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Local Business Recommendations

Posted: September 22nd, 2014, 7:04 am
by FISHMANPET
Because let's be honest, Yelp can be kind of terrible.

My cat peed on one of my suits which means I find myself needing a dry cleaner. And since it's cat pee and I don't want my suit ruined I want to make sure I take it to a place that's going to do a really good job. I work on campus and I thought there used to be one there but it seems that's not the case. So I'm guessing my best bet is something downtown? Willing to drive somewhere else because a suit ain't cheap.

Re: Local Business Recomendations

Posted: September 22nd, 2014, 7:13 am
by PhilmerPhil
Why is Yelp terrible? For the most part, I agree with many of the general reviews on restaurants. As for service related businesses, there probably isn't a big enough sample size to get an accurate overall picture of their quality.

Re: Local Business Recomendations

Posted: September 22nd, 2014, 7:18 am
by mamundsen
There have been articles about Yelps downfalls. Google it and you'll find a lot. Quick story, I have a friend who's family business has thousands of customers a month, they have 5-6 reviews on yelp. Sample size is none existent.

Re: Local Business Recomendations

Posted: September 22nd, 2014, 7:19 am
by FISHMANPET
Online reviews suffer from the problem of people usually only posting negative reviews. And also, there usually isn't enough of a sample size to get any good idea if there's an actual trend or if someone's pissy because they're just pissy.

Re: Local Business Recomendations

Posted: September 22nd, 2014, 7:19 am
by FISHMANPET
Though, to be honest, my (now former) tailor has pretty accurate Yelp reviews which tell the same story: decent work but he's so overworked nothing will be done on time.

Re: Local Business Recomendations

Posted: September 22nd, 2014, 7:27 am
by Anondson
Don't have any recommendations about dry cleaners. But I'll offer as alternatives to Yelp, Angie's List and Nextdoor. Angie's list just pulled a handful up.

Re: Local Business Recomendations

Posted: September 22nd, 2014, 7:45 am
by PhilmerPhil
Right, most reviews are wildly undersampled. But for restaurants, I've found Yelp to be really helpful, as they usually have 50+ reviews. That's enough to filter out the pissy ones. I have found some killer local gems while traveling thanks to Yelp.

Re: Local Business Recomendations

Posted: September 22nd, 2014, 7:54 am
by mister.shoes
My wife and I use Mulberrys for eco-friendly dry cleaning. I'm not sure if they have a downtown location, though.

Re: Local Business Recomendations

Posted: September 22nd, 2014, 7:57 am
by FISHMANPET
Ironically Mulberry's showed up as an ad on Yelp, with a review that said they melted the dude's buttons. Since I've got the same type (horn, not fake plastic) I might want to avoid them...

Re: Local Business Recomendations

Posted: September 22nd, 2014, 8:03 am
by mister.shoes
Ha. Go figure. My bad.

Re: Local Business Recomendations

Posted: September 22nd, 2014, 8:05 am
by FISHMANPET
Also I say bring on the nasty chemicals, I don't think C02 is going to get rid of cat pee :D

Re: Local Business Recomendations

Posted: September 22nd, 2014, 8:15 am
by mattaudio
I can recommend Hallmark on 46th/Bloomington. Bonus: walking.

Re: Local Business Recomendations

Posted: September 22nd, 2014, 12:38 pm
by mnmike
I am not sure they will be able to get cat pee out...I had that happen a while back, and after 2 cleanings you could still smell it. Cat pee pretty much ruins everything.

Re: Local Business Recomendations

Posted: September 22nd, 2014, 3:29 pm
by Chava
Yeah, if your suit can't handle any liquid it's screwed. Natures miracle enzyme based "urine destroyer" is the only product that I've seen that can really eliminate let odors.

Re: Local Business Recomendations

Posted: September 22nd, 2014, 4:04 pm
by tabletop
Tom's Tailor on Grand in St. Paul. Good folks.

Re: Local Business Recomendations

Posted: September 24th, 2014, 6:23 pm
by winterfan
I always go to Peter Pan on 38th and Grand. I've always been happy with the results. The negative Yelp reviews don't match my experience either.

Re: Local Business Recommendations

Posted: December 4th, 2014, 4:27 pm
by PhilmerPhil
I am on the hunt for a venue to host a skateboard video premiere this February. We're looking for something in Minneapolis with a capacity of approximately 300. Can anyone think of any theaters that would be somewhat affordable to rent out? In the past, I've done premieres at the Oak Street Cinema, Suburban World, and the Bell Museum. The Bell is still an option, but I just wanted to see if anyone knew of anything else out there.

Re: Local Business Recommendations

Posted: December 4th, 2014, 5:40 pm
by Nathan
I am on the hunt for a venue to host a skateboard video premiere this February. We're looking for something in Minneapolis with a capacity of approximately 300. Can anyone think of any theaters that would be somewhat affordable to rent out? In the past, I've done premieres at the Oak Street Cinema, Suburban World, and the Bell Museum. The Bell is still an option, but I just wanted to see if anyone knew of anything else out there.
I think the music box is usually pretty reasonable. Or was for my friends ep release

Re: Local Business Recommendations

Posted: December 4th, 2014, 9:50 pm
by mister.shoes
How big is Pepito's Parkway Theater? They've stopped showing regular movies there and are only doing special events.

Re: Local Business Recommendations

Posted: December 4th, 2014, 10:17 pm
by mattaudio
I know folks at the parkway.... Worth considering but they've been spendy when I've planned events. A smaller venue that is great and cheap is huge theater in lynlake... They rent it out.