Our History
Celebrating 45 Years of Great Art & Framing
Carter Ave. Frame Shop has grown and prospered over the past forty years, touching the lives of owners, employees, customers, and neighbors alike. It has striven to be a place of beauty, quality, and service to customers and to the community. The following brief history shows how far the shop has come. In 1975, Mark Frederickson saw Milton Square while riding his motorcycle to a softball game. He had been dreaming of owning his own business and had been working in picture framing since he was a teenager. Mark immediately knew that the St. Anthony Park area was where he wanted to open a frame shop. He found a space in the basement off the parking lot behind Milton Square and began preparing the space. On September 29, 1975, Carter Ave. Frame Shop opened for business. Mark started small and grew little by little over the next ten years. Eventually, Mark sold the shop to concentrate on his other business, Commercial Framing Service. Mark eventually sold that business to concentrate on another business he started, Superior Moulding, which has become one of Carter Ave. Frame Shop’s main suppliers.
The “old, old store”, as the first location in Milton Square is called, had many unique features. Its 350 square feet held a sales area, an office, a bathroom, and a workshop. In the winter, because of the placement of the old radiators, it might be 80 degrees in the workshop, 50 degrees in the office, and there would be ice formed on the water in the toilet. In the spring, if it rained hard before the ground had thawed, there would be a waterfall down the wall by the windows. Because of the steps down to the shop, as well as the low ceiling and sharp turn into the shop, some oversized pictures had to be framed off-site. Plus the shop could only be seen from the lower level of the parking lot of Milton Square.
In 1989, Tim bought out his partner and moved the shop from Milton Square to a much larger and more visible location at 2278 Como Ave., next to the Bibelot, in the space currently occupied by Gustafson Jewelers. At the same time, more art was added to fill up the new gallery space. Brian became a full-time employee. More staff was added over the years — Glen, Jenny, Ruth, and Faye. The shop began to be open Monday through Saturday. In 1993, it became clear that the lease would not be renewed, so Tim started looking for a new location in St. Anthony Park. Nothing appropriate was available. Tim approached the owner of the flat-roofed rundown duplex with a billboard on the roof at 2186 Como Ave., about selling. It took a year to get the rezoning to allow for a frame shop.
Five months of gutting, putting on a new roof structure, and completely remodeling the building resulted in the store you see today. In August 1994, the whole shop was moved from the “old store” to the “new store” between 4:00 p.m. Saturday and 10:00 a.m. Monday. Of course, the shop could not move AND change its name for fear of losing customers. Hence, Carter Ave. Frame Shop has been on Como Ave. for the past sixteen years. Over the years, more good people served on the staff — Lisa, Anna, Paul, a couple of Rachels, Linda, Harriet, and Pam. In 2001, the twelve-foot retaining wall at the back of the property had to be replaced. Since the excavation completely destroyed the back yard of the store, it was decided that this was an opportunity to plant a new garden. Since then, the garden has been planted and maintained on all four sides of the building. The garden was on the St. Anthony Park Garden Tour in 2003. It is probably the best frame shop garden in the Twin Cities. Of course, there’s not much competition.
Michael Smith Becomes 3rd Owner of Carter Ave. Frame Shop
On March 2nd, 2016, Tim’s son Michael joined the staff of the shop. March 2nd happens to be both Tim’s and Michael’s birthday. On their birthday a year later, Michael became 25% owner. On March 2nd, 2019, Tim’s 60th and Michael’s 30th birthdays respectively, Michael completed the purchase to become the sole owner of the shop. Michael plans to continue Tim’s legacy of great framing design and quality craftsmanship for many more years. Tim continued to work at the shop as Michael's employee for a couple of years, and has now retired spending time at his cabin and with his grandchildren. The year 2020 was Carter Ave. Frame Shop’s 45th anniversary. Thanks to all our wonderful customers! We appreciate your business and your trust. We pledge to you the design, service, and quality you deserve.