Jan. 12, 2022

Bricks & Minifigs, a store that sells new, pre-owned and collectible Legos, is coming to Sioux Falls.

It’s being franchised locally by Jenn and Ryan Dean, who discovered it after she decided to make a career change and was trying to determine what she wanted to do.

“In the process, we’re putting together a Lego set,” said Dean, whose family is blended with her two adult daughters and Ryan’s two teenage sons.

“I started just searching around and came across the Bricks & Minifigs franchise.”

They took a trip to Omaha to visit the closest store and decided to keep pursuing the idea.

“One step just kind of led to another … and before we knew it, we were buying a bunch of Legos and signing a lease.”

The store will be at the corner of 41st Street and Kiwanis Avenue in a retail center with Verizon and Shopko Optical.

“West 41st Street is a perfect fit for this concept,” said Ryan Tysdal of Van Buskirk Cos., who represented the retailer. “This area has great national retail co-tenancy, which is a draw for such an iconic product as Lego.”

Retailers along 41st Street continue to experience strong growth, he added.

“Best Buy, Costco, Scheels, Pizza Ranch and countless other 41st Street retailers are high-performers in their respective companies,” Tysdal said. “Positioning Bricks & Minifigs within that retail co-tenancy really sets them up for success. Retailers like to be near other successful retailers.”

The store appeals to multiple demographics, Dean said.

“You have kids and free-builders and Lego League,” she said. “The little sets and pieces, all the way up to the high-end collector pieces that are really hard to find. Our goal is to make it available to everyone and bring that Lego joy to the entire community.”

Bricks & Minifigs is a certified Lego retailer and will sell new and used sets at all price points, plus customers can trade in sets.

“And we’ll have bulk Lego available, so you can buy by the piece, specific pieces or by the bag,” she said, adding the “minifigs” – short for miniature figurines – are the most popular seller.

“It’s a collectible thing,” she said.

The store also will have a room for birthday parties, featuring build-your-own derby car racing or other Lego-related gatherings.

Construction has started, and the Deans hope to have the store open by late May or early June. In the meantime, they plan to start reaching out to connect with community groups that might want to partner with the store in various ways.