Booming Duluth craft district scores new tenants

DULUTH - Duluth's burgeoning Lincoln Park craft district is about to get more boozy, Zen and stylish.

Three new businesses are poised to open before the end of the year on a rejuvenated stretch of neighborhood that is now home to breweries, restaurants and handcrafted goods.

Tom Hanson, owner of the popular OMC Smokehouse and Duluth Grill restaurants, said work is underway for his new craft cocktail lounge with a supper-club vibe. Dubbed the Noble Pour, the brick-walled space will be open on weekends and weekday evenings, and the drinks will feature seasonal artisanal mixes and some locally sourced spirits. Hanson said he hopes to open in late November.

Upstairs, yogis will be welcome to stretch in a new studio scheduled to open Nov. 1 called Full Circle Yoga. Owner Erik Schnackenberg said he will model the studio after one he owned in Colorado.

Down the street, Amanda Rolfe is hoping to open a new women's clothing store called Liila Boutique in late October.

Liila — Finnish for lilac — will offer stylish but functional clothing made to wear in Minnesota, Rolfe said. It will feature "mix and match basics, a lot of layering," she said, and will include plus size options.

Rolfe, a former program coordinator at nonprofit Entrepreneur Fund, said she was inspired to open her own business after hearing the stories of other entrepreneurs in the area.

Business owners described their plans in a meeting of the ad hoc Advancing Lincoln Park group on Thursday morning, where business leaders marveled at how quickly the neighborhood is changing after a few business owners set out to reshape it in 2014.

Back then "it seemed a little, maybe far-fetched," said Shawn Wellnitz, chief executive officer of The Entrepreneur Fund, which loans money to grow business in northern Minnesota. "Now it has a life of its own. There's a snowball effect that's really happened."

Schnackenberg said when he and his wife decided to move closer to family in Minnesota, they chose the Lincoln Park craft district for their business because it will provide a place for people to "eat, drink, shop, do yoga, go home, rinse and repeat."