Downtown loses its sole grocer

By Tim Spitzack | Editor | April 2025

Citing declining revenue, staffing difficulties and security factors, Lunds & Byerlys has decided to close its downtown St. Paul store at 115 E. 10th St. on March 26. The closure will leave downtowners without a grocery store for the first time in over a decade. However, the company is leaving its store equipment behind and working with its landlord and the City of St. Paul to attract another grocery store to the site.

In a March 5 statement, company officials highlighted several incidents that made doing business at the downtown store challenging, including shoplifting, harassment, vandalism and arson. The fire at the store in 2022 caused extensive damage and costly repairs.

They also praised St. Paul for its declining crime trends and increased public safety efforts.

“We deeply admire St. Paul as evidenced by our more than four decades of serving this community, starting with our Highland Park store in 1983 and Downtown St. Paul in 2014,” said Tres Lund, president and CEO of Lunds & Byerlys, in a statement. “While we had hoped for a different outcome for our downtown store, we remain optimistic the fabric of St. Paul, including its downtown community, will become even stronger with more of the workforce returning to downtown businesses and government offices along with a continued strengthening of the city’s public safety efforts and policies that are designed to attract further development to grow downtown’s population.”

The store was hit particularly hard by the pandemic and the loss of customers due to the shift to remote work.

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