"We've never had that kind of interest this early in a project before," he says.

Rochester has been without a new Mercedes dealership since about 1998.

Brickl expects to hire between 20 to 25 employees to staff the 21,000-square-foot dealership. It will have nine service bays. He has already brought in a general manager to run the Rochester operation.

Beyond Mercedes' well known line of vehicles, this dealership will also offer its smart brand of mini and micro cars and its line of Sprinter commercial vans.

Once open, Ballweg's Rochester dealership will keep between 100 to 150 new and used vehicles on display.

South Best Buy store to close May 12

Employees at Rochester's south Best Buy store were told this morning that the store will close on May 12.

The store is closed temporarily this morning, but will re-open Sunday for regular hours until the May closing.

The store was built and opened in the Shoppes on Maine commercial development in September 2008.

This is part of the closing of 50 stores the company previously announced as a move to strenghten the struggling Big Box retailer.

Best Buy also has a Big Box store in northwest Rochester and a mobile phone store in the Apache Mall.

Thanks to Josh Banks of Banks Photos for the pic.

Old Navy opening in new home NOW

After whirlwind of activity, Old Navy is opening the doors of its new south Rochester store in just a few minutes

It is expected to open at 5 p.m. tonight.

Its new 15,000-square-foot home is nestled between Dick's Sporting Goods and Maurice's in the Shoppes on Maine development. That's on the south edge of Rochester.

The move truly began when its long-time store near Wal-Mart South closed for the day Tuesday. It didn't re-open Wednesday morning and now it is just an empty shell as Old Navy is buzzing in its new Rochester home.

Store Manager Mark Turany says the store will celebrate its grand opening on Saturday with activities, face-painting and lots of specials.

Old Navy flag flying at new south store

The signs are there.

It looks like Old Navy is on track to dock in its new south Rochester spot by the expected Nov. 16 date.

Old Navy is moving into the 15,000-square-foot slot between Dick's Sporting Goods and Maurice's in the commercial strip anchored by Rochester's south Target store.

That spot has been empty since the center opened in 2007.

Old Navy is moving out of its current 21,700-square-foot store on South Broadway. It opened there in 2001 in the then-new Broadway Commons Shopping Center.

Still no word on who might be moving into that spot, once it opens up.

Thanks to Josh Banks for snapping this pic.

Mayo Credit Union to head south

Here's some my column in today's holiday paper about the Mayo Employees Credit Union pulling the trigger on the plan they announced more than years ago to build a new branch in Rochester 2.0, Shoppes On Maine.

More than four years after the plans were announced, the Mayo Employees Credit Union is gearing up to build a new branch in southeast Rochester.
The plan is to deposit a 6,000-square-foot branch between the south Super Target complex and the Rochester Toyota dealership.

That's in the Shoppes on Maine development on the far south side of the Med City.

While it will be a similar design, this branch will be slightly larger than Mayo Credit Union's branch at 41st Street Northwest and West Circle Drive.

This is a project that was first proposed in 2007 when the Target store was still under construction and Shoppes on Maine was still new.

The Mayo Employees Credit Union bought the land to build the branch for $1.45 million on March 20, 2007.

Now four years later, Bryan Anderson of Mayo Clinic says it is expected that the branch will be completed and open by the spring of 2012.

New kid + Shoppes on Maine - Roch. 2.0 - neighborhood

Cruising around the Shoppes on Maine development (also known as Rochester 2.0) Wednesday morning I spotted something new glinting in the sun.

An American Family Insurance sign at the end of the new commercial building across for the Galaxy theater. This is the first business to move in there.

The Marny Billings Agency - American Family Insurance opened Monday. I had a a chat with Marny and she seemed very happy with her decision to be a first adopter in the building.

"It is a great location," she said with a smile. "It is retail heaven out here."

And since Billings lives in Stewartville, it is convenient for her.

I'll have a bit more in my print column Monday.

Maurice's on move, aerie to land

Maurice’s, a women’s clothing store in the Rochester Apache Mall has a move — or two — coming up.

In February, it will temporarily move into the former Ann Taylor Loft store space in the mall.

That will open Maurice’s current spot for the lower-cased aerie by American Eagle to open. 

It is an “intimates or dormwear” store aimed at 15- to 25-year-old girls. It should open by April.

Maurice’s will move again in the spring once the 4,057-square-foot store front that used to house Catherine’s is revamped for its needs.