Patina owners Rick Haase and Christine Ward
Yesterday local chain of stores Patina announced the closure of its Hennepin and Franklin store in Uptown's Lowry Hill neighborhood.
"After over 25 years of doing business in Uptown, we have made the decision to close our Franklin and Hennepin location. In 1995, we originally opened at the corner of 24th and Hennepin, currently Spyhouse Coffee. Several years later in 1997, we moved to the former Kenny's market. We have enjoyed being a part of this vibrant and diverse neighborhood. We are very grateful and appreciative to our loyal customers and staff who have made that location so special. Our south Minneapolis location, at 50th and Bryant, will remain the closest store to serve our Minneapolis customer base. Our last day of business at the Uptown location will be Sunday, August 28th. We thank you for all the support and kindness as we bid Uptown a fond farewell," said the brand's Instagram post.
According to Patina co-owner Christine Ward, her lease's end, combined with the neighborhood's rising crime rate, contributed to the decision.
“It's sad—Uptown isn’t the same Uptown as when we landed there. It was such a vibrant, thriving place for entrepreneurs and small businesses‚ and we vibed off of that," says Ward. "It's obviously very different now."
Over the last couple of years, Ward's noticed its customer base shift and lean in favor of its suburban stores. "Traffic patterns have definitely changed," she says.
The news comes on the heels of another expansion announcement—Patina will open a new Maple Grove store in October at The Fountains at Arbor Lakes shopping center (11501 Fountains Dr.) The new location will span nearly 5,500 square feet (similar in size to its largest store in Woodbury) and mark its fifth suburban store.
When Patina first opened, all of its locations were in the Twin Cities metro area. "We were a city store in these densely populated neighborhoods—that was our formula," says Ward. But after a fire forced her to close the south Minneapolis store for over a year, Ward received an email from a customer, knowing Patina was down a location, asking if they'd ever consider Golden Valley. "We decided to open a store with a much bigger footprint and we saw so much success," says Ward. "It was sort of the impetus to look at this different model."
Ward's hopeful that Uptown will come back. "As to how long that will take, we just don’t know. But right now from a business standpoint we need to keep our customers and staff safe."
In addition to south Minneapolis and Woodbury, Patina operates five other stores in Golden Valley, Eden Prairie, Roseville, and St. Paul's Highland Park and Selby and Snelling neighborhoods.
