December 26, 2019

Text: Jesse Dorris

Love Your Melon Shop in Minneapolis Donates Funds for Kids Battling Cancer

MDF displays, finished with Italian two-part enamel and steel powder-coated substrate, float over a bench of Cambria Skara Brae. Photography courtesy of Love Your Melon.

Love Your Melon began when Zachary Quinn, a business student at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, figured out a warm way to help support children battling cancer: beanies to help keep the chill off their heads after chemotherapy-related hair loss. Some seven years later, Love Your Melon now offers made-in-America beanies, and a new range of apparel and housewares, with 50 percent of the net profits going to fund not-for-profits who provide therapy and programming for kids with cancer and their families.

Upstairs, Tech Lighting tubular LEDs illuminate a table and chairs by Room & Board.Photography courtesy of Love Your Melon.

Last year, Love Your Melon opened its first brick-and-mortar retail location and incubator, in Minneapolis’ North Loop neighborhood. “We saw it as an opportunity to be present in a physical space,” says Quinn, “with an office space that provides legitimacy, inspires new partnerships, and allows space for creativity.”

A honed plaster wall integrates a Montigo fireplace, near seating and tables by Room & Board. Photography courtesy of Love Your Melon.

The light-filled vibe of the 2,500-foot-space accomplishes those first two goals, while the interiors more than fulfill the last goal. The palette, Quinn says, “is all white, which makes it a blank slate.” Rows of customizable beanies stand at the ready across floating shelves, while accents of gray, courtesy of Cambria, add interest. Upstairs, multiple social areas sit ready for collaboration. And the design is clearly working: To date, Love Your Melon has donated over 185,000 beanies—and $6.2 million dollars.

A mixed media artwork by Andrew Martin hangs at the end of a hallways near the customer service and Love Your Melon Fund workspaces. Photography courtesy of Love Your Melon.
In the kitchen, a marbled expanse of Cambria Skara Brae forms a bar; the custom backsplash is a collaboration with Terraferma by Artaic. Photography courtesy of Love Your Melon.
Hennepin Made pendants hang above a Cambria Skara Brae countertop, with seating by Room & Board. Photography courtesy of Love Your Melon.

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