Wednesday, November 3, 2010

A Big Announcement: Peapods is Moving!

We are excited to announce that Peapods will be moving in January to a bigger (and in many ways, better!) location at 2290 Como Avenue West in St. Paul. We will remain at our current location through the Holidays.

The new store will be about 50% bigger than our current store, so we'll have even more room for new products and increased selection. What's more, we'll have some great new neighbors. Within one block of our new store is Bibelot gifts, Micawbers Books Store, a branch of the St. Paul Public Library with a special children's book collection, a Dunn Brothers Coffee Shop, the Finnish Bistro and Bakery, a post office, a great neighborhood grocery store, and the Muffaletta Restaurant. There's also two great city parks within easy walking distance.

We'll be easy to get to, too. We're about 3/4 east of Highway 280 on Como, just a hop skip and a jump from I-94 and Highway 36.

Our store will be in the old Saint Anthony Park Harware Store building, which we've purchased and are now busy renovating. With our lease expiring at our current location, we really wanted to own our next building so that we could strengthen our roots in the community, make investments to improve the sustainability of our business, and to ensure the long term viability of our family business.

We've always felt very much at home here in Macalester-Groveland. And, while we're excited about our new store, we're sad to be leaving the neighborhood that's nurtured us so well for 12 years. We simply couldn't find a suitable building to buy anywhere nearby. In many ways, this feels like we are closing our current store and opening something new. We are extremely thankful to all of our current neighbors and we hope you'll visit us often in our new store.

We've been working on this project for over a year; getting our finances in order, looking at buildings, and then long months completing all the work that goes into buying a commercial building, which is about 200 times more work than buying a house.

Over the next two months, we'll be pounding nails, painting, sanding, and scraping to prepare our new space (during the Holiday season no less!) So, if you see us with saw dust in our hair or paint on our clothes, that'll be why.

Millie building new basement stairs, Dan framing in a new restroom.

Finally, we'd like to thank our Realtor, Steve Townley, who stood by us throughout the 6 months it took to complete this transaction; Park Midway Bank, which provided our financing; and Stew and Kathy McIntosh, the previous owners of the hardware store, who allowed us to begin work several weeks before we closed the purchase.

Thank you to all of our customers! We think you'll really love our new store!

7 comments:

kittywhumpus said...

Congratulations! That's a great neighborhood, still close-by. Looking forward to it.

Anonymous said...

Yay!

Maria said...

That's an exciting announcement! (I saw the banner on the store and felt compelled to check your blog for details). Great choice of neighborhood! We look forward to visiting you there. Best of luck with all the store renovations--I wish you few surprises and steady progress.

Lea said...

Yay for more space!!!!!!!!

Lori Karis, Sweet Cheeks Baby Food said...

Wow! Congratulations, that's exciting and wonderful news. All the best.

Minnesotagal said...

I was so sad to see the hardware store close and wondered what would become of that beautiful building. I'm thrilled that you're moving in and even more excites that you'll be closer to home. I love that neighborhood - you'll fit in perfectly!

Anonymous said...

Congrats and best wishes for a smooth transition. Only you two would take on this adventure during the busiest season !! You'll be a welcome addition to this great neighborhood.
Jill PS