There is a funeral home now. It is right off E Fish Lake Road. It sits on the the site of Dick Reimers home. He was the Mayor of Maple Grove in the 60′s and I believed once owned the land extending from E Fish Lake Road to where Elm Creek Blvd is now before the construction of 94w.

There is no doubt that the Maple Grove trade area has some of the highest-income households in the metro area, with little upscale competition nearby. The closest affluent shopping center would be Ridgedale, and then Southdale/Galleria, which are each 20+ minutes away. Several major roadways (I-94/694, I-494, County Road 101, County Road 81, County Road 30, Highway 169, future Highway 610, and so on) bisect Maple Grove, making it a very desirable location for residential and commercial construction.

Once the economy picks up again, Maple Grove will once again have its retail capacity. With the opening of the hospital, we will likely see a growth in the medical services industry around The Grove, as well as a wide array of retail/service facilities. The infrastructure there is excellent, and the area median income within 5 miles of The Grove is one of the highest in the Twin Cities area (over $110,000 per household). With the hospital will come doctors, nurses, and other high-paid (read: disposable income) residents who want to live closer to their work. The Grove has had a rocky start (Slumberland and Office Max were doomed from Day One) but I predict that it will be a healthy retail district within the next 5-10 years.

Arbor Lakes is one of the healthiest retail centers in the metro area, and Maple Grove still has remaining retail capacity. As the economy shifts to eliminate stores that consumers do not support, we will see the emergence of new concepts. The situation is akin to the controlled burning of grasslands. Only we’re dictating which stores we no longer see as viable, and watching as new retail concepts enter the consumer market.

I remember shopping at Holiday a few times because it was close to my house, but it was a pretty dumpy store then. Much improved when Cub moved in. In fact, I liked that Cub much better than the Northtown one, which had a strange layout. (They did a big remodeling project since then that did improve things a bit, or else I’ve gotten used to it.)

It was actually in Bloomington, on 84th and Lyndale. One of my first jobs was being an overnight cashier there – ran into some interesting characters, that;s for sure.

The building is still there, but it was changed into a Cub a few years ago.

Re my earlier post #9: Bobby and Steve’s is just one of many potential options for the old MG Target parking lot space. Sonic Burger has also been mentioned as well as a few others. I don’t think anything has been officially proposed yet.

Roundy’s/Rainbow is hurtin’ by most accounts and rumors… so who knows how long that will survive.

The new Office Max by Target/Slumberland/Home Depot is now closed too.

Tim G.