Deli Express parent leases 120,000 SF in Hopkins
Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal
February 8, 2010
By Sam Black, Staff Writer
The company that makes Deli Express-brand sandwiches has leased 120,000 square feet in Hopkins, where it recently relocated its distribution center.
E.A. Sween Co. has signed a five-year lease at the Hopkins Cold Storage building, according to a press release from the building’s owner, Stewart Lawrence Group, based in Bloomington.
E.A. Sween has relocated its entire frozen food distribution operation from Newport, Minn., to the building, at 325 Blake Road N., near the Knollwood Mall in Hopkins. The company also has a facility in Eden Prairie where it makes over one million sandwiches per week.
Sween was founded in 1955 as a Stewart Sandwich franchise. Its Deli Express products are sold in 25,000 outlets nationwide, including in many convenience stores.
Stewart Lawrence was founded in 2006 by real estate veterans Stew Stender and Larry Pobuda. The pair bought the cold storage site in 2007 and had a long term plan to redevelop the 17-acre site to take advantage of a proposed light rail line on the corridor and the adjacent Minnehaha Creek.
But with the cool market for new construction, Stewart Lawrence shifted its focus to leasing the space.
It has signed a variety of tenants there including SuperValu Inc., NordicWare, Kotke Trucking and Hammond Cold Storage.