Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/category/work-economy/business/page/5/)
The Rev. Bill Teska, who leads a small Minneapolis Episcopalian congregation that meets in the University Baptist Church at 1219 University Ave. S.E., and Don Olson, who spent 20 months in federal prison for disrupting draft offices in 1970, led a discussion on Nov. 22, on the role of religion in the peace and civil rights movements of the 1960s.
Many of their old meeting places near Dinkytown in Minneapolis no longer exist.
Ready or not, the holiday season is here, with the trifecta of big shopping days Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday kicking off this weekend. Sure, Small Business Saturday may not create the frenzy as the other two, but for many, that’s part of the day’s charm. Aimed at boosting sales for local independent shops, the day gives smaller mom-and-pop stores a chance to shine and garner focused community support.Small Business Saturday received a boost in popularity with the sponsorship of American Express in 2010, offering a rebate for cardholders who spend $10+ on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Also, the American Express site and the Small Business Saturday Facebook page offer promotional tips (use hashtag #Shopsmall and #SmallBizSat on social media, for example) and other resources to help promote the day.Below we’ve placed a spotlight on a few shops and attractions around the Twin Cities that could use your support this Small Business Saturday and all year long! We invite you to add your favorites in the comment section.Related articles and blogs:Heads up Twin Cities, Plaid is the new Black FridayIndie First Day/Small Business Saturday, November 29<a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/8482325/”>When is your fave time to shop for the holidays?</a>The Nicollet DinerHave you heard about the new 24-hour diner in Minneapolis? Continue Reading
You can hear from the songs on the radio, the ads in the newspaper, and the commercials on TV that the holiday season has begun. This week Cyber Monday and Black Friday will have consumers opening up their wallets to grab the perfect present for their loved ones.According to USA Today, an estimated $12.3 billion in sales were brought in last Black Friday and Thanksgiving weekend. But with store hours expanding and merchandise prices dropping, local small businesses have a hard time competing against large retailers.In order to keep up with the competition, local businesses have used this week’s hype to shop as a means of promotion. This weekend, local business owners in the Twin Cities will be celebrating Plaid Friday and Small Business Saturday.Originally started in Oakland California in 2010, Plaid Friday encourages customers to wear plaid and shop at their local business rather than big box retailers. On Nov. Continue Reading
Since same-sex marriage became legal in Minnesota, Heidi Garrido has shot for more than a dozen same-sex weddings. The St. Paul photographer said she’s already seen a major increase in her profits since the state legalized same-sex marriage last summer.And Garrido isn’t the only one that thinks the wedding industry is going to see a major uptick from the ruling. According to a study released by Nerd Wallet earlier this month, Minnesota could stand to gain $38 million dollars annually in the wedding industry from same-sex marriages. The study estimates around 1,300 same-sex marriages in the state per year, and bases its predictions off of the 2.9 percent of Minnesota’s population who identify as LGBTQ and the state’s average wedding cost of $28,265.“This is not only a short-term development,” said the author of the study Sreekar Jasthi. Continue Reading
Reading is such a personal thing to me, I’d much rather give someone a
gift certificate to a bookstore, and let that person choose his or her own books.
-Writer & journalist, Erik Larson
A gift suggestion to consider as you work your way down this season’s holiday shopping list. A best path to the perfect book – – or the gift certificate — starts with a visit to a favorite indie bookstores on Small Business Saturday, November 29, 2014 – a day now known to bibliophiles as Indies First day! Continue Reading
Abdirahman Kahin, owner of the West Bank’s Afro Deli, sees fewer customers during Ramadan, the monthlong Muslim daytime fast.
His restaurant is only open until 9 p.m., a time that’s too early for many Muslims to eat during the fasting period.
No, I’m not joking. David Levinson wrote about an often overlooked but important subsidy* given to drivers: the lack of sales tax on gasoline and auto/truck purchases. I’m surprised this hasn’t received more attention given the other distortions that see press. Yes, we pay a motor vehicle sales tax when buying a car, but that is supposed to be a user fee for funding roads (well, 60% of it at least). Yes, we also pay state and federal gas taxes, but again those are user fees (the MN gas tax is 100% dedicated to the Highway User Tax Distribution Fund). Continue Reading
Low-wage workers in a variety of Minnesota workplaces plan a week of action Nov. 28 to Dec. 5 around demands for a $15-an-hour minimum wage and improvements in working conditions.
A colleague of mine (from a more urban city) recently visited. When he arrived, I offered to show him around and he wanted to see transit-oriented development (TOD). Hmm…. I wanted to impress him, but I was stumped. Despite all our attention as a city and region to TODs, I don’t believe we have any great transit villages right off the platform where we could go that would really resonate with him. There’s Nicollet Mall and Target Field Station, but I wanted him to say, “wow, this is great!,” but I didn’t feel those would produce that response. Maybe I have impossibly high standards (maybe I’m just getting old and codgery), or maybe the Twin Cities is lagging a bit in the TOD quality department. So I took him for a drive along the West River Parkway and to West River Commons, which impressed him. This begs the question what is TOD and how can we do it better? Continue Reading
In a report about Minnesota Jobs Coalition chair Ben Golnik’s new job as executive director of the Minnesota House Republican caucus, Minnesota Public Radio’s Catherine Richert reported in Monday’s article, Golnik to direct House Republican Caucus:
Golnik is leaving his post as chairman of the Minnesota Jobs Coalition, an independent political group that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars ushering in the Republican majority to the Minnesota House. Republicans won in nearly every district the group invested in. . . . Continue Reading