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Building their dream in Minnetonka

Jerry Holt, Star Tribune

Building contractor Mark Torgeson converted a showroom into a community and wellness center. Now he leads yoga classes, cooks and coordinates events.

Facing a slow economy, partners in a contracting company rearranged their business plans to pursue a longtime dream: Their own wellness center in Minnetonka.

By ALYSSA FORD, Special to the Star Tribune

Last update: November 3, 2009 - 4:55 PM

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LIVING WATERS MARKET AND CENTER FOR HARMONIOUS LIVING

Location: 12201 Minnetonka Blvd., Minnetonka

Mission: To create a New Age-inspired wellness center and foster a stronger sense of community in the suburbs

Services: A juice bar with smoothies, tonics and wheatgrass shots; a cafe with salads, pizzas and sandwiches; an ionized and reverse-osmosis water bar; additional spaces for yoga, parent-and-kid yoga, film viewings, meditation and breathwork classes; New Age course studies and one-time events; ecstatic dance, live acoustic music; massage, chiropractic interventions and infrared heat therapy.

Contact: 952-938-1929 or www.livingwatersmarket.com

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For a while, business was good. No -- it was great.

Building contractors Tom Carlucci and Mark Torgeson, co-owners of Northern Star Construction in Minnetonka, were rocking along with at least four decent-sized remodeling jobs a month. Between them, they maintained four houses and multiple vehicles, and even kept a regular building gig going with the DIY Channel.

But then in November 2007, the jobs started to dry up. "It all just stopped," remembers Kara Carlucci, Tom's wife and a designer at Northern Star. "We said to each other, 'OK, it'll stay slow until Christmas,' but it didn't ever pick up."

Tom Carlucci and Torgeson decided what they needed was a showroom, so they rented strip-mall space on Minnetonka Boulevard in January 2008 and installed a mock fireplace, kitchen cabinets and a steam shower. But money continued to flow out, and no money was flowing back in.

"Something had to give," said Torgeson.

What came next was a seismic change for the partners -- and a example of how adaptation in times of turmoil can lead to intriguing results.

They ditched their showroom idea, and instead, Carlucci and Torgeson decided to pursue a dream they had shared since they were roommates at Rutgers in the late 1970s -- building a wellness center.

Their vision was for a community gathering place offering everything from healthy foods to yoga for families.

They rented more space surrounding their showroom and ripped up the whole 7,000 square feet, including the new steam shower and cabinets, right down to the studs. They planned spaces for a chiropractor, plus rooms for heat therapy, meditation, massage, quiet study and art -- all in addition to the center's main water bar, juice bar, cafe and yoga studio.

They added builder-ly touches, such as river rock on the walls and cork floors in the therapy room.

But it wasn't easy.

In the fall of 2008, the Carluccis found out they were expecting their second child, and Kara was like a deer in headlights with fear.

"The building process was like molasses," said Torgeson. "Nothing seemed to be going right. We had problems with the city, we had problems with the landlord."

Carlucci and Torgeson were on the verge of throwing hammers at each other. "We were like a 10-times divorced couple," remembers Torgeson. "I was like, 'This is it, we're losing everything, we're going to be homeless.' "

Then one day in early 2009, Carlucci taped up a picture of Babaji, a yoga guru they had both studied. "It was like a big whoosh [of fresh air] came through the building and told us: 'Keep building, don't quit, you're so close,' " said Torgeson.

In April, the Living Waters Market and Center for Harmonious Living officially opened. Business was slow at first: a chiropractor set up for work, a few bicyclists stopped in for jugs of ionized water. Then one book club started meeting there, and then two.

Finally, as fall rolled around, the owners began to see their eclectic business coming into its own, with a busy cafe, live music on the weekends and a full slate of events including family yoga, ecstatic dance and meditation groups.

The Carluccis and Torgeson, along with their new business partner, Jeana Simmons, still do all the cooking, serving, cleaning, coordinating and class teaching. But last month they didn't have to borrow money to pay the bills. And that, in the life of a small business, is a breakthrough.

"It was tough, and it is tough," said Kara Carlucci. "But it's wonderful to be in the midst of our dream -- even if we needed a personal crisis to get here."

Alyssa Ford is a Minneapolis writer.

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