Enjoy all Grand Avenue has to offer on Saturday, December 3rd!

Invite Santa to visit your business for the Grand Meander!

Santa has agreed to join Grand Avenue businesses on December 3rd for the Grand Meander and has a few remaining slots available to stop by your business.

If interested, please complete this form and request your preferred time. As GABA rebuilds our infrastructure, we are asking for businesses to cover the costs of his visit to your location ($100/per location/visit).

Grand Meander and Holiday Gift Guide

Tell us what special offerings your business will hav for Grand Meander and throughout the holiday season and we'll help spread the word and drive traffic to your business! Complete this GABA form and let us promote you! You can also complete this form if you'd like to be included in the Macalester-Groveland Holiday Gift Guide. Please feel free to complete both!

No need to wait until the

Grand Meander to #SHOPSMALL

Start your holiday shopping on Grand and buy local as part of Small Business Saturday on November 26 and keep your dollars in the community.

#SHOPSMALL

Membership Matters!

We are grateful for everyone who is helping to rebuild the Grand Avenue Business Association to support business success and promote our community as a unique destination experience.

Be part of the rebuilding effort. If you haven't already, renew your membership or join today and help implement our new Strategic Plan.

Welcome to new GABA member Pet Evolution who will open in 2023 in the former Creative Kidstuff space. Thank you for your support! Check out their website below and support our local businesses.

Become a GABA Member!

Your eyes are your bodies greatest work of art. Frame them that way!

1089 Grand Avenue

spectacleshoppe.com

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: Spectacle Shoppe

Spectacle Shoppe is an owner-operated eyewear store selling designer and vintage glasses since 1977, including more vintage frames than any store in all of North America, with the top Twin Cities eye doctor on premises.

What do you want people to know about your business?

For two years in a row readers of the Star Tribune have voted us the "Best Optical Shop In All of Minnesota." Our opticians are sent the most complicated prescriptions from other optical stores, prescriptions they can't handle. We have more frames than any store in this entire region of the United States. And we specialize in vintage frames that are so popular Hollywood comes calling when they need glasses for period films.

Why did you choose to locate your business on Grand Ave?

We are the premier eyewear store in the Twin Cities and belong along Saint Paul's premier business district.

Upcoming Dates to Remember

Contact [email protected] for Zoom links

December 3 | Grand Meander

December 5 | GABA Board Meeting | 6:30 pm

December 7 | Grand Old Day Task Force Meeting | 3-4:30 pm

January 19 | GABA Annual Membership Meeting | 4:30 - 6:30 pm

Check out the new mural at Pet Evolution in the former Creative Kidstuff space.

Help rebuild our photo library and promote your business!

Send us your photos of people living, shopping, dining, and enjoying Grand Avenue! Send photos to [email protected] and include a photo credit and we'll feature more imagery in our monthly newsletters and social media.

Important Updates for Grand Avenue Businesses:

Save the date - for the GABA Annual Membership Meeting on January 19, 2023 from 4:30 - 6:30 pm at Iron Ranger. Special thanks to Tom Forti for hosting! GABA membership meeting at 4:30 pm and social hour for everyone from 5:00-6:30 pm.

Grand Old Day 2023 - Plans for Grand Old Day 2023 continue to take shape, but we need your help! The Grand Old Day team is dedicated to the promotion of our individual Grand Avenue businesses. We also realize with the ever-rising cost of security and production we need to access sponsorship dollars from the wider corporate community. While there are many ways your talent could assist the goal of bringing Grand Old Day back, this method of helping provides us access to your sphere and contacts. If you are willing, please complete this short form for us to learn what contacts you may have within the corporate community both within our great state of Minnesota and nationally. Have more than one contact to share? Great - you can submit the form multiple times. We know our collective sphere is stronger than the small team currently charged with soliciting donations. Thanks in advance for your willingness to participate in this work. Much of the time the success of this work is dependent upon a relationship and knowing who and when to ask. May you all have a Grand Day today and tomorrow!

Volunteer for Grand Old Day - Watch for more details to be announced early in 2023. If you want to be part of the planning now, contact us at [email protected]. We look forward to bringing back this great tradition in a new and improved format that supports our members and community!

The State Small Business Credit Initiative - The State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) was part of the American Rescue Act (ARPA) of 2021 and included $10 billion for state, territory, and tribal business finance programs. Minnesota has been approved by the U. S. Department of the Treasury for up to $97 million for small business financing support. Minnesota will receive funds in three disbursements over several years. The initial disbursement from Treasury will be approximately $29.5 million. Learn more and apply for programs that fit your business needs here.

Grand Avenue Reconstruction Project - The City of Saint Paul plans to reconstruct Grand Avenue from Fairview Avenue to Snelling Avenue in 2024. The project includes the demolition and replacement of the pavement, sidewalks, and underground utilities along the corridor. This is the first full reconstruction of this section of Grand Avenue in many decades and presents an opportunity to refresh the historic street to better accommodate all modes of travel to and along the corridor. Learn more at the City webpage for the project here.

Grand Avenue Overlay - View more details on the project and Zoning Study here and see notes of the first committee meeting here.

Summit Bike Lane Update - The City Parks and Recreation department is working on a draft regional trail master plan for an off-street bicycle connection via Summit Avenue Parkway. Visit the project website, Summit Ave. Regional Trail Master Plan for more information. Public comments can still be submitted here.

Grand Avenue in the News...

While we just learned that Grand Avenue Afghani restaurant Khyber Pass recently closed, their space will soon be occupied by Bar Cart Lounge and Restaurant, a new concept created in partnership with Khyber's original owners.

Leathermaker J.W. Hulme returns to its made-in-U.S. heritage - The Grand Avenue store reopened this week after closing for a few weeks for a makeover.

MinnPost featured an opinion piece from Bill Lindeke on Students vs. Cars and options for mitigating it.

Jim Walsh from the Star Tribune writes about the battle lines drawn over bike trail.

On a lighter note, Grand Avenue got a little more exposure recently when an unaccompanied pig strolled the avenue.

New GABA member Sweetgreen Opens on Grand.

READ OUR NEW STRATEGIC PLAN

Grand Avenue Business Association

grandave.com