Wayzata is in the midst of a retail and restaurant renaissance.
For years, the lakeside town was best-known for its proximity to Lake Minnetonka. Retail and restaurant offerings along the main drag, Lake Street, were, shall we say, lacking. Wayzata mainstay Blue Point Restaurant & Oyster Bar was desperately in need of a remodel, and 2016 alone saw the closings of retailers House of 365, Maha! Boutique, and Watermark Stationery.
Parisian-inspired fragrance boutique La Petite Parfumerie was among the stream of businesses that have occupied the House of 365 storefront. It moved to Southdale in late 2014 before closing earlier this year. Last week, the store reopened in its hometown across the street from its former home, on the same block as salad spot Crisp & Green, retailer J.McLaughlin, baby store Oh Baby!, and in the one-time Blue Point space, Gavin Kaysen’s new French restaurant and cafe, Bellecour.
La Petite Parfumerie’s new Wayzata storefront
JAHNA PELOQUIN
“I wanted to come back to a boutique area,” explains La Petite Parfumerie owner Diane Wissink of her return to Wayzata. “Being two doors away from a French restaurant [Bellecour] was my great incentive. With Crisp & Green, [slick, East Coast-inspired seafood restaurant] CÅV, and the new boutiques, I feel like the town has just come alive.”
The other big Wayzata news are two new developments. Opened in 2014, the Promenade houses an apartment complex, the Quayside, as well as retailers and restaurants, including Anthropologie, the soon-to-be-opened Rustica bakery, and 44 North Boutique. The latter is a locally owned lifestyle store featuring beach- and yacht-ready women’s clothing and accessories—think bell-sleeve, off-the-shoulder tops and dresses, and nautical-inspired pieces—as well as inflatable pool toys, beauty products, hostess gifts, and stylish coffee table books.
Last week saw the opening of luxury boutique hotel, the Hotel Landing—the first hotel on Lake Minnetonka in more than 50 years. The development also includes residential condominiums, a spa, restaurants, and 17,000 square feet of retail space.
La Petite Parfumerie: Now open @ 755 Lake St. E., Wayzata, 952-475-2212, lapetiteparfumerie.com
44 North Boutique: Now open @ 823 Lake St., Wayzata, 952-473-0440, 44northboutique.com
