HmongTown Marketplace expanding to second location at former Maplewood Mall Sears

The owners of HmongTown Marketplace in St. Paul are planning to turn the vacant former Sears store at Maplewood Mall into a HmongTown Marketplace 2.0. The space could include a grocer, adult daycare center, entertainment zone, office space, spa, food court, farmers market and more.

HmongTown Marketplace owner Toua Xiong, whose LLC bought the former Sears building and some of the land around it in November for $5.25 million, presented plans to Maplewood elected officials at a city council work session Monday night.

Sears closed in Maplewood in 2018, leaving vacant the 180,000-square foot space that formerly anchored the mall's south end.

Architect Greg Elsner, of Shelter Architecture, outlined plans for the space and its surrounding area that include Hmong and Asian cultural motifs, vegetation and a layout that encourages interaction with vendors. The designs were influenced by a trip the team took to Thailand to look at night markets and food venues, he said.

Outside the building, the team is planning to build a structure to house a seasonal farmer's market. Later, Xiong said the site could add housing.

Xiong said he hopes to start construction on the building in September or October, though he said he'd like to open the farmers market temporarily using tents this spring. Xiong said a grand opening for the site could come as soon as May of 2025, but also didn't rule out opening the site on a phased basis.

Xiong and his wife, Nou, opened HmongTown Marketplace in 2004 in a former lumber company building on Como Avenue near the Minnesota State Capitol. With more than 200 vendors, including food, clothing and jewelry sellers, Xiong said it quickly became a destination for the area's Hmong community and beyond.

Xiong and his family have been looking to expand, he said: With a Hmong population in the Twin Cities larger than the entire population of Duluth, Xiong said HmongTown and the nearby Hmong Village Shopping Center aren't big enough to meet the demand of customers.

At busy times, the parking lot at HmongTown Marketplace's Como location, a more dense and urban area, fills up. With thousands of parking spots, that wouldn't be a concern at Maplewood Mall, Xiong said.

"The Sears property is the perfect size for us," Xiong told the Star Tribune. "At the same time, it is in a very, very good central location for our community."

At the same time, Xiong said he hopes the development would help the Maplewood community, bringing more foot traffic to Maplewood Mall — something city officials expressed excitement about, too.

"It's very exciting to see some things happening in our north end and especially revitalization of the mall," Maplewood Mayor Marylee Abrams said.

Council Member Chonburi Lee said the market can't come soon enough. He said he considers himself a "flea market kid." His parents were vendors at markets like HmongTown and that helped pave the way for him to go to college. "There's so many opportunities that will be provided to a lot of BIPOC and micro-entrepreneurs that this project will be bringing to our city," he said.