The Wedge's Small Businesses Get a Listening Ear

The Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association is visiting Wedge storefronts to ask owners what they need, an outreach effort the group says is meant to strengthen the local economy.

LHENA, pronounced "Lee-Nah," is the volunteer-led nonprofit recognized by the City of Minneapolis as the official neighborhood organization for the Wedge, where it serves more than 9,000 residents from an office at 2744 Lyndale Ave. S.. Its mission includes advancing a shared vision for the neighborhood, and the business outreach is one piece of a broader push to engage residents and merchants block by block.

The Wedge's commercial life runs mostly along its edges, on Hennepin Avenue to the west and Lyndale Avenue to the east. Both corridors are in flux. Hennepin was rebuilt in a project that wrapped in late 2025, and Lyndale is next: Hennepin County plans to reconstruct Lyndale Avenue South between Franklin Avenue and 31st Street, with construction set to begin in 2028 after a two-to-three-year build.

That timing is why the outreach doubles as an early-warning system. Construction, parking changes and rising rents tend to hit small operators first, and checking in with storefronts directly lets the association learn which corners are struggling before a vacancy appears. A neighborhood that knows its merchants can advocate for them with the city and rally residents to spend locally when a favorite shop is at risk.