Minneapolis / St. Paul Shopping?

I'm going to be traveling to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area soon. I had seen some threads earlier about shopping there, but they're all pretty dated so I thought I'd ask anew. Are there any great "staples" for shopping (thinking RL, NM, BB, maybe some discount stores [Marshall's, TJ Maxx, Nordstrom Rack] etc)? Where are they located? I'll be primarily in the cities, but a trip to the suburbs could be managed.

Thanks!

For tailored and classics, hit Neiman Marcus and Hubert White in Minneapolis. Heimie's Haberdashery in St Paul and Judd Frost in Wayzata. For streetwear, Len Druskin in Edina and Intoto in Uptown (Minneapolis) are tops in my book. Have fun!

Originally Posted by Nataku

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For tailored and classics, hit Neiman Marcus and Hubert White in Minneapolis. Heimie's Haberdashery in St Paul and Judd Frost in Wayzata.

For streetwear, Len Druskin in Edina and Intoto in Uptown (Minneapolis) are tops in my book.


Have fun!

Nice! Those seem like solids. Does Heimie's sell things at a reasonable rate? I didn't find much info on their website. Do the NM/HW stores ever sell things for cheap, or are sales pretty rare?

Know of any good outlets for dressier stuff? When I searched I saw something called "Albertville" online but it doesn't seem to have too much in it.

There have got to be some more people from that area on here -- want to make the most of my trip!

Bump. Does anybody else know of other places?

Hate to say it, but unless you are looking for canoe gear, that is about it.

It's also getting to be that I cannot swing a dead cat in this town and not hit a North Face store.

Hymies is very good. Some of the thrift stores (Value Thrift and Unique) sometimes hold bargains. Brooks Bros is in the Downtown Minneapolis Skyway and there is an Allen Edmonds about to open next door.

Nordstroms (Mall of America) has declared an attempt to fill in the gap for higher-end Men's clothes as Macys is now competing with Kohl's and Target, but have not been there as of yet to report.

I think in addition to the normal Saks and NM, there is an Off 5th and a Last Call downtown. Also, there is a Nordstrom Rack at MoA.

As for Albertville, it's probably not worth the drive all the way out there if you're downtown. I haven't been there in a while, but IIRC they got rid of the Brooks Brothers store and RL Polo and a Banana Republic are about the only noteworthy shops. Both normally have pretty basic inventories.

Yeah, I forgot about NM Last Call and Off 5th - both are in Gaviidae Commons on Nicollet Mall. Both are hit or miss.

NM and Hubert White do have occasional sales. For NM, your best bet is their LC store (located in the same mall as the main store) for the bargains. Hubert White has no real clearance outlet, so you can find some great deals during their in-store sales.

Nordstroms has indeed upped the quality of their stock within the past year (compared to what it used to be). Some SF approved stuff that they carry are Santoni and Allen Edmonds shoes, Talbott Seven-Fold ties, Duchamp ties, mainline Zegna and I think they now carry Canali. Check out the Nordstrom Rack stores for the bargains. These stores too are very hit or miss.

Albertville is a waste of time. From MSP it's about a 1 to 1 1/2 hr drive. It's your basic Gap/Old Navy/Coach/ BR outlet mall. The Polo RL outlet store has held great bargains, though. I've found some RLPL and RRL items in there for dirt cheap in the past. With that said, out of 200-some stores the RL store is the only one worth looking at. The Levis outlet no longer carries any of the higher-end lines like Capitol E, LVC and the like.

Originally Posted by steveoly

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As for Albertville, it's probably not worth the drive all the way out there if you're downtown. I haven't been there in a while, but IIRC they got rid of the Brooks Brothers store and RL Polo and a Banana Republic are about the only noteworthy shops. Both normally have pretty basic inventories.

I know the manager of the PRL outlet in Albertville and they rarely get anything noteworthy...frankly it's not worth your drive out there.

mall of america also has a nordstrom rack.

I was there a couple weeks ago. Didn't get to venture around too much but did stop off at Nordstrom Rack and pick up a pair of AE Bel Air's and a pair of chocolate brown Canali cap toes.

Nice! Sounds like downtown is the place to go. I looked up some of these places -- is Nicollet Mall the place to go when I'm in Minneapolis? Seems like it's got a fair amount of shops and restaurants.

Nicollet Mall is good and has nice bars and restaurants, as is Uptown (Hennepin Ave and Lake St.) for poking around, good food and access to the lakes. The Tin Fish is a great little place to eat on Lake Calhoun. Downtown St. Paul is pretty in parts, but quiet after 5pm. Selby Ave east of Dale in St Paul has some nice watering holes (Muddy Pig, Moscow on the Hill, Happy Gnome). Grand Ave in St Paul is also recommended for a day trip.

Originally Posted by QuestForReason

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I was there a couple weeks ago. Didn't get to venture around too much but did stop off at Nordstrom Rack and pick up a pair of AE Bel Air's and a pair of chocolate brown Canali cap toes.

I've come across a fair share of AE's at Nordstrom Rack, but i'm not a fan so I always pass on them. I wish I could find some nice Canali's though. I was there last week and they had a bunch of Canali suits on clearance, but all of them were in huge sizes like 46R.

Originally Posted by deadly7

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Nice! Sounds like downtown is the place to go. I looked up some of these places -- is Nicollet Mall the place to go when I'm in Minneapolis? Seems like it's got a fair amount of shops and restaurants.

yes, Nicollet Mall is where you want to go if you want to find men's stores like Last Call, Off Fifth, Hubert White, Brooks Bros, etc.

You guys are awesome! Thanks for all the great advice. Looking forward to this trip [finally]. @gaseousclay: Yeah, Nordstrom's Rack is awful for smaller folks. As a small-even-for-a-small guy (36 is even baggy on me in some clothes) I can't find anything ever. @Mannix: So they never get any RLPL or RLBL stuff? Hrmm, maybe I won't make that trip out then.