Women-Owned Businesses Tip the Balance at The Village

The Village at Mendota Heights is flourishing, according to the development's retail tenants, and an ambitious group of local businesswomen are partly to thank.

Of the 39 retail business owners occupying commercial space at The Village, 25 owners, or 64 percent, are women, according to Ross Fefercorn, chief manager for Mendota Heights Town Center, LLC and manager of The Village.

“All the businesses tend to be really supportive of each other,” said Terri Bly, owner and founder of , one of The Village’s woman-owned businesses. “There isn’t a sense of competition.”

Bly has also turned to organizations outside of The Village to help her build a thriving business. She accessed loans, business consulting sessions and finance and publicity classes through WomenVenture, a nonprofit founded to help women achieve economic success. (Featured in ).

According to Bly, it is also more affordable than renting retail space on Grand Avenue, where she previously operated. 

As a Mendota Heights resident, she said that The Village provided a convenient location for her business, but she does sometimes find herself having to explain to potential customers how close Mendota Heights is to the Twin Cities.

“Helping people understand where we’re located is the only challenge,” said Bly.

Despite its suburban locale, akin to its St. Paul counterparts, while maintaining close proximity to residential developments.

Laura Rasmussen, co-owner of , relocated her business to The Village after spending two years at a retail space in River Bluffs Shopping Center. At her previous location, her business was bookended by a liquor store and a cigar shop, and she received no walk-by traffic. 

“(The move) worked out really well for us,” said Rasmussen. “Our business is doing much better here.”

However, success requires more than the right location. It takes hard work.

The obligation to be an active parent was one challenge businesswomen discussed. It was the only obstacle identified as a difficulty that their male counterparts may not encounter to the same extent. 

Bly, who has an 8-year-old and a 5-year-old, said that balancing business and motherhood can be difficult.

“It’s rare that I get a day off,” said Rasmussen. “It’d be really hard, if you had a family, to own it by yourself and not have staff or a partner.”