Colonial Market opens new location in Hi-Lake Shopping Center

Colonial Market and Restaurant held its grand opening Thursday at the store’s new location, 2100 East Lake Street in south Minneapolis. 

The supermarket, which also has an ice cream shop and will include a Stearns Bank, is now located about two miles east of its former location, Nicollet Avenue near West 28th Street.

Edgar Hernandez, a pastor at Cross of Glory Church in Hopkins and brother of Daniel Hernandez, Colonial Market’s owner, offered a prayer at the start of the event. After he finished his words, Daniel Hernandez spoke up.

“Thank you to my brother. Happened to be my real brother, so that was nice,” he said. 

He said nearly two years ago he had wanted to start “the biggest Hispanic supermarket chain in Minnesota” but was challenged by how to do so. He tried to get into the 2100 East Lake location, but he said he didn’t get much of a response from the developer Wellington Management.

A friend from the Latino Chamber of Commerce reached out to the firm.

“I don’t know if he called Batman or Spiderman, but whoever he calls, I got a call back from the Wellington family, which I’m very thankful for,” Hernandez said.

“He’s like ‘Danny, you’re in the right place with the right people. You know, the Wellingtons are one of the most amazing people that we as a city are proud of.’ And he said, ‘Lake Street is the place. The Lake Street is the place.’” 

The space had been vacant since Aldi left in June 2022. 

Hernandez has plans to open up a Colonial Market in north Minneapolis, at North Penn and North Lowry avenues. That location is expected to open for business in February. After that, his next stop is Bloomington.

Hernandez is set to open another Colonial Market in north Minneapolis in February.

Mayor Jacob Frey and other leaders who helped support the project attended the event. A local singer sang the Star-Spangled Banner and the Mexican National Anthem. Guests were offered Mexican coffee and Mexican cookies. (Later, tamales for everyone.)

Frey said he’s known about Hernandez’s journey since they met about four years ago at the Colonial Market Nicollet Avenue location.

“Nobody would dispute that the aftermath in years following 2020 were really hard on everybody,” the mayor said at the event. “But you know what? You’ve got the grit and the perseverance to make it happen, and when you got a team like this around you, great things come true.”

Hernandez also announced at the grand opening that Stearns Bank would open up inside the supermarket. There will be an ATM set up before the end of the year and bank representatives in January or February of next year, said bank CEO and President Kelly Skalicky.

“It just was a perfect fit, because what he really wanted is to provide financial services, which are the basis of financial empowerment and autonomy, and, building wealth, building your independence,” Skalicky said.

Stearns Bank will be at the northside locations and any future Colonial Markets.