The retail tug of war is on in Edina. Lululemon is packing up its yoga pants and crossing 69th street to relocate from Galleria to Southdale Center. But Galleria isn’t crying: the locally owned center has already signed a new tenant for the space, a rising star in the athleisure market and newcomer to the Twin Cities: alo.

No doubt, more of these back-and-forth battles are in store as Southdale’s powerful owner, Simon Property Group, plans a major overhaul of the shopping center, which now counts Life Time Fitness as an anchor and is making way for Kowalski’s Market. In recent years, the momentum at Southdale has been concentrated on its outer ring, including a Restoration Hardware mansion, while the regional mall has been dethroned as a fashion destination and has struggled to reenergize its center court. But construction is underway on a new luxury wing at Southdale that Simon has said will feature more than 20 designer stores. Completion is expected in 2025.

Meanwhile, this spring, lululemon will open an 8,500-square-foot shop in Southdale’s center court, across from Apple. “Lululemon is one of the most sought-after brands in retail today and a welcome addition to our retailer mix,” said Judy Tullius, Southdale’s general manager.

Lululemon will close at Galleria by Jan 31. “We’re sad to see them go—they’ve been a good partner and a great business—but we’re very excited to introduce the market to alo,” said Galleria leasing director Jennifer Smith. Launched in Los Angeles in 2007, alo counts Taylor Swift, Kendall Jenner, and Gigi Hadid among its fans. The Galleria store is expected to open this spring.

Lululemon continues to be a traffic driver just about every mall loves to  court. The 5,000-square-foot Galleria store generated $10 million in sales, Smith said—that’s second in the market only to lululemon’s Mall of America location, which is five times the size.

It’s likely a testament to Simon’s national pull, as the largest shopping mall owner in the country, that lululemon decided to make the switch. Smith said lululemon floated the idea of staying at Galleria while also opening across the street at Southdale. But Galleria rejected the idea. Lululemon, which has nine Twin Cities locations and one in Rochester, also recently opened just a couple of miles away from the Southdale trade area at 50th & France.

“We did not think it was special to have multiple lululemon locations in Edina,” Smith said.

The rival Edina shopping centers find themselves in the same predicament with popular apparel brand Madewell, which opened a Galleria store June 2022 with the intention of closing at Southdale. Simon frowned on that plan, sources say, and so the specialty retailer maintains stores at both malls.

In addition to the luxury wing buildout currently underway at Southdale, the mall is updating common areas of the historic property, which has the distinction of being the nation’s first covered mall.  Lighter veneers, green walls, new seating and furniture fixtures are all part of the refresh. An original 1956 Southdale sculpture, known as “The Acrobats,” has been unearthed from storage, refurbished, and will be installed near center court.

Kowalski’s Market is expected to open at Southdale in 2024 along with upscale mini-golf concept Puttshack.