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The popular Soderbergh’s Floral & Gifts abruptly closed this week, hitting customers hard and ending its nearly 100-year run on Lake Street in Minneapolis.
“Sorry!! We are closed. We hope to be back soon,” the company’s website posted this week.
With 30 workers now out of work, the region is still recovering from the 2020 riots and is lacking a business pillar.
The Soderbergs have been “a really important stable presence in this community for a long time and good supporters of the community. They invest in the neighborhood and provide donations and financial support to organizations like ours. ” said Lake Street Executive Director Alison Sharkey. the council said.
The store is one of three 100-year-old local businesses on Lake Street. Ingebretzen and Schatzlein Saddle Shop, a western retailer that closed in fall 2022, are the only two companies in this position, Sharkey said.
Customers and community groups have helped Soderbergh revitalize Minneapolis’ Longfellow neighborhood, help nearby businesses survive the 2020 riots, and support the Minnesota Twins, the University of Minnesota, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Excel Center, and Meat.・He pointed out that the company has been supplying flowers to Minneapolis for many years. Convention office.
But after decades of operating as a bustling commercial and retail flower shop, this sunny yellow building at 3305 East Lake Street, with all its flowers painted on it, now has an eerie appearance. It’s so quiet now.
Podcast producer Sheretta Brundidge, who orders about $20,000 worth of flowers from Soderberg’s every year, said when she called Tuesday to order flowers for an injured friend, she was told “The business is closed.” ”, he said, and was shocked.
“I heard that the owner was an 80-year-old man. His children came in with power of attorney and apparently closed the entire store. They didn’t inform anyone,” she said. “They are hiring [dozens] “I was between the florist, the driver, and the receptionist,” everyone said in shock.
Brundidge said he would like to hire some of Soderbergh’s employees, but said he was disappointed the business had to close. Their flower arrangements were “really well done,” she said, and the Soderbergs have often given back, such as donating flowers to community events such as Black Entrepreneurs Day at the state Capitol. Stated.
Store managers declined to comment. The owner’s family, Howard O’Neill, who ran the business in St. Cloud for several years, could not be reached for comment. Officials at Lighthouse Management Group, the new firm handling Mr. Soderbergh’s case, did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.
Harry Soderbergh opened his flower shop at 2707 East Lake Street in 1925 and moved it to its current location in 1932. Harry and his wife Mildred operated the store until his 1976, when he sold it to employees Lyle and Carol Blair. The Blair family ran the business for 29 years.
Neighboring businesses noted that Soderbergh’s business was affected by the riots that followed the killing of George Floyd in May 2020. Looters smashed store windows and set fire to nearby businesses.
Owners and employees of Precision Tune, Sonora Grill, Soderberg’s and Walgreens said they banned the area en masse, hired additional security, worked with residents and everyone took turns guarding the streets.
But the vandals of 2020 won. They burned down a Walgreens store a block away. Soderbergh survived, but business slowed as retail customers moved away from the area and the pandemic canceled most events for 18 months.
Other customers and nearby businesses said they hope a new owner can be found to keep the deeply established business afloat.
“I’m interested to see what happens next, and I really hope we can reopen,” Sharkey said.
Conrado Badilla, owner of Sonora Grill, said he is also hopeful that a new owner will be found. He said lunchtime business is good and the economy on Lake Street is improving.
“I heard about it yesterday,” Badira said. “They’re great. They give us business. We give them business. This is a neighborhood deal.”
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