Photo by Joanna Carina
Minneapolis Club exterior
In certain Minneapolis circles, the seemingly vague expression “Let’s have lunch at the Club” has a very clear meaning. “The Club” means the Minneapolis Club, an exclusive private den since its founding in 1883. Members have traditionally been high rollers—eminent businesspeople and the well-to-do.
The Minneapolis Club’s building, built in 1908, looks like a brick mansion plopped among downtown’s glass office towers. The club’s website offers scant information about the operation. The number of members? The cost of a membership? Nope.
But its age is starting to become a problem. Many younger people dismiss it as a stodgy enclave largely for old white guys. Its membership has been waning over the last decade. The most common mention of the Club in the Star Tribune these days is in obituaries, where it’s noted that the deceased was a member—a detail that underscores its challenges in the 21st century.
Last fall, the Club tapped member Jeff Arundel to rejuvenate and reenergize it. Arundel, who is also a singer-songwriter, has a business mindset. He’s CEO of Lucky Club Entertainment, which operates Aster Cafe, Hideaway Cabin Bar, Jefe Urban Cocina—all in Minneapolis—and two event spaces.
“Our new membership outreach is going to be aimed at younger members, 30 to 45, who are in creative and entrepreneurial businesses who work downtown and/or live downtown,” says Arundel. “By the September launch date, we will have significantly lowered the dues.”
Earlier this year, the Minneapolis Downtown Council reported that the number of downtown residents has now climbed past 53,000 people.
Private clubs traditionally have a steep fee to join, as well as ongoing monthly dues, which can be on par with a hefty second car payment. Arundel says that one of the challenges for the club is that many of its members live in the far-flung western suburbs—they’re folks who don’t stay downtown on evenings or weekends.
He chooses his words carefully and is cautious about revealing too many details about the overhaul before the planned launch or before the drive for new members starts in September. And he declines to disclose the project budget.
“It’s a refresh of how the spaces look and feel, it’s a refresh of the programming, it’s a refresh of the membership outreach, and it’s a total makeover of the business,” he says.
Arundel points to Soho House, which began in London in 1995 and now has 30 locations across the globe, as one inspiration for an updated Minneapolis Club.
“The Soho House was really setting the standard for what a new city club looked like and felt like,” he says. “They have a spectacular house in Chicago.”
Beyond boasting sharp design, Soho House is clearly aimed at a younger, more diverse, and creative crowd. Some of its houses even offer movie theaters.
Arundel says some changes are already in place. He notes that Heather Hannig, the club’s new general manager, is the first woman to hold that title in the club’s history. Hannig brings deep experience in the hospitality industry, including a stint as spa director of Soho House New York.
He says that three local design firms are involved in the project: Anne McDonald Design, Shea Design, and Strand Design. “We are bringing a totally different vibe and feel to the spaces,” he says.
Arundel offers a few clues about what’s to come: a “rock the roof” concert series on top of its parking ramp and residency food and cocktail events. The fitness center will have new equipment, and golf simulators may be added. He says that club assets include 10 hotel/guest rooms and spaces for weddings.
With an eye toward drawing younger creatives and entrepreneurs as members, Arundel says, “We’re going to have a lot of co-working space.”
He’s known the Club since he was a kid. His late father, Edward Arundel, was a prominent lawyer in town and a Club regular for more than 50 years.
“Maybe from the ’30s through the ’80s, this thing was a powerhouse of downtown business and power,” says Arundel of the salad days.
Arundel wants the spaces to have a new feel, but the most important ingredient is a new mindset.
“It’s not so much which new furniture we bought; it’s that it’s a philosophical change,” he says. “That change aligns it with the modern city clubs that are thriving, like Soho House, and who they’re oriented to and who they’re resonating with. It’s a younger, hipper, more vibrant demographic.”
