Checkin' Out the Hot New Neighbor

Last Friday, my friend and I attended the much-anticipated opening party of CB2.  This relatively new retailer is the younger, more hip (and, thus, cheaper) sibling to the established furniture store known as Crate & Barrel.  Tending towards sleek and modern designs, CB2 offers the typical array of home products that look classic yet contemporary.  They also acknowledge the current obsession with mid-century modernism among like-minded customers.

Most of those in attendance at this private party were simply gleeful that the long-vacant space at the corner of 31st Street and Hennepin was finally aglow with lights and product.  The area has been a big, fat headache for neighbors.  Bringing up the rear of the development known as Calhoun Square (a shopping center that has recently changed hands and made some head-scratching choices), CB2's site was once a couple of old, yet endearing, buildings that were razed to make way for new ideas.  While we all know change is the only constant, the area known as Uptown (and more specifically, this stretch of Hennepin between 28th Street and 31st Street) has evolved in a way that might not be so grand.  Gone are fabulous little, locally owned spots like Red Lure Red, Orr Books, Lotus Vietnamese (sooo perfect on a cold, wintry night, of which we have like 120), the Tibetan restaurant, and the grand-daddy dive bar lovingly known as the Uptown Bar (where they served insane skillets with polish sausages and cheese, you could keep your Bloody Mary glasses for a few bucks, and where the Replacements played in the early days).

What's there now?  The mall, pretty much.  Victoria's Secret, Urban Outfitters (granted, they made a point to settle in urban hipster areas long ago), and the Apple Store.  Which is next door to Columbia Sportswear.  Which is next door to the North Face.  My husband and I half-joked if the Apple Store (while under construction and nameless) turned out to be a Patagonia, we were moving.

All the development raises the tricky question of what an urban neighborhood's retail landscape should look like.  Preserve local, but then is there a tendency to overkill on that?  (I sense the restaurant scene sort of suffers from that quandry).  Is having mall stores in urban areas bad?  That then raises the whole urban vs. suburban debate.  One which can make some of my friends go cuckoo for cocoa puffs debating the issue.

Anyways...  I'm sorry, your eyes are glazing over.  You're saying, "Isn't this about the CB2 store?"

Yeah.  I just had to give it some backstory.  I'm done.

So, CB2 is here - yay!  Like I said, most peeps are happy we have something new and sparkly to wander around in.  I'm beaming because I grew up with its older sib, which is based in the Chicagoland area.  I often shopped at the Crate & Barrel at Woodfield Mall as a teen.  Later, when I moved into the city, I had the lovely shopping destination known as CB2 & Trader Joe's - yup, they used to be neighbors at their old Lincoln Avenue location on the north side.

And now I can quit whining about not having CB2 because, hey, here it is!  And here are some photos...

Crowding into the vestibule on a cold night with temps in the teens, waiting for the doors to open:

The displays beckoning us in...

Yep, they had a rope.  I get it and yet I don't...

Scenes from the inside...

Like any proper party, there were hors d'oeuvres for the sampling...

Libations for the drinking (at the counter no less)...

And tunes for the listening...

Oh, and a large display of breakables directly behind the booze line.  For the smashing?  Odd strategery.  I did hear that unfortunate sound of breaking glass a few times...

Here's what I've been stalking online for the last year...  pretty dresser for all my pretty Missoni for Target stuff, right?

Um, I spent 4 years of grad school making stuff like this house.  I certainly don't want to buy one!  There's a cue from Pottery Barn that they could maybe ditch...

Appetizers from a nice lady...

Sound advice...

Ah, the telltale sign of a retail party...

I shouldn't have to explain why I took this picture...

That couch to the left is dang comfy and cute...  my friend and I could have lounged there all night, glass of wine in hands, surveying the party...

View from the couch...

And, of course, this is what it sounded like:

So that was how I spent my Friday night.  Not too shabby, eh?  Afterwards, we drove down to a "normal" mall in the suburbs, stopped into a couple of stores, and then enjoyed a nice dinner to wrap up the festivities.

Evil mass-retailer or not, I'm personally more than glad to have this place as my new neighbor (we live ridiculously close to it).  It's pretty.  It's cheerful.  And I just might have to give it some business.  Also, while it gives the locals a new spot to shop, CB2 manages to connect me back to Chicago at the same time.

If you're in the neighborhood, you should definitely spend some time browsing the space.  Especially as Christmas closes in and people are still panicking for gifts, CB2 offers many great home items at various price points.  And yes, they're online, for those of you pobrecitos without your own store.

Let's give these guys a warm welcome and show them some love :)


All images and video:  my own