Pop-Up Shop Could Be Prelude to Permanent New Retail Store on St. Cloud’s East End

(KNSI)—Renovations have been complete at the former hardware store at 413 East St. Germain Street in St. Cloud for six months, and while potential tenants have inquired, none have matched the vision building owner Marla Waseka has for the space.

She’s taking things into her own hands with the launch of the pop-up shop, Sage and Salvage. It will initially run this weekend only, but there are bigger plans for the concept. “I’m doing the pop-up shop because I’m taking it a little bit at a time. See how this weekend goes, but I’m fairly confident that I’ve got the right vendors and that we’ll do it once monthly, and then see how that goes.”

Waseka says she wants to ease into running her own shop. Starting with a pop-up is the perfect way to avoid biting off more than she can chew. It will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday and 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sunday.

As someone who has been involved with updating older properties in St. Cloud for decades, Waseka has quite the collection of knickknacks. She is turning the items into the foundation for the new store. “Myself, personally, I provide salvage. When I started restoring historic properties, I found a lack of house parts in this area, and I was tired of running down to Minneapolis to pay their prices and drive an hour one way to get a window latch.”

Waseka has teamed up with a half-dozen artists to repurpose the items and turn them into unique period pieces that complement her building’s 1920s-esque decor.

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