Small-business owners pick up the pieces after night of rage, destruction
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More than 100 small businesses across Minneapolis were damaged during the protests Wednesday night over the death of George Floyd in police custody, said Allison Sharkey, the executive director of Lake Street Council, a nonprofit business coalition. Most of them were along Lake Street, but some were in other sections of the city, including Uptown and north Minneapolis.
As more looting and vandalism continued Thursday and spread, including to St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood, many businesses across the Twin Cities hunkered down for another potentially rough night. Businesses along Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis, which were not hit the night before, boarded up windows along with many others around the city.
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After a sleepless night, business owners along Lake Street — many already hurting from the economic downturn caused by COVID-19 — emerged early Thursday morning and stared at what was left of their shops and the street with quiet disbelief... On Wednesday night, the epicenter of the damage from the rioting was in the area around Lake and Hiawatha, where a Wendy’s and an AutoZone smoldered nearby the next morning. Smoke billowed from other buildings, the burning smell wafting across Lake Street.
Qiu Chen, owner of Twin City Laundromat, stood guard with his arms crossed outside his shop that as of Thursday afternoon had been mostly spared. Chen had been up most of the night trying to ward off people from breaking in, pleading at one point with one man, who took a hammer to his window, to stop. He planned to do the same Thursday night. Some storefronts put signs up noting they are minority-owned businesses in the hopes that vandals would leave them alone.
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Tim Gleason, who has owned Precision Tune Auto Care on Lake for 20 years, stood outside his building as his mechanics picked up whatever tools were left from inside the garage. He believed protesters stole the cars and drove them out right through the garage doors. “Found one a block away at McDonald’s,” he said. “The worst part for me is that these guys’ tools that were stolen aren’t covered by the business insurance because it’s their personal property. So hardworking mechanics are out a bunch of money.” One business owner said: “COVID didn’t close me, but this is going to close me.”
Lake Street Council is collecting donations for the businesses through a new website (welovelakestreet.com).
https://www.startribune.com/mpls-small-business-owners-pick-up-pieces-after-night-of-destruction/570833292/
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Minneapolis vandalism targets include 189-unit affordable housing development
The under-construction affordable housing development that burned in the widespread violence in south Minneapolis late Wednesday and early Thursday was to be a six-story rental building with 189 apartments for low-income renters, including more than three dozen for very low-income tenants.
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The developer, Twin Cities-based Wellington Management, declined to comment Thursday on the fate of the project.
https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-vandalism-targets-include-189-unit-affordable-housing-development/570836742/
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Target closes 24 Twin Cities stores until further notice
Target has closed its 24 Twin Cities metro stores until further notice as rioting and looting following protests of George Floyd’s death hit several of its stores. The Lake Street Target, which was nearly destroyed in overnight looting, is among the Minneapolis stores, along with the downtown store on Nicollet Mall as well as the ones in Dinkytown, Northeast and Uptown.
In St. Paul, the Highland Park, Midway and East stores are closed. Suburban stores closed are in North St. Paul, West St. Paul, Oakdale, Roseville, Brooklyn Park, Knollwood and St. Louis Park, Crystal, Eden Prairie, Shoreview, Fridley, Richfield, Burnsville, Bloomington, Apple Valley and Apple Valley South.
https://www.startribune.com/target-closes-14-twin-cities-stores-until-further-notice/570848882/
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We moved to SoCal shortly after the 1992 riots. Many small business owners, many owned by no white never came back. And, I believe, the area has never recovered.
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This is setting up to be a perfect storm for disaster. 