Rejuvenation and building up is going on in Canal Park

There are so many shops and activities to do in Canal Park, and soon there will be a few new changes coming to the area.

“We have been excited to have some new businesses coming here. We have had some that have left, sadly, but they have been filled with a lot of other new businesses; ones that we have welcome, and we look forward to more people coming here,” said Tony Benson, the President of Canal Park Business Association.

Speaking of new business moving in, The Social House is bringing its food to Canal Park. This will be the restaurant’s second location. Their first location is in Hermantown.

“It is a super exciting time for us. With our success in Hermantown, we thought we could survive in a place like Canal Park. It is something that does not exist down here; we will be filling a void desperately needed. My business partner and I are both from here; we care about this city. I think an opportunity like this comes every 20-30 years to get into a space of this size, and we are very excited,” shared Co-Owner of The Social House Matt “Bert” Berthiaume.

They are in talks with the owners of Famous Dave’s, to take over their lease of this building. The hope is to open before the busy summer season. They are working on adding new items to their bountiful and popular breakfast menu, and there will be a full bar since they will have almost double the space.

Famous Dave’s has been in Canal Park since 2002; the owner and operator, Greg Toon, explained that they wanted to provide more of their barbeque in a more easily accessible area. “It is kind of coming to fruition, and it is really exciting. To be in a new space, to have a new opportunity, and to just be in an area where we feel we can expand a little bit, grow and just bring Famous Dave’s stuff to the masses that live here locally.”

Canal Park is home to a lot of businesses, and even with some challenges in the area like, parking, the area continues to thrive. “We are so fortunate to have that, and we are fortunate to have a lot of dedicated, hardworking business owners and employees who are committed to making it work here. So knowing that there are some unique challenges here, just like there are some really unique opportunities with the natural things that we have to offer,” said the Vice President of Duluth Chamber, Daniel Fanning.

Fanning also shared that making sure current businesses feel supported is valuable and important. “We want to continue to support the business community and make sure they have what they need. Again, we know that the numbers have gone up significantly this year and that’s good. But we do not want to rest on our laurels. We want to make sure that all of our businesses in Canal Park and throughout the community are supported to continue to be successful.”

As some changes and businesses are getting ready to call Canal Park home, Benson mentioned that there is more news of new ventures coming to the area. “We are excited about the upcoming year 2023, which we are almost to. We have other businesses that are going to be coming into Canal Park. Some of them are office work, some of them are other restaurants, some of them are art shops and antique shops and things like that. We are hoping to just have a lot of new things for people to come down and see, as well as some of their old favorites.”