PEOPLE PROFILES
JIM VOLP PLAZA OWNER
Heights Plaza, at the intersection of Centerville Road and Hwy 96, is a gateway to Vadnais Heights from the north, and if you haven’ t noticed lately, it’ s looking mighty fine with modern signage and a new Punch Pizza / Starbucks building in place of the old PDQ gas pumps. People around town have often referred to it as“ the PDQ plaza,” and plaza owner Jim Volp wants you to know,“ It’ s never been‘ PDQ Plaza.’ It’ s always been Heights Plaza, since its opening in 1988.”( PDQ started in Madison, Wisconsin and is still there; Volp’ s parents actually built / leased the first 16 PDQ stores in Minnesota to PDQ- Wisconsin, beginning in 1966.)
Volp is Chief Manager of Volp Vadnais Heights LLC and has been part of the family business since 1965.“ Personally, I love making real estate meet and serve people’ s needs. Real estate can be the catalyst for most any group’ s successes( until the internet). When both private and public organizations small and large succeed, the communities grow and succeed also. I’ ve worked with numerous cities that grew quite large through necessity because of their geographic size, but it’ s a welcoming feeling to still walk into Vadnais Heights and be greeted by name by the City staff, instead of just being a number.”
A quick, abbreviated Heights Plaza history, according to Volp:“ We built in 1987, and the first tenant to hang its sign was Clean‘ n’ Press, then PDQ Food and Gas opened January 1998. Salon Zeo( was City Looks) is in its second generation; they opened in 1988 as well. The Subway space was a butcher shop and small liquor store before Subway opened in 1990. The MGM Wine & Spirits’ space was a drugstore that closed, so in 1997 we added on more space to accommodate MGM’ s larger needs, and space for a restaurant, but USPS quickly took that before it was even built. A chiropractor was in the H & R Block space until 2005. PDQ left Minnesota in 2013 and was replaced by Noodles & Company in 2015, then came Punch Pizza / Starbucks in 2016. A lot of people don’ t know that Culver’ s is part of Heights Plaza; it opened in early 2001 and is a top 10 percent performer in the U. S.”
DRS. KATRINA LEANO AND STEVE MEANS
DENTISTS
Dr. Katrina Leano enjoys channeling her creative side into her profession:“ I started taking an interest in interior design when my husband and I were renovating our home. The aesthetics and symmetry aspects are like dentistry.”
Dr. Steve Means, one of Leano’ s partners at Metro Dentalcare in Vadnais Heights, appreciates the aesthetics as well; he was inspired to pursue his career by his father’ s uncle, an educator and pioneer in cosmetic dentistry in California.“ He helped invent the first white crowns; a lot of his patients were movie stars. Also, he stayed active in his profession, teaching at foreign dental schools in third world countries until late in life.”
Both dentists are passionate about the human side of their profession. Means, who has more than 30 years experience, says,“ Many people do not enjoy going to the dentist. I really love making dental care a good experience for my patients; I enjoy using humor to put them at ease.” Leano, a 2007 Marquette University graduate, says,“ For me, the most rewarding aspects of being a dentist are taking care of patients and their dental needs; meeting new patients and building relationships; and, educating patients about their dental care.”
Leano grew up in the Philippines and emigrated with her family to the U. S. in 2000, when she was 20; she says her grandparents, who were already in the U. S., have been her greatest inspirations:“ They have given me unconditional love my entire life; it’ s inspired me to do the same for my son and husband, and be the best wife, mother, daughter, sister, cousin, friend, dentist and human being I can be.”
Means was a Professor of Clinical Dentistry at the University of Minnesota and the team dentist for all Minnesota Gophers’ sports teams. He says,“ I especially enjoyed teaching clinical dentistry to fourth-year students at the university and am contemplating doing it again.”
18 Vadnais Heights Business Guide & Community Profile