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By Andrew Wig, SunCurrent
As redevelopment in Richfield's unofficial downtown area progresses, the city's oldest liquor store is trying to keep up.
Addressing an aging building, Richfield City Council unanimously approved an $800,000 renovation for the city-owned liquor store at 6444 Lyndale Ave.
With the area's new features - including the recently opened LA Fitness and adjacent new commercial space, the planned Lyndale Gardens development and an under-construction apartment complex - an anticipated influx of new customers to the shop was one factor prompting the upgrade.
It has been 30 years since the Lyndale shop last received a major update, according to a city staff report, which adds that the building's deteriorating state and dated look has become unappealing to customers. The outlet is the oldest of Richfield's municipal liquor stores. However, it recently received a new roof and heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, according to Bill Fillmore, city liquor operations director.
The newest upgrades will include exterior work such as new soffit and fascia lighting replacement and landscaping improvements, along with miscellaneous concrete work.
Inside, customers will notice the most conspicuous change when they look up: The current ceiling tiles will be removed, giving way to an "open ceiling," with exposed joists and ventilation system. The floor also gets a new look, with polished concrete replacing the current carpet.
Additionally, entry doors will be replaced to be compliant with the American with Disabilities Act, while the project aims to increase the building's energy efficiency by installing new power-friendly lighting, plus energy-efficient glass at the south and east windows.
The new windows will be installed above a new "knee wall," a 2.5- to 3-foot interior wall topped with a ledge. The current windows extend almost to the ground; the remodeled store will instead feature a brick face abutting the bottom of the glass, again intended to provide greater energy efficiency while improving aesthetic appeal, the staff report says.
When renovation is finished the shop will also feature a new, expanded cooler complete with black shelving to be accompanied by LED lights. With that lighting and color combination, "the product will almost look like it's floating there," Fillmore said.
All the work is meant to bring the municipal liquor store up to speed with market demands, providing the "modern and today kind of look, and kind of interior that today's shoppers want in a facility like that," City Manager Steve Devich said during the Oct. 9 council meeting.
Devich noted that Richfield "for many years" boasted the No. 1 municipal liquor operation in the state, and that the store on Lyndale Avenue near 66th Street was once the city's top-selling outlet. But the closing of Kmart and the Lyndale Garden Center hurt sales.
Now, the city's liquor store at 66th Street and Cedar Avenue is the city's top store, bringing in about 19,000 customers a month, according to Fillmore. The store receiving the upgrade attracts about 16,000 customers a month, but Fillmore believes once the current streak of redevelopment in its vicinity is complete, sales at the remodeled store will rival that of the outlet near Cedar.
"I think there will be a lot of synergy and a lot more activity in the area," Fillmore said.
Even now, the shop in the evolving area is the No. 2 liquor store in the city. Behind it, the location at 64th Street and Penn Avenue attracts 15,000 customers a month, while the store at 77th Street and Lyndale Avenue brings in 6,000 customers per month, according to Fillmore.
The northerly Lyndale Avenue store will be gutted when remodeling work, based off a Wold Architects design, begins, as anticipated, in January. Work is expected to take six weeks. During that time, customers will be directed to one of Richfield's other municipal liquor stores, which employ 10 full-time and 50 part-time workers.
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