Suburban Square: A Phoenix From the Ashes

In May 2009, a fire roared through Suburban Square shopping center, causing substantial smoke and water damage to both the main floor and the basement. But like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Suburban Square has emerged with a new look and vitality.

Located on Shady Oak Road where Mainstreet ends, the mall is enjoying good occupancy levels and business is good for the tenants.

“It was decided to rebuild the entire mall,” said Ed Hanlon of Edina Realty, who has leased the property for nearly a dozen years. “Except for the original brick walls and cement floor, everything is pretty much new from the mechanical to the outside appearance.”

The site has a deep history. Rick Johnson, of B. J. Johnson Limited Partnership, owns the mall. His father built the original mall in 1964.

“The original land was owned by my grandmother, and my dad had a Super Valu store on part of that and decided a mall would work well in that location,” Johnson said.

The 2009 fire started in a store that sold surplus, similar to a Dollar Store, Hanlon said. Damage spread through the mall, and rebuilding took a year to complete.

“Now the mall is completely updated and also very green with efficient HVAC, insulation and other energy saving features,” Johnson said.

Several tenants have taken up shop Suburban Square in recent months—including , Tonka Cycle and Ski and Heidi’s Elite Pet Grooming.

“We decided on Suburban Square because the space offered to us was perfect, the rent was what we had projected and there is a lot of drive-by traffic on Shady Oak Road,” said Heidi Baroun, owner of the pet grooming business. “The majority of our business comes from drive-by customers.”

Baroun started the business in March and says it is “booming.”

“I thought there would just be a couple of us working in here, but I have four full-time and one part-time groomers,” she said.

Dan LeSage, who has the Dunn Bros. Franchise, called the location "outstanding." He loves the location both because of the high volume of traffic on Shady Oak Road and the ample parking.

“We expect to be here for a very long time,” LeSage said.