Har Mar Mall; Roseville, Minnesota
Located in Roseville, Minnesota, almost smack dab in the middle of the Twin Cities metro area, Har Mar Mall opened in 1961. It was designed by the same company which built Apache Plaza in nearby St. Anthony and opened the same year (Apache Plaza failed as a mall and was torn down in 2004). However, unlike Apache Plaza, Har Mar Mall thrives, despite being less than a mile away from one of the Twin Cities’ most popular regional malls: Rosedale Center. It accomplished success by finding a retail niche and being purposely downmarket from Rosedale, and other Twin Cities traditional malls.
It wasn’t always this way. In 1981, a tornado swept through the Twin Cities area and damaged much of the area around the mall. Later, Har Mar Mall had fallen on rough times until about the mid-1990s, and decided to take on an experiment to see if it could still be viable in the 21st century. It failed to compete with the glitzier, bigger Rosedale Center just up the street and reinvented itself by replacing the anchors with big-box stores and off price, nontraditional anchors and stores. That’s not to say that Family Dollar and Shaniqua’s Wig Barn have set up shop; instead, very popular, upmarket as well as off-price anchors which usually set up in strip malls make up the eclectic mix of Har Mar Mall. The anchors are: Barnes and Noble, TJMaxx, Cub Foods (A chain grocery store based in the Twin Cities), Marshalls, and Northwestern Bookstore. Until the early 00s there was also a large Mars Music, but that closed with the entire chain. There’s also an 11-screen movie theater, a pet store, a phone store, a local book store, and much more. Instead of a food court, Har Mar has both fast food and sit-down restaurants tucked back at one end of the mall. Uniquely, all the fast food and sit-down establishments both have mall access as well as outdoor entrances.
Other design features make Har Mar truly unique and intriguing. The floorplan of the mall consists of a series of right angles, so the mall continuously zig-zags. In all, there are 4 separate hallways from the food area to Cub Foods. The longest and most interesting hallway is the corridor with Barnes and Noble. It is massively wide, and features an arched ceiling with large windows allowing natural light to come in during the day. There’s also a small basement court here with a community room. Another weird part of the mall is the hallway between the food and Marshall’s. About halfway down, it inexplicably becomes a ramp, making Marshall’s and the rest of the mall from that point several feet lower. It’s much more dramatic in person, much like the continuous sloping of the Dartmouth Mall near New Bedford, Mass.
I visited the mall and took these pictures in March, 2000. I’ve visited more recently and it hasn’t changed. It continues to be a popular center for mostly locals to watch a movie, buy groceries, get books, and go out to eat. It’s essentially a strip mall cobbled together into an indoor mall, and for that reason alone it deserves merit. However, it’s also got a great floor plan and some wonderful design features so it’s even better. Har Mar Superstar, a performer from the area who took his name from the mall, would most certainly agree.
UPDATE 1/2/07: This entry about Har Mar and the closure of the theatres is featured in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
on July 14th, 2006 at 11:22 am
Just wanted to clarify something about the tornado and Apache Plaza….
The tornadic activity that hit the area around the Har Mar Mall (but spared the mall itself) wiped out the southern part of the Apache Plaza. Many speculate that that single event was the beggining of the end for Apache Plaza (being closed for several months for repairs). but somehow Apache Plaza managed to hang on until 2004.
The real beginning of the end came in the early 90’s when Cub foods decided to buy a part of the mall and build a connected, no mall entry store. Without that link to the mall, the remainder of the tenants left (the exception being Herbergers (dept store).
on December 31st, 2006 at 5:00 pm
Came up with some anchor history for you for Har Mar. A store called Hove’s used to be where cinemas 4-11 are. JCPenney closed 1977, later becoming Van Arsdell’s; it’s where Marshalls is now. Kresge and an adjacent National Food Store were gutted for more stores - I believe where the Barnes & Noble is now. Also there was a Snyder Drug at one point.
Oh yeah, and the theaters just closed.
on January 2nd, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Hove’s was the forerunner of Lunds Foods. Russell Lund, the founder, worked for Hove’s back in the 1930’s and 40’s and eventually bought a controlling interest in the chain. In 1964, he renamed them Lunds.
The only original tenant still in business from the first days of HarMar’s existence is a barbershop that is located on the north side of the complex.
on January 3rd, 2007 at 1:36 am
Dave:
That was a different tornado that hit Apache. That tornado struck in April 1984. (And yes, that was the beginning of the end, even though it took 20 years for the end to finally come.)
The Har Mar tornado was June 1981.
on January 3rd, 2007 at 3:40 am
I remember seeing TV ads as a kid in the 1960s on the “Clancy the Cop” kids’ show for stores at the Har Mar Mall, like Target and I think Jolly’s. Does anyone remember anything about a Jolly’s store, or whatever happened to it?
on January 3rd, 2007 at 2:38 pm
The only thing I remember about Jolly’s is that it was a hobby store, selling plastic models, model trains, RC cars, rock tumblers, etc. There was one still at Sun Ray probably ten years ago. Not sure what happened to them, they were probably a locally owned chained that faded out with popularity of hobbies.
on February 26th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
I wanted to clarify one thing: Har-Mar Mall and Apache Plaza were both designed by the same architect, Willard Thorsen, but the projects had different funders. Apache Plaza was funded by the Apache Oil Company, Har-Mar was funded Harold and Marie (hence Har-Mar) Slawik who owned the Midway Ford dealership.
on May 21st, 2007 at 11:09 pm
I remember Har Mar Mall in the mid and late-1980’s. Contrary to what most people have said, it had a lot of interesting stores like Jollys, Winona Knits, Great American Music later Record Town, an awesome pet store, and Foreman and Clark. It had at least a 75% vacancy back then
on May 29th, 2007 at 9:19 am
I’m not certain, but I think Har Mar was the mall that my family often went to for ice cream when I was young child. There was an unusual type of ice cream store there, if I’m remembering correctly. Can someone tell me the name of what that store was?
Angela
on May 29th, 2007 at 9:20 am
I just wanted to add to my above comment…this was in the early to mid ’80s.
on June 1st, 2007 at 12:20 pm
I seem to remember there being a Shakey’s pizza parlor there too. Complete with banjo players and a old style candy counter where I recall getting a giant jawbreaker that I couldn’t even fit in my mouth and had to lick it down to size over several weeks.
John
on June 18th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
The ice cream shop you are probably thinking of is Professors, where Buffalo WIld wings is now i believe. It was always a good mall to go to as a kid because it was not quite as big as Rosedale. Anyone have any thoughts on its business now that the movie theatres have moved?
on June 29th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
I was just over at Har Mar (haved lived 2 blocks away for 16 yrs) and TJ Maxx, Northwestern Bookstore and several others are closing. Add that to the movie theatres gone already and the old Ground Round sitting empty. What do you suppose is going on?
On another note, Before Professor’s, wasn’t it Farrells and the lalapalooza?
And doues anybody remember that pizza(?) place with the big pipe organ in it?
on July 7th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
I just wanted to add my wonderful memories of Har Mar mall. Har Mar has a wonderful history with the St.Paul Winter Carnival. In 1978 I was an an emlpoyee of a wonderful Har Mar mall dept. store called Field and Schlick.
Har Mar would have a pageant every year to select a Miss Har Mar Mall. I was lucky enough to win and then Har Mar sponsored me in the St. Paul Winter Carnival’s Queen of the Snows pageant. I became Princess of the East Wind and spent an entire year representing Carnival and the Har Mar Mall Buisness Assoc. It was great fun.
I cannot remember the owners last name, but Har Mar came from the owners first names-Harold and Marie.
I live in Omaha now and was listening to the radio and heard that a group called Har Mar superstar was performing here. I thought what are the odds of a group called Har Mar, so I went on their site and saw they were named after the mall. What a small world.
on July 10th, 2007 at 8:51 am
I think Har Mar originally was called “The Hub” and featured like four or five stores on the north end of the mall where TCF is. It was one of the first malls in the country. Behind it, my parents tell me, was a golf driving range. Later, the mall was buit as we know it today.
My memory is mostly from the late 60’s onward.
I remember when the theater was first built around 1970. It was two gigantic theaters and our junior high class went to a movie there as a field trip, we saw Lord of the Flies!
On the north end of the mall was a restaurant called Farrell’s ice cream parlor, famous for it’s festive, crazy atmosphere. After that it became Professors, and I think it was another name C G Brown’s(?) after that, now Buffalo Wild Wings. On the other end of the mall was a place that sold some of the best deep dish pizzas I’ve ever had in my life, I think it was called Cicero’s, and as I remember that is where the self playing pipe organs and musical instruments were.
S. S. Kresges used to be a really cool “dime store”. It was the forerunner of K-mart stores, owned by the same company. Towards the mall entrance they had a small cafe where you could order food. Towards
the back of Krege’s, near the outside door, they sold parakeets and Matchbox cars. Snyder’s drugs, further south in the mall also had a counter and where you could order food and beverages which was a fairly popular place in it’s day. Four of my friends and relatives worked at Snyders at one time or another, some working as cooks there.
There used to be a community room in the basement where there was a big cat show back around 1975. We took our beloved housecat “Charles” and to our amazement he won a prize!
I worked as a security guard at the mall in 1978 and had to turn on all the lights every night and turn them off in the morning. Perhaps I saw Pamela W (listed above) one day without realizing it! You wouldn’t believe how many switches there were. There was also a big dark room deep in the basement of Har Mar where the Unbelievably Huge furnace was located. Most of the security people were actually a bit uncomfortable about going way down there alone at night to do their rounds.
JC Pennys was a very nice major store in the mall and as a kid we always got our shoes and many school clothes there. There was Musicland, THE store to buy records. Fanny Farmer was there too.
In the parking lot Har Mar staged a number of attractions. I can recall sometime in the 80’s they had a jet fighter parked near the theater, and during the 60’s (?) they had circus elephants and other animals and novelties in the parking lot on the Snelling Ave side.
I can even remember back in the 1960’s when Midway Ford was located in the mall, near the east side mall entrance. I can still picture the brand new swoopy 1967 Mustang Cobra, cream colored with hood
pins sitting in the mall. Boy, wouldn’t that be cool to own today!
Up on the Northwest end, was United stores, Twin City Federal, (TCF), Woodcraft Hobby, Tent City, and a Liquor store. There was a childrens toy
store which was really awesome called the Pied Piper. Coast to Coast was also a major hardware store on that end. Also Roseville Bank (with one of the first drive through tellers around here) was located where Old
Chicago Pizza is.
Outside, Ground Round used to have boardwalks inside with peanut shells covering the floors. It was part of their atmosphere then. Before that it had an orange roof and was called Howard Johnson’s.
There used to be an outdoor “Postal Center” in the parking lot too, near Snelling.
on July 12th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
The first-ever Target store was across the street (County B). Target tore it down in 2005 and built a SuperTarget.
on July 23rd, 2007 at 9:44 am
I believe Cicero’s was the pizza place in Har Mar. Shakey’s was on the corner of Snelling and Larpenteur.
on July 23rd, 2007 at 5:45 pm
I could swear the pizza place at Har Mar was “Cibo’s”. Does anyone else remember this ?
on July 31st, 2007 at 9:11 pm
I would like to make a correction the mall was at least 75% full in the mid-late eighties, it was a better place to shop then the dales, the dales were too pretentious, while Har Mar had a lot of wonderful childrens store.
on July 31st, 2007 at 9:12 pm
It was a better place to shop then the dales, the dales were too pretentious, while Har Mar had a lot of wonderful childrens store.
on September 4th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
Shame you couldn’t get an interior photo to Cub Foods…I enjoy a good clear shot of a grocery store interior entrance.
on September 5th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Wow, this brought back a lot of memories for me. I didn’t remember a lot about the mall until many of the things were mentioned here. Like the pipe organ….Wow! However, the Mall has been in and out of my life since I was very little through now (I’m in my early 30’s). It’s disappointing sometimes how things change. I hope the mall can be revived despite the leaving of many stores. Maybe some no-chain stores can make a mark again?
on September 12th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
I have been going to Har Mar since the early 70’s when we moved to SE Minneapolis. The pizza place was indeed Ciceros (I remember some blind guy playing the organ), and the ice cream parlor was Farrell’s where we embarrassed my mother-in-law on her b-day one year (all the wait people would do a little routine in front of the “birthday person”). My question is, does anyone remember there being a Petter’s, probably in the earlier 1990s and somewhere around the location where I think that Mars music store was. I don’t think I imagined it, but at my age, anything is possible.
on September 21st, 2007 at 10:43 am
There was a Petter’s there..now I think there is a Schuller’s shoe store I just read an article today in the St. Paul Pioneer Press and it says there is new owners for Har Mar and they are kicking out a lot of stores-Sundays (ice cream store for 30 years); scrapbook store; etc. How sad…..kick out the little business owners for more big box retailers..I loved Cicero’s with the organ player as a child……Went to Farrell’s on my graduation night and ate a zoo with my friends!!!!….Loved Jolly’s toy store and Holm and Olson’s flower store. The pet store has always been there—good for them!!! Bought a lot of goldfish there!!!
on November 6th, 2007 at 2:04 am
I used to go to Cicero’s all the time. George Sumner was the blind organ player at the Har-Mar Cicero’s. He died around 1982?? and I think that Cicero’s location shut down soon after. There were 3 Cicero’s in all…I heard rumors that they shut down because the owner’s wife caught the owner and a waitress doing bad things together (LOL). I still have the live records of Mr. Sumner playing organ!!
on January 3rd, 2008 at 3:40 pm
I’m trying to rememer if back around 1965-70 if Har Mar had more than one story. My husband and I both are remembering it that way. We left the Twin Cities and went to live in Los Angeles. When we returned here for good in 2001 we noticed it is only one level. Maybe the sun fried our brains or was there another mall around that had two floors besides Rosedale.
on January 20th, 2008 at 8:00 am
har mar did have a dowstairs and still does but its just a security office now , i believe , but i remeber always going downstairs to the restrooms.
i remember farrels ice cream parlor with alll the big suckers and lollipops, when you walked in the front door, loked like willy wonka and the chocolate factory in there , very cool.
on January 22nd, 2008 at 6:25 pm
It’s sad to see everything closing at Har Mar! Since the summer, TJ Maxx, Northwestern Bookstore, Binding Memories, the Book Shop, Sunday’s Ice Cream Parlor, (and soon) Seasonal Concepts have all closed. I’m sure I’m forgetting a few. The mall management is not renewing thier leases. I’ve heard that Har Mar is going to take on more “up-scale” tenants. First, Har Mar’s charm has always been its uniqueness. Take that away, and you lose an existing customer base. Second, Rosedale, which is located right across the highway, already fill the “up-scale” niche for the area.
Hopefully no more of the Har Mar staple stores are forced out!
on January 23rd, 2008 at 10:27 am
ALSO HAR MAR LOCK AND KEY; DOMINOS AND LUCILLE’S DOLLS AND GIFTS HAVE CLOSED…..VERY SAD……………SHAME ON THE NEW MANAGEMENT……PRETTY SOON NOTHING WILL BE LEFT…..
on January 25th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
I live in Massachusetts now (Have lived there since Nov 91), and I will tell you that everywhere you go its the same thing over and over again Walmart, Home Depot, and Old Navy. I mean I lived in Plymouth, Mn as a kid, but went to church in New Brighton in the eighties. and went to the Har Mar Mall area a lot, there were so many unique stores, and now its seems like there is nothing because the —— corporate world loves to efface small independent business. The twin cities area also had many unique strip malls as well. Where have they all gone?
on January 29th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Yes, Diane… I was out near Larpenteur and Snelling on Saturday, and I noticed that ‘Har Mar Lock and Key’ has moved over there. It’s a shame that HAR MAR Lock and Key can’t actually be inside HAR MAR Mall.
I understand that business is business, and the mall management can do as they wish. But they have just about LOST my business! Best of luck for the relocations of the businesses that were kicked out!
on February 5th, 2008 at 2:39 am
I write a bi-weekly news program for CTV15- Roseville, called “The North Suburban Beat”. I’ve been tracking the happenings at Har Mar… the developer plans will certainly make it very new place.
But I would really like to interview one of you Har Mar lovers who remember the good old days of the mall. If you’re interested please call the CTV15 studios at (651) 792-7515 and ask the me.
on February 18th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Hey, I remember Farrel’s Ice Cream Parlor; I had my 9th birthday party there, 1970. Two clowns dressed like medics raced out of the prep area with this great big, multi-level ice cream cake on a stretcher; running behind them was another clown ran with a hand-cranked siren screechin’ away. I’ll never forget that. I remember it was very Shakey’s-like, with ice cream substituting for pizza of course.
Wasn’t there another place around Har Mar called “The Last Frontier?” Had big black kettles and other kitschy “old West” gear hanging from the open-beam ceilings. Thought it was someplace around there.
Too bad Har-Mar is creeping upscale … we used to drive over from Mounds View quite a bit and I recall it as very local in flavor back in the 60s, as was Apache. Well, you know how it is … no one wants surprises anymore, just the same old predictable Wal-Mart, Best Buy, HomeDepot, Lowe’s experience.
on February 26th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
I worked at Hoves around the mid 70’s as did my mom and older sister. It was a great job in the bakery for my sis and me. Loved those hard rolls and sweet rolls; almond and poppyseed filled. Oh to die for. The carrot cake was awesome as well. I remember the specialty filled pastry rolls were 14 cents and an elderly lady chewing me out because of the cost. Such was the times, now I complain about the cost of such a treat. At least a dollar a piece an never as tastie as I remember,while working at Hoves at the tender age of 16..
on March 4th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Joe, The Book Shop that was formerly in Har Mar hasn’t closed. It moved due east to a standalone store on Lexington Avenue. I’m glad to see it’s survived, especially with the news that the landlord’s been forcing stores out of Har Mar.
on March 15th, 2008 at 3:54 am
Drew -
The Last Frontier Restaurant was on the Northwest corner of Snelling and County Rd. B, where the Outback Steakhouse/strip mall is now.
Speaking of Steakhouses…
One of my favorite places to eat as a kid was the Rustler Steakhouse, across the street from Har Mar (Now Famous Dave’s.)
The thing I miss most about Har Mar is Cicero’s/Romeo Salsa’s Bistro and their Chicago deep dish pizza. All that cheese and garlic!!!! Ahhhh! It was better than the deep dish pizza’s I’ve actually eaten in Chicago itself!
Does anyone remember where the old Victoria Station used to be in Roseville??? Was it over by Perimeter Drive?
on March 27th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Thanks Tina with the info on the Last Frontier. Do you know offhand how long it’s been gone? We moved away from the Twin Cities in ‘72 and don’t think it was around even then. Just curious. Thanks!
on April 29th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
I was to the Barnes and Noble yesterday at Har Mar and noticed there was a sign outside the theaters that stated a Staples and a D’Amico & Sons (a Minneapolis based short order Italian chain and deli) were going in its place.
on April 29th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Also wasn’t this Barnes and Noble the first “superstore” in the chain?
on April 29th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
I’m trying to rememer if back around 1965-70 if Har Mar had more than one story. My husband and I both are remembering it that way. We left the Twin Cities and went to live in Los Angeles. When we returned here for good in 2001 we noticed it is only one level. Maybe the sun fried our brains or was there another mall around that had two floors besides Rosedale.
There is a small shopping center across County B2 from Rosedale called Crossroads. I think it has two floors in it. The last I remember there was a Timberlodge Steakhouse (believed closed), a jewelry store, a movie theater, and some businesses I can’t remember.
on April 29th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Well, I left Minneapolis in 2006. I know Crossroads is currently occupied by a Kohl’s and a Best Buy. The Rainbow Foods closed recently. I am not sure the fate of the movie theaters as AMC opened a large 14 screen stadium seating megaplex as part of the Rosedale expansion.
on May 4th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Crossroads Mall has been faltering for the last ten years or so. While the Best Buy and several other big store are still there, the movie theater, Timberlodge Steak House and many of the small retail store have closed and the spaces remain vacant. There was a Lava-Links miniature golf course still operating the last time I was there, but it seemed pretty dead as well.
on May 13th, 2008 at 12:15 am
Crossroads mall use to be called Pavilion Place Mall when it opened in 1985/86 I believe. It was to be the Galleria of the Rosedale area, but it was a flop.
on May 20th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Rainbow Foods at Crossroads closed around August 2006. But its closing was not related to Crossroads’ difficulties. Ever since Roundy’s took over Rainbow a few years ago, the grocery store chain has been in decline.
The Crossroads store is a perfect example. They spent a bunch of money renovating it, only to close it a couple years later. Meanwhile, the dump of a Rainbow on Larpenteur stayed open! (They’re finally getting around to demolishing that one and building a new one.)
Roundy’s has not managed Rainbow well. They opened a brand new “concept” store in Shakopee, and again, closed it.
Anyway, Crossroads is still in flux. Best Buy moved into a giant new store in the former Rainbow site, and Dick’s Sporting Goods will take over the old Best Buy. No idea what’ll happen to the rest of it though. Lots of unused spaces.
on June 20th, 2008 at 8:46 am
There are new buildings being built on the HarMar Property now.. The new management is not renewing leases, correctly stated above.
A Staples will replace the now destroyed movie theaters.It appears as though the new mgmt is moving toward the strip mall model, which I think is a very smart move considering their lack of viable traffic as an internal mall.
Does anyone know about the cool photo retouching business at Har Mar? I wonder if it is still there. They do awesome work.
on June 25th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
The Last Frontier was across Snelling from Uncle John’s Pancake House later to become Perkin’s which was moved to Co. Rd. B when the SuperTarget was built. One of the rooms in the Last Frontier had large paintings of nude women! I remember not allowing my children to sit in that room. Seems strange now that a family restaurant would have paintings like that! Does anyone remember a restaurant on Co. Rd. B2 and Fairview where HOM furniture is today? It had a western theme and my daughter loved to go there because the waitresses wore cowgirl outfits complete with boots and hats. Across Snelling from Har Mar where McDonald’s and Arby’s are today was an old fashioned drive in restaurant, The Roadside. We spent many high school evenings driving around checking out which friends were having french fries and cokes. The McDonald’s was built in 1956 next door to the Roadside but our allegiance remained with The Roadside. Oh the memories. Seems I could go on forever!
on July 23rd, 2008 at 10:11 am
I rember in the 80’s going there in the basment they use to do all kinds of things in the couminty room My mom use to Square Dance down there!! they use to hold the Big Boy scout gathering there every year and the end of year Pinewood Durby was done in the mall they had a Boy Scout Store there for tons of years and I rember back in the days you could Smoke in the MALL!!
Yes I know Smoking Is bad for you!! I miss them days and they use to be a group of guys that would get together and sit down by what is now old Chicgo and smoke there Pipes!! lets see god I rember going there all time with my family.
I think they need to leave that Mall just the Way it is It has lasted this long that way and I like the old way of that mall!! just leave it be happy as it was meant to bed fun weird and wild!!
on July 25th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I worked at the Last Frontier as a teenager. The room with the nude pictures was usually only open during busy business men lunches. The men loved the “ole time” bar feeling of the room with it’s fancy red carpet, great bar (that never held any liqour, only colored water in old bottles), and the very nicley done nude paintings. I know, I had to dust it all once a week. The main dining room was open for all the families with children.
After my shift I walked over to Target to wait for my sister to pick me up. A few years later when I got a car, I too cruised the Roadside Drive - In, in search of that magic moment. Glad to hear there are many more like me.
on July 30th, 2008 at 9:34 am
I moved away from the Apple Valley area when I was in 5th grade (eons ago!) My husband and I brought our kids here for vacation and I kept asking about Cicero’s. No one knew where it was or anything about it. How disappointed I was to find out it closed. As kids we used to save our allowance money to get something extra there. I also remember it as being two levels with a “glass” or “see-through” floor/ceiling iin spots. Is this a correct memory? I also remember the man playing the big pipe organ! Are there any pictures of the old Ciceros to be found? Thanks for the tour down memory lane!
on July 30th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Does anyone know if it is possible to get an album of the music played by George Sumner when he worked at Cicero’s? We used to go to Cicero’s frequently when we lived in Mpls. I would love to get his album. Thanks!
Joe Z.
on August 20th, 2008 at 3:06 am
The Roadside actually still exists. It moved to the East side of Wheelock and 35E in a store front. They have pictures of the old location and my father and I go there a couple times a year and he recalls stories of when it was on Snelling.
I used to eat at Cisero’s as a kid - it was great! I also was a frequent customer of the Boy Scout Shop and Farrels - my step-dad was actually a manager there.
I saw my first movie at the Har Mar Theaters and the family made a special journey to see the last Star Wars movie there since we saw the first one there.
I drank more than a few times at the Ground Round, had late night food at Perkins, and my first girlfriend worked at the Panekueken Huis (where the Outback Steakhouse is.)
Most all of the stores that brought me to Har Mar are now gone. They do still fill the mall with all sorts of odd and unique ghetto flea market shit on a regular basis. I love it! Where else can you get a three dimensional picture of your cat in the form of a whistling wind chime!
on August 28th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
I can remember waaay back almost to when Har Mar opened. It seems to me there was a little restaurant on the north end, at the JC Penney’s entrance that was called the Bombay Restaurant. It had an Indian theme in the logo and decorations but just served typical American diner fare as I recall. That would be the space that later became Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor (today it’s Buffalo Wild Wings). Anyone remember the crazy antics by the waiters when someone would order a Zoo ice cream platter? They carried it on kind of a stretcher-type thing and ran all over the store with it while sirens blared and bells clanged. Good times.
Woodcraft Hobby Shop and the Pet Store were always big destinations for us as kids. Pet Store still there in same spot, I noticed.
Also, the United Store was for many years a reason to shop Har Mar — for outdoor gear, jeans, etc. Hated to see them close.
The old Target across Co Rd B originally had a grocery store in the south end of it; my mom used to shop there a lot (ca. 1962-63).
on September 4th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Sure I remember Farrel’s … I had my 9th birthday party there in ‘70. They featured it on the Clancy the Cop and Willie Ketchum show and when I saw that, I harassed my folks until they gave in. And yes, my little group had the Zoo Ice Cream Platter with the stretcher and wailing sirens!
on September 12th, 2008 at 11:38 am
“Shaniqua’s Wig Barn”? xD
on September 20th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
My family moved from Fridley in 1975. My Dad worked for Butler Manufacturing and they relocated him to Murfreesboro,Tn. I’m 46 now and still remember Farrell’s, Shakey’s, Bridgemans. Does anyone remember what happened to Clark Submarines? Seems like all larger cities look alike today.
on October 14th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Wow, these are great memories. It is sad that all the modern day stores and restaurants are gone and they took away great memories that made going out so exciting ! I remember Farrell’s, Shakey’s, and lived in St. Paul in the 70’s when Clark Submarine was on University Avenue (it’s now Art Songs Wings). Does anyone remember Burger Chef being on County B and Lexington , where TCF stands today. I worked at that TCF in the early 90’s as a teller and it was funny that I recalled that being where the ‘Chef was. Someone bring back all those fun establishments. Anyone know where we can find pictures on a website of all of these places?
on November 10th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Several folks have mentioned Shakey’s but I don’t remember a Shakey’s at Har Mar, ever. Where the heck was that? I remember a Shakey’s in the corner of that old strip mall on Snelling and Larpenteur (torn down several years ago for condos). Maybe that’s the Shakey’s? Also, anyone remember that store at the original incarnation of Rosedale called Now & Then? Yep, a headshop right in good old Rosedale, with smoking paraphernalia, black-light posters, lava lamps, etc. It lasted quite a few years but over time was more just a novelty store I think. A store like that originally was would never fly today, that’s for sure!
on November 10th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
We were just talking about the pizza place at church yesterday and I asked someone if they remembered the pizza place with the theater pipe organ. You have refreshed my memory now. It was Cicero’s and we used to go when my kids were little 30 - 35 years ago. I’m sure now that it was Cicero’s with the pipe organ and Shakey’s had the banjo player.
Can anyone else contribute to those memories?