Edina Summer 2026: What Actually Opened This Year and How to Use It
August 6, 2026
August 6, 2026
If you live in Edina, the summer map has quietly redrawn itself. The two places you probably already drive through most weeks, 50th & France and the Southdale-Centennial Lakes corridor, are running on completely different clocks this year. One block is turning into a single chef's concept in slow motion. The other just finished a luxury retail buildout that started in 2025.
Knowing which spine is "on" which night is the difference between a good Thursday and a wasted one. Here is what has actually opened, what is coming before the leaves turn, and how residents are stringing it together.
The single biggest shift at 50th & France this year is not a new tenant. It is a chef quietly taking over three storefronts.
Thérèse is the first of three restaurant concepts del Prado has in the works at 50th and France. The French brasserie is named for his mother and, per OpenTable, runs brunch Sat, Sun 10:00 am–4:00 pm, lunch Mon–Fri 11:00 am–4:00 pm, dinner daily 5:00 pm–9:00 pm. If your only reference for del Prado is Porzana in the North Loop, Thérèse is the counterweight.
The second is a food hall. A new food hall from Daniel del Prado's restaurant group will open soon near 50th and France. Daq Daq will offer Korean fried chicken; Lucia's will serve pizza and salad; and Rose Sushi will focus on nigiri and sushi rolls. The third is the biggest swing. Americana (5036 France Av. S., Edina) By fall 2026, Americana will replace Cocina del Barrio and will feature a glass-enclosed rooftop patio and redesign by Christian Dean Architecture. Barrio owner Ryan Burnet has teamed with Daniel del Prado for the third restaurant in their partnership.
Around them, the block is filling in with independent operators too:
For anyone who has lived here more than a few years, the pattern is worth naming. The block that used to be defined by Pearson's, the 50th Street Café, Salut, D'Amico, and Barrio is now defined by one chef's portfolio plus a handful of new operators sliding into those exact addresses. If you have not walked the block since spring, walk it.
Southdale is turning 70 this year. The Southdale Center is celebrating 70 years in business. It was America's first indoor shopping center, opening in 1956. The current buildout is the biggest since then.
Edina's Southdale Center just got its Tiffany blue moment. Tiffany & Co. opened its new boutique at the mall on April 4, 2026, officially filling the final storefront in Southdale's newly built luxury wing. Southdale's own directory shows the luxury wing lineup as Burberry, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Max Mara, Moncler, Watches of Switzerland, David Yurman and Tiffany & Co. Several of these are not new brands to the Twin Cities. They are new to Southdale. Several of those upscale names, including David Yurman and Tiffany, relocated from the nearby Galleria, which changes the calculus for anyone who used to cross France Avenue for a specific store.
The scale is real. Local business reporting has framed the luxury buildout as one piece of a roughly $400 million overhaul of the broader Southdale property, and Simon expects more than 50 new‑to‑Southdale brands to open as the redevelopment continues.
Here is what to expect at Southdale over the rest of 2026:
| Tenant | Status in 2026 |
|---|---|
| Tiffany & Co. | Opened April 4 |
| Tommy Bahama | Opened in May |
| Princess Polly | Announced, first Minnesota location |
| LIDS | Announced for later this year |
| Laderach Chocolatier Suisse | Opening later in 2026, next to Pandora |
| Smithson (steak and seafood) | Slated for fall 2026 |
Sources: a "multimillion-dollar transformation." In a press release, a spokesperson for the mall announced fashion retailer Princess Polly will be opening its first Minnesota location at Southdale. The mall is also going to welcome the store LIDS this year. Meanwhile, Tommy Bahama is opening this Saturday, and shoppers that day will receive a printed tote. On dessert and dinner, Laderach Chocolatier Suisse is also opening in the mall later this year. A spokesperson with the mall says this will be located next to Pandora. And Restaurateurs Sharon and Randy Stanley (of Baldamar and 6Smith) plan to open a steak and seafood restaurant in Southdale Center in fall 2026.
Around all of this, the anchors that used to make Southdale feel like errands now make it feel like an evening out. The transformation also includes a flagship Life Time athletic country club, Life Time Work and Life Time Pickleball; a three-level, nearly 60,000 square foot RH retail concept featuring home furnishings in a gallery setting and RH Rooftop Restaurant; local, upscale grocery store Kowalski's; Puttshack, an upscale, tech-infused mini golf experience; plus a Homewood Suites by Hilton hotel.
Half a mile east of the Southdale luxury wing, the free programming keeps running the same way it has for years. The only thing that changes is which resident actually uses it. Here is the operating rhythm this summer:
The full summer entertainment series runs June 1-August 30, 2026, and all concerts are free and all ages are welcome.
A Thursday reads differently once you see it laid out. Park at Hughes Pavilion, walk the market until 6 or 7, and you are a five-minute drive from a rooftop dinner at Americana or a Korean fried chicken counter at Daq Daq. That is the through-line residents miss when they treat each destination in isolation.
Three dates carry the season.
The Fourth of July is the one everyone knows. 4th of July Parade: Begins at 10 a.m. on July 4 behind Edina City Hall, proceeding east on West 50th Street to downtown Edina. Fireworks land later that night at Rosland Park.
The Torchlight Concert is the one out-of-town guests always ask about the following week. Torchlight Concert: Typically held at sundown the second Sunday in August at Centennial Lakes Park.
And when the market winds down in early October, the Fall Into the Arts Festival takes the plaza. Fall into the Arts Festival: Organized by the Edina Chamber of Commerce and Explore Edina, in support of the Edina Crime Prevention Fund. Held the second weekend in September at Centennial Lakes Park. This year that is September 12.
If you host anyone visiting from out of state between June and October, those three weekends are the ones to hold.
Two things Edina residents get to see up close that buyers reading portal listings do not.
The first is that walkable amenity density on a specific block is a real, moving target in this market. A restaurant closing and reopening under a new concept, or a luxury retailer relocating three quarters of a mile, changes how the surrounding streets feel on a weeknight. It is one reason two similar houses within a mile of each other can trade very differently.
The second is that Southdale's transformation is not a mall story. It is a mixed-use story. When other offerings include a Life Time health club, a mini-golf course/restaurant and nearby apartments. "You have groceries, you have Life Time, you have hotels, you have entertainment and we have residential, all here on Southdale," that is Simon describing an evolution from destination retail to daily-use district. For homeowners in the surrounding neighborhoods, that gradually shifts what "close to Southdale" means when it comes up in a listing.
The lifestyle side of Edina is easy to point at right now. What is harder is translating "the block is different than it was two years ago" into a pricing conversation, a listing strategy, or a buy-side offer. That is the work.
If you are curious what the changes at 50th & France or the Southdale corridor mean for your specific address, or you are thinking about moving within Edina and want a read on which pockets are getting the biggest tailwind, Kary Marpe has spent decades doing exactly that translation for Edina owners.
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