[Archived] Uptown Retail & Restaurant News 2012-17

[PhilmerPhil]

I'm pretty sure that Everyday People closed because it's so hard to find parking in Uptown, and because Uptown is so crowded no one goes there anymore.

[tab]

Correct - no one goes there any more, for the aforementioned reason that the crowds are simply unbearable.

[clf]

Rising property taxes and rising rent prices have been the cause of many of the retail closings in the area as well as many of the vacant retail spaces. Basic business 101 - if your expenses are more than your revenue you have a problem. I don't know what is confusing about that.

[grant1simons2]

If they can't keep up with the rent then well, that's tough. It's part of growing popularity of a certain block. People are saying that they were overpriced right? Then that might be their root problem. They were more than what people wanted to spend on the clothes and objects and therefore revenue was down so the expenses of course did become a problem. You can't blame the amount of people coming in to Lyn-Lake being the cause of the closure.

[EOst]

They were pretty pricey, but partly because they actually had some really nice stuff. That's sort of the trade-off for vintage clothing stores.

[Minneapolisite]

Hipsters, artists, punks, etc did not jack up rent with luxury apartments and expensive businesses that are exclusive. They lived in cheap apartments and opened businesses that were accessible to most income levels. I'm sure Uptown was a good deal emptier back then, so no one to kick out.

[Nathan]

Also if you're feeling over priced in an area as a business person, and the writing is on the wall... maybe it would be good business to move to North East and continue being thestore you have been... I'm just tired of people blaming other factors in our local economy for businesses closing. Be good at business forecast keep yourself alive don't blame people. Of course you want to stay in the same neighborhood but if that means death be self preserving.

[John]

I don't know, but there still appears to be a lot of independent retail in Lyn-Lake that thrives. And there is an increasing amount of interesting retail activity going on around Nicollet Ave and 26th, which I think is partly a result of the gentrification of Uptown/Lyn-Lake. Retail is a fickle business and maybe Tatters is a bit outdated in their concept , or as Nathan suggests, move to an area that fits your target market better.

[seanrichardryan]

They've taken such good care of their storefront. Let's hope whoever moves in does the same.

[Nathan]

They've taken such good care of their storefront. Let's hope whoever moves in does the same.

second

[Wedgeguy]

Right there were empty store fronts and run down buildings, similar to what LynLake was 15 years ago. Part of why we have Calhoun Square, was one attempt to help make the neighborhood more palatable to those who were racing to the suburbs. Back before people were buying houses here in the neighborhood. So please have your facts straight before you blow off stuff you were not yet around to have seen.

[EOst]

Just because there were vacant store fronts and run-down buildings doesn't mean the area was uninhabited, or that the rising prices caused by hipster gentrification didn't push people out. You act as though Uptown were some sort of virgin territory, ready to be colonized by artsy white people.

[Wedgeguy]

It just meant that people did not always feel safe when they were in those conditions. When people don't feel safe they leave. When they feel safe and see investment they will stay and invest in properties. It happens all over the city and country. You don't fix up a building and then think that you can charge the same rents has when it was run down. You have to pay off those loans you took out to pay for the rehab. When your property values go up when your neighbors fix up their properties, your property goes up in value as a result. You may not get the extra money when you sell if you do not do the same, but the potential for increased value is what drives up part of the property taxes. A fixed up house sells for more so it increases the overall value of a neighborhood.

[EOst]

Of course, I don't disagree with any of that.

I'm really just taking issue with the idea that the process you're describing was good *then* but bad *now*. I think a lot of people ultimately understand gentrification as something like "rising property values have made the place more expensive/yuppy than whatever my price level is", whether they'll admit it or not. What I'm trying to point out is that at each stage of this process, from 1975's doldrums to today, has created winners and losers.

Apropos of nothing: according to the census, populations in three of the four neighborhoods that border Hennepin/Lake have actually declined since 1980, with the unsurprising exception of the Wedge. That said, the census seems to have a fair bit of noise on the neighborhood level (eg. Whittier supposedly gained 2,000 people between 1990 and 2000, then lost 3/4 of them between 2000 and 2010?)

[Wedgeguy]

Part of the lose of people may have to do with houses being bought as SFH that had been used as apartments or rentals which can have more people living in them. I live in what was a duplex 40 years ago, but now SFH, and I have a neighboring houses that have groups of young folks sharing the rent of a house. I'd also put out that in the Whittier neighborhood, that many of the apartments and houses that were used by lower income families, were fixed up to accommodate one or 2 person households or much smaller family sizes that were in them in the 90's..

[xandrex]

I think a lot of people ultimately understand gentrification as something like "rising property values have made the place more expensive/yuppy than whatever my price level is", whether they'll admit it or not.

Nobody thinks a neighborhood is gentrified/yuppified until they can't afford it themselves.

[Minneapolisite]

Revitalization ≠ Gentrification. Once you understand that we can have an intelligent conversation.

[EOst]

lol, thanks for proving my point dude.

[NickP]

Revitalization ≠ Gentrification. Once you understand that we can have an intelligent conversation.

The majority of what I read in your comments is vitriol, anger, and superiority. It is your intent to convey these emotions?

I would have to agree with EOst in this argument. One person's revitalization is another person's gentrification. It's all about perception. I think that all areas are vitalized in some way shape or form, it just depends on if what that area is offering corresponds to what one desires.
I also think there is a racial and economic component to this. Full disclosure, I have MANY hispterisms and much prefer "dive" bars to glitzy clubs, but I think that often, the neighborhoods that, if I understand you correctly, you are saying are being revitalized by artists, hipsters, punks, etc are usually poorer, minority, and immigrant. To me, the word revitalization implies that what was there before was undesirable and I think it's very rude to imply such things.

[Wedgeguy]

Notice that the old Dunn Brothers on W Lake is now getting new sheet rock and other work done to it. Did not see a sign for what's coming soon. But that kind of kills the hope that they would combine where the old condos burned down with the Brugger's and make a better building on that site.