The future is hazy for Roseville's HarMar Mall
What's happening with HarMar Mall?
Back in its heyday, HarMar Mall was a community hub, filled with local, family-owned businesses and people of all ages mingling, shopping, dining out, and enjoying entertainment. Those days are long gone, but not forgotten. Roseville residents frequently reminisce about the good old days on social media, sharing photos and stories of what HarMar Mall used to be and wondering what will become of the increasingly empty retail center.
HarMar Mall, named for and built by Harold and Marie Slawik, was one of the first enclosed malls in the country when it opened in 1963. It’s located at Snelling Ave and County Rd B, Roseville’s busiest intersection. The mall has changed owners multiple times over the years. Most recently, the mall was sold to Texas-based Fidelis Realty Partners for $50 million in 2022. Instead of revitalization, shops and restaurants have trickled out, leaving vacant storefronts and the occasional pop-up Spirit Halloween.
"We love HarMar. I don’t know what I would do on a Friday night without it,” Roseville resident Wendy Johnson said.
She and her her sister have enjoyed spending several hours shopping at Home Goods and Marshalls, before grabbing dinner at Smash Burger and finishing the night by reading at Barnes & Noble.
“She will text me and say, ‘Are we closing down HarMar tonight?’” Johnson said.
Unfortunately, both Smash Burger and Home Goods have left HarMar. On Wednesday, April 30, Subway joined the exodus, abruptly closing its doors. The sandwich shop was in the process of being cleaned out on May 1.
Of the 58 retail spaces in HarMar, just 23 appear to be currently leased by an operating business. While the remaining stores are bright and busy, the interior concourse contains only echoes of its former hustle and bustle.
The Roseville Reader reached out to Fidelis Realty Partners to find out about any potential redevelopment in the works. The Fidelis website says “plans for redevelopment of HarMar Mall to improve visibility, access, and the overall shopping experience are under consideration.”
John Clinksales, Fidelis leasing director, said any potential redevelopment would be handled by JLL Property Management going forward. He would not otherwise comment. JLL also manages, leases, and markets Rosedale Center. HarMar Mall is not currently listed on JLL’s website, but there’s a JLL Retail For Lease sign hanging out front. The Roseville Reader reached out, but JLL declined to comment for this story.
Retailer experience
“HarMar was such a staple in Roseville, and it's really tough seeing how it has changed so much over the last few years,” said Dani Jamie, a manager of one of the longtime stores at HarMar. “It's been very difficult to remain optimistic about the mall with how run down and empty it is!”
The Roseville Reader agreed to keep the store’s name out of this article, at Jamie’s request.
Kathleen Fuery, owner of Merle Norman Cosmetics, has operated out of HarMar Mall for 33 years and has seen a lot of change.
“When it was a locally owned mall is when it thrived,” Fuery said.
From her perspective, mall management wants HarMar to survive and is putting money into its upkeep. In Fuery’s experience, shoplifting and the challenges of hiring quality employees has driven a lot of stores and restaurants away. HarMar lost several businesses after Covid hit too. Some of the stores, such as Home Goods and Schuler Shoes moved to other locations in Roseville.
Both Fuery and Jamie explained that many stores have chosen to close off interior mall access, because it became too difficult to monitor two entrances for potential theft.
“We get a lot of mall walkers, but they aren’t buying anything,” Fuery said.
Given the current economy and what’s going on in the world, Fuery is skeptical that anyone would want to open a store now. She hasn’t seen a new store come into HarMar for years.
“I’m paying the highest rent I’ve ever paid with the lowest foot traffic,” Fuery said. Still, she’s reluctant to move her business since it could risk losing her loyal customers.
Neither retailer has heard about any plans for redevelopment or revitalization communicated by mall management.
The city’s role in retail revitalization
When Roseville developed its 2040 Comprehensive Plan, the city solicited feedback from community members about areas of the city that were considered opportunities for redevelopment or revitalization. HarMar Mall was one of them. The Comprehensive Plan serves to guide land use decisions over the next twenty years and inform the city’s regulations in anticipation of a changing market.
“This thought isn’t necessarily because the city wants it to change, but rather the market for this type of development is becoming obsolete given what has been happening with other strip mall centers,” Janice Gundlach, Roseville’s community development manager, told the Roseville Reader.
The city is not aware of any plans for future redevelopment of HarMar and has little influence over which companies lease space there or how the property owner manages the mall.
“We’ve made sure the owner knows the city is available to address any questions they may have on any potential plans to revitalize the mall and do what we can to ensure our regulations are not prohibiting progress,” Gundlach said.
Typically the only way the city would be aware that a store or restaurant was opening or leaving is when an architect, engineer or some other construction professional inquires about city regulations or whether certain improvements require a construction-type permit. If major renovation or development were proposed, the city would likely know in advance.
There have been no inquiries into permits or regulations regarding renovations or new construction at HarMar in the last six months.
Zoning for future development
The HarMar Mall land area is zoned for community mixed use, which is designed to encourage the development or redevelopment of centers that may include residential, office, commercial, civic and institutional, utility and transportation, park, and open space uses.
“The Comprehensive Plan’s goal is for Community Mixed Use areas to incorporate residential land uses accounting for at least 10% of the overall mixed‐use area,” according to the city’s zoning code.
This means, the HarMar Mall area could, in theory, be redeveloped to include some multi-unit housing. However, Gundlach said that converting existing retail space into apartments is unlikely given building code requirements. Hypothetically, the owners of HarMar could construct a new apartment building.
“But that doesn’t mean HarMar gets carte blanche to do whatever they want when adding apartments to the property. The city has regulations regarding density, setbacks, building height, exterior building materials, parking, etc. which they would have to meet,” Gundlach said.
Remembering the past, dreaming of the future
Roseville residents are buzzing with ideas for what they wish would come to HarMar.
Meaghan Kaufenberg dreams of an indoor playground, similar to Eagle’s Nest in New Brighton, with affordable prices for single-income families. She would love a place to take her three young kids locally that’s easy to access and keeps the child-parent experience front and center.
As a senior citizen herself, Shelly Olberding envisions housing for seniors who are downsizing from their homes, “with walkable coffee shops, bakery, and maybe a brewery,” she said.
Gina Guion-Petschauer wishes it could go back to how it was in the ‘80s. She fondly remembers the arcade, Fanny Farmer Candy Store, the fountain outside of B Dalton Bookseller, and a lively, musical pizza restaurant called Cicero’s.
“I’m not saying like, let’s just rebuild HarMar 1983, but . . . there’s someone out there just crazy enough to,” she said.
“HarMar was such a lively place when we moved here in 1985. Our kids used to trick-or-treat there and we would take them to Professors for ice cream,” Mike McCormick said.
The neighborhood is hoping for a miracle. HarMar Mall has been a fixture of Roseville community life for decades and residents are still holding out hope for a comeback.
More about HarMar Mall
Some Har Mar retailers left out of mall’s plans (Pioneer Press, September 2007)
Roseville trek: Retracing the path of ’81’s Har Mar tornado (MinnPost, July 2016)
Texas company buys Roseville’s Har Mar Mall for $50 million (Bring Me the News, Sept. 2022)
HarMar Mall: Dead or Alive?
A tour of HarMar Mall in 2021, with voiceover narration of the mall’s history and how it has changed over the years:
This is the kind of excellent, hyper-local reporting that I am here for. Great job, Naomi! Sad to see what HarMar has become. Having grown up in Roseville, I have so many wonderful memories from HarMar. It's too bad it has become a literal shell of its former glory.