50th & France is a commercial district located in the area of West 50th Street and France Avenue South in the cities of Edina and Minneapolis in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It includes over 175 retail shops and offices. Shops include various apparel stores, craft stores, jewelers, restaurants, cafes, spas, salons, and multiplex art-house movie theater. The district is known for more upscale businesses and services. [1] [2] In 2007, a mid-rise condominium building, with units going for well over $1 million, was built on the southwest corner of the intersection.
Construction on a $79 million mixed-use development that included luxury apartments in 2018-2019 may have resulted in the loss of some businesses but new businesses opened to replace many of the closed retail establishment. [3] [2] The potential redevelopment of a city of Edina parking lot in 2019 raised concerns from business owners concerned about the loss of parking reducing visitors to the area. [4]
After the COVID-19 pandemic, many retail districts in the Twin Cities struggled, but 50th and France emerged from the pandemic relatively healthy. The wealthier demographics of Edina and southwest Minneapolis were noted as potential reasons for the success of the district. [5] Demand for smaller retailer spaces was particularly strong after the pandemic. [6] The Edina Cinema closed partially due to the pandemic but after some funding from the city of Edina, the theater reopened as part of Mann Theatres. [7] [8]
Once a year the 50th & France area hosts the Edina Art Fair, which has served as a national showcase for the fine arts since 1966.
The Metro E Line will have a station at 50th and France. The local business association had requested the station be moved to 51st and France but the station was not moved. [9]
Edina is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States and a first-ring suburb of Minneapolis. The population was 53,494 at the 2020 census, making it the 18th most populous city in Minnesota.
Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebranded under its current name with an emphasis on consumer electronics in 1983.
Nicollet Mall is a twelve-block portion of Nicollet Avenue running through Downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is a shopping and dining district of the city, and also a pedestrian mall and transit mall. Along with Hennepin Avenue to the west, Nicollet Mall forms the cultural and commercial center of Minneapolis.
Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Yorkdale Mall, or simply Yorkdale, is a major retail shopping centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located at the southwest corner of the interchange between Highway 401 and Allen Road, it opened in 1964 as the largest enclosed shopping mall in the world. Yorkdale is currently the third largest shopping mall in Canada by floor space and has the highest sales per unit area of any mall in Canada, with current merchandise sales levels at roughly CA$1,905 per square foot. At 18 million annual visitors, it is one of the country's busiest malls. Many international retailers have ventured the Canadian market initially at Yorkdale.
Dayton's was an American department store chain founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1902 by George Draper Dayton. It operated several local high end department stores throughout Minnesota and the Upper Midwest for almost 100 years. Although it was regionally known as a high-quality shopping destination, Dayton's is best remembered for starting the discount shopping chain Target. The company was also instrumental in the history of shopping malls; opening the first indoor shopping mall in the United States, Southdale Center in Edina, Minnesota, in 1956.
Southdale Center is a shopping mall located in Edina, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities. It opened in 1956 and is both the first and the oldest fully enclosed, climate-controlled shopping mall in the United States. Southdale Center has 1,297,608 square feet of leasable retail space, and contains 106 retail tenants. The mall is owned by Simon Property Group and the anchor stores are Macy's, Dave & Buster's, AMC Theatres, Hennepin Service Center, and Life Time Athletic.
The Eden Prairie Center is a mall located in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. It has been managed by Jones Lang LaSalle as of 2020. It is anchored by JCPenney, Kohl's, Target, Von Maur and Scheels Sporting Goods.
Lund Food Holdings, Inc is an American supermarket operator. Headquartered in Edina, it owns the upscale supermarket chain Lunds & Byerlys. The company opened its first supermarkets in the Uptown area of Minneapolis. In 2015, it changed its name from Lunds to Lunds & Byerlys. It operates 28 stores in Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area of Minnesota.
Fulton is a neighborhood in the Southwest community in Minneapolis. Its boundaries are West 47th Street to the north, Penn Avenue South to the east, West 54th Street to the south, and France Avenue South to the west. Fulton is a part of Ward 13, currently represented by Minneapolis City Council member Linea Palmisano.
Gaviidae Common is a mixed-use shopping mall and office complex on Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The first phase of the mall, Gaviidae Common I, opened in 1989 and is adjoined to Gaviidae Common II by a series of skyways. Phase II opened in 1991. A joint venture designed by Argentine American architect César Pelli and Chicago-based Lohan Associates, the mall occupies 443,000-square-foot (41,000 m2) of retail and office space spread across five floors. Following the closure of the mall's food court and several tenants in 2013, the top three floors of Gaviidae Common II were converted into office and recreational space for the adjoining RBC Plaza.
Ridgedale Center, colloquially known as Ridgedale, is an enclosed shopping mall in Minnetonka, Minnesota, a western suburb of the Twin Cities. It is directly located off I-394/US 12 between Ridgedale Drive and Plymouth Road. Ridgedale Center comprises 1,105,337 square feet (100,000 m2) of leaseable retail space, and contains approximately 140 retail tenants. It is currently jointly owned by Brookfield Properties and CBRE Group, and managed by Brookfield. The anchor stores are JCPenney, Nordstrom, Macy's, and Dick's House of Sport.
FuncoLand was an American video game retailer based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, that specialized in selling new and used video game software. It is considered the first major video game retailer to allow consumers to sell and trade used video games. The chain's parent company Funco Inc. was established in the home of David R. Pomije in 1988, initially as a leaser of video games to video stores, and then as a mail-order business specializing in used video games. Upon the success of this venture, Pomije moved Funco to a Minneapolis warehouse, and began opening FuncoLand retail outlets nationwide.
Southtown Center, colloquially known as Southtown, is a regional shopping mall in Bloomington, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities. Southtown Center consists of 534,650 square feet (50,000 m2) of retail space. The center contains 38 retail tenants and is anchored by AMF Bowling Centers, Bed Bath & Beyond (closing), Kohl's, and TJ Maxx.
France Avenue is a major street in Minneapolis, Edina, and Bloomington, with shorter segments in several other suburbs in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metro area.
Edina Library is a branch of Hennepin County Library serving Edina, Minnesota, United States.
Minneapolis City Center is a mixed-use shopping mall on Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It opened in 1983 and occupies the bottom three floors of the 33 South Sixth office building. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Minneapolis City Center contains 250,000 square feet (23,000 m2) of leasable retail space. The mall was built around the pre-existing Forum Cafeteria restaurant. The building is adjacent to the Marriott Hotel City Center and connected to the Gaviidae Common shopping mall.
The Metro E Line is a planned bus rapid transit route in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and Edina. The route will operate from Southdale Center Transit Center in Edina, Minnesota to Westgate station in Saint Paul. Running mostly on France Avenue, Hennepin Avenue, and University Avenue, the line will serve major destinations such as Southdale Center, Fairview Hospital, 50th & France, Linden Hills, Uptown, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Downtown Minneapolis, Dinkytown, the University of Minnesota, and Prospect Park. The route will have "train-like" features to speed up service and improve reliability, such as signal priority, bus lanes, all-door boarding, further stop spacing, and specialized vehicles. In 2019 planning and design were underway, with construction slated for 2023 and operations beginning a year later but that timeline has been moved back. The E Line would largely replace Route 6 which carries 9,000 trips each weekday. The project was fully funded with $60 million by the state of Minnesota in 2021 and is expected to open in 2025.
Ultra Outlets of Medford is an outlet center located in Medford, Minnesota about 55 miles south of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota Metropolitan Area. Originally opened as Medford Outlet Center in 1991, it was the first outlet center to open in Minnesota. It includes retailers such as Old Navy, Eddie Bauer, Bath & Body Works, Maurices, Famous Footwear and a variety of local businesses. For a brief time the outlet center was known as Preferred Outlets of Medford until it reverted to its original name in 2011. Since 2015, the center has lost a significant amount of National and regional tenants, and could be considered a ‘dead’ mall.
Walkin' Dog was an American hot dog stand located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Owned by Dave Magnuson, the restaurant had been located inside the first floor food court of the Northstar Center office complex from 1991 to 2023, though it relocated to a different retail space within the same building in 2021. The restaurant's menu consisted of mostly hot dogs, made with Vienna sausage and including Chicago-style, in addition to nachos, pretzels, and ice cream. It was frequently cited by local publications as one of the most affordable dining options in the Minneapolis Skyway System.
HOM Furniture is a privately owned American furniture retailer with 17 stores in the Midwestern United States. HOM's corporate headquarters are in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, where approximately 300 of its 950 total employees work as of 2024.