No to 7-11Downtown Minneapolis in general is severely lacking in convenience stores. I wish 7-11 had a presence in this city as it would be really helpful to be able to run inside and grab something real quick while waiting on a bus transfer or something like that.I hope we see more pharmacy/hardware/grocery type options pop up along Washington(where people actually live. As far as I’m aware, there isn’t a single hardware store downtown. There are no pharmacies in Downtown East. And the only grocery stores in walking distance of north loop and downtown east are Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s respectively.A lot of talk about building owners needing to attract new business downtown but...do businesses even want to be downtown? My job is mostly remote, but I was in the office last week and walking around during a break, there's no other way to describe it other than a ghost town. It's kind of a Catch-22 situation, but unless you have a specific niche that works for downtown, why would you choose to locate there? It's empty, has a crime perception problem, is one of the harder places to find parking near where you want to be (yes, I know, I know...).
Uniqlo gets floated on here a lot and...what exactly is appealing about downtown Minneapolis to Uniqlo? Downtown is just not a place people come to shop. It would be out of the way for most people. Frankly, if one opens, it's going to be at Mall of America.
Folks are also commenting that we need something that will bring people downtown, but that's exactly what was tried and failed in the 90s and early aughts. A more sustainable approach might be luring the boring but crucial stores that make downtown easier and more hospitable. But that's a pretty tall ask when there aren't that many people living in the true core of downtown.
I'm generally bullish on the future of Minneapolis. But I'm fairly bearish on downtown as a thriving area of daily commerce anytime soon. It's actually pretty depressing how lousy most of Minneapolis' commercial areas are doing these days.
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But YES! To Kwip Trip creating an urban design !!
They are the buc-ee’s of Minnesota!! Bring milk in the bag sales to the downtown!!!!!
I miss the Holiday “gas station” in the MOA.