MidModMen+Friends, a onetime-pop-up-shop-turned-destination-shopping-experience at 2401 University Ave., is celebrating its fourth anniversary three and three-quarters years longer than expected when they signed a three-month lease on the vacant storefront.
Four years ago, to the sound of construction crews outside building the Green Line, Neal Kielar and friends opened MidModMen+friends, a retailer of vintage modern home décor that has become a destination for shoppers, said Kielar, the store’s creative director. “We’re part of a major shift in shopper preference happening across categories. There’s a big embrace of things that have seen some life.”
MidModMen cleans, rejuvenates and restores each item it sells in the store. “Our customers can just take things home and enjoy them,” Kielar said.
MidModMen’s Neal Kielar. Bugle file photo by Kyle Mianulli
The store’s anniversary events will kick off Oct. 13 through 16 with discounts throughout the store, special offerings and cake. You can look for anniversary details at MidModMen.com and on Instagram and Facebook.
While you’re helping the store celebrate, check out the mini-exhibit of art by Carina Eugenio, a visual artist and visual-arts educator from Minneapolis currently living in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The exhibit includes five selections from the series “Abstracting Memories From 2003,” which Eugenio created for the 2015 P-NOiSE Festival in Copenhagen.
Each original mixed-media work incorporates beading, embroidery, watercolor and ink on paper and vellum. The pieces are framed and available for purchase, along with other work from the artist.
Carina and her husband, Josh Sohn, were the owners of Driftwood Community Arts, which was housed on Raymond Avenue in 2013. Eugenio brings collections to MidModMen each year to present and sell.
In other news, MidModMen’s Kielar has joined the advisory board at the Goldstein Museum of Design (GMD), part of the University of Minnesota’s College of Design, on the St. Paul Campus.
Prior to launching MidModMen+friends in 2012, Kielar spent more than 30 years in brand and content marketing. His clients included Disney/ABC, Time Warner, the Oprah Winfrey Network, United HealthCare, FedEx, Whirlpool, Behr Process Corp. and multiple financial services and technology companies.—
