Former independent Apple dealer sells FirstTech properties to developer

The Zuckman family, longtime owners of pioneer Apple dealership FirstTech, have officially ended their presence at 2640 Hennepin Av. S. with the sale of their two modest, 1950s buildings to the owner of the neighboring Green Mill restaurant.

While not much to look at, the pair of one-story structures were like home for Apple fans in the Twin Cities and region for more than a generation. Through Apple's ups and downs, customers' passion for Mac computers and related products was shared by FirstTech owners Harvey and Rick Zuckman, Pete Paulsen and a team of technicians and sales staff, some of who remained at the store for decades.

But, facing tough competition from national chains, they shuttered FirstTech in March. And on Sept. 19, Zuckman Brothers Properties closed on its sale of the prime locations close to the heart of bustling Uptown for $1.5 million, a bit above the parcels' assessed value of $1.28 million.

Harvey Zuckman said his father, who originally opened the store as a radio repair shop, was among the first in the country to land an Apple dealership in 1977, just a year after Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne founded the company in California. FirstTech remained among a handful of independent dealers even as Apple itself pushed into retail over the past decade.

As a "buy local" activist with the Metro Independent Business Association and a Minneapolis resident who cares deeply about the neighborhood, Zuckman said he wanted to make sure that, when it came time to sell the property, it would go to someone who shared his desire that Uptown retain its small business heritage and adhere to the city's planning goals, which emphasize transit-oriented growth along Hennepin.

"We had hoped that we could have gotten a developer interested in it, because we'd like to see property in the Uptown area develop in a way that's consistent with the Uptown Small Area Plan," Zuckman said. "We were thinking of a mixed-used development that would have retail with housing above it."

"But," he added, "the couple of developers we talked to just said that the size of the property wasn't viable for that kind of development."

The Zuckmans instead turned to Paul Dzubnar, the St. Paul-based owner of the Green Mill chain of pizza restaurants, and a next-door neighbor at 2626 Hennepin.

Dzubnar has become one of the most active restaurant developers in the Twin Cities in recent years, expanding not only the Green Mill chain, which now numbers 27 restaurants, but also the Crooked Pint Ale House and Town Hall Brewery concepts.

"For several years, Paul had said, 'Whenever you're ready to sell your building, I'm interested in buying it,' so it was just very easy for us to connect with him on a price that seemed reasonable," Zuckman said.

Dzubnar didn't respond to questions about his plans for the FirstTech property. Given his aggressive rollout of new restaurants, speculation is rife that it could end up going in that direction. But Zuckman said that, at least initially, that doesn't appear to be in the cards.

"He told me that he's going to remodel the buildings and rent them out," he said.

In the meantime, with FirstTech closed and the property sold off, Zuckman said he is concentrating on his role as membership development director for the Metro Independent Business Association, an organization that seeks to help small businesses raise their profile among consumers through its "Buy Local" campaign, and lobby for a competitive playing field against nationally-owned chains.