Holiday windows are back when The Dayton's Project opens next week
The Dayton's Project in downtown Minneapolis will open next week with a maker's market — and the recreation of the beloved Dayton's tradition.
The famous downtown Minneapolis building will open to the public on Nov. 18 with The Departments at Dayton's, an inaugural maker's market with 33 local vendors.
Related [Oct. 12]: Dayton's Project to open next month with a maker's market
Shoppers who visit The Departments at Dayton's will get a dose of holiday nostalgia as The Dayton's Project unveils its holiday window displays the same day.
Windows on the skyway level and first floor of the Nicollet Mall building will be decorated for the holidays like they were when the department store was there. And on the corner of 8th and Nicollet, the window will feature a display of the Santa Bears.
“It was important to us to bring the holiday windows back,” said Don Kohlenberger, president of Hightower Initiatives and the owner’s representative for The Dayton’s Project. “This was a tradition we brought back in 2019 and had to pause in 2020 due to the pandemic. This year, we’re bringing it back to celebrate the holiday season and create new cherished memories for the shoppers who visit The Dayton’s Project.”
The Departments at Dayton's
The maker's market will be the first time the long-awaited Dayton's Project has opened to the public after undergoing a $350 million historic redevelopment.
“Dayton’s has always been emmeshed in the community,” Mich Berthiaume, curator of The Departments at Dayton’s, said in a statement. “It was important to bring that focus back to the building and celebrate the remarkable diversity of the local makers across Minnesota. The phenomenal list of vendors we have at this project are reigniting the vibrancy of downtown Minneapolis.”
The local vendors at the market include:
- Native Roots Radio selling local community radio merchandise
- Teton Trade Cloth, selling beads, blankets, supplies and other gear
- Great Grandmother Mary Lyons, selling Minnesota-made skirts
- Iron Cloud Art Designs, selling art from Arizona
- Winona LaDuke, selling local CBD and help products
- Eagle Thunder Family, selling Lakota beadwork, gear and native language clocks
- Nancy Beaulieu, selling Minnesota-made handicrafts
- William Harjo, selling handmade wooden flutes from Oklahoma and Texas
- Star Quilts, selling northern Cheyenne-designed apparel
- Marion Martinez, selling artisan rings and silver jewelry
- Joseph Wrider, selling handmade silver jewelry
- White Buffalo Prints, selling local wildlife photography
- American Indian Movement, selling official AIM-branded merch
- Rocky Robinson, a self-care brand created to empower Black and Brown girls, telling them they matter
- Joel Kaplan, a watercolor artist and former divisional director at Dayton's Department Store
- Grass Lake Furniture, selling craftsman-style furniture and cutting boards
- Wewerka Photography, selling atmospheric landscape photography
- Handmod, selling handmade art
- Seventeen Birch, selling upscale lifestyle clothing and products
- Herbal Alchemy, selling nature-based skincare products
- Molly Pepper, a sleep-lounge-lifestyle brand
- Minnesota Awesome, selling Minnesota-pride clothing and accessories
- SJC Body Love, handcrafted health-focused skincare products
- Shop in the City, specialty lifestyle gifts and clothing, including Dayton's gear, allowing shoppers to buy Dayton's branded gear for the first time since 2001
- Haceienda San Jose, selling mission-driven high-quality chocolate
- Pigs Eye Pottery, selling pottery and classes
- Larissa Loden, selling handmade Minneapolis jewelry
- Blue Heron Soap, selling sustainable soap products
- Junita's Jar, selling warm and packaged cookies
- Zelba + Mary, selling hand-sewn toys and home goods
- Kobi CO, selling bath and beauty products
- Karen Morries, a renowned milliner
- Onyx Cool, selling cooling medical devices
- Opal Cool, selling women's cooling products
- Giftywrap, selling specialty paper and wrapping
The "semi-permanent" maker's market will be on the first floor of the historic building, Twin Cities Business reports. The market is expected to run for "the next several months, and possibly longer."
A spokesperson told the publication this market is an "incubator model" to help smaller retailers learn the ropes before opening a "more permanent location" at Dayton's.
The Departments at Dayton's is the newest addition to the Dayton's Project, which included a $350 million historic redevelopment of the 1.2 million-square-foot Dayton's department store in downtown Minneapolis to include 850,000 square feet of office space and 200,00 square feet of retail, as well as other amenities.
Ernst & Young Global Limited signed a 30,000-square-foot lease for office space at the building earlier this year and will take occupancy of its new space on Nov. 18, the release says. Other tenants have yet to be announced.
The Dayton's Project is celebrating its opening at 700 Nicollet with a ribbon-cutting and remarks from city leaders and The Dayton's Project at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 18.
