There are signs of hard times in Uptown almost everywhere you look.
Some storefronts are vacant; others have ‘for lease’ signs plastered on their windows.
For small businesses here, it’s been an economic roller coaster.
“I mean, it’s gone in waves,” says Missy Conrad, the owner of Uptown Hub, a smoothie and juice bar. “Just some people don’t want to come to Uptown, currently with everything that’s happening.”
The area has seen pandemic closures, civil unrest, construction on Lyndale and Hennepin Avenues and now, ICE operations.
All of which, Conrad says, has impacted her business.
“Before we were, I can probably say by how many people, seeing anywhere from 30 to 50 people a day,” she notes. “Now, some days, we’re seeing three to four people a day.”
At a gathering of the Uptown Association Saturday, Mayor Jacob Frey had some sobering numbers on the impact of the ICE presence.
“Small businesses are experiencing a $10 million to $20 million loss every single week,” he told the group. “Businesses along a cultural corridor are seeing more than a 50% drop in revenues. Hotels are seeing a $4.4 million loss already, and those numbers are just going up.”
Frey says in some neighborhoods, it appeared that 80% of small businesses were closed.
“It’s not just employees afraid to come to work,” explains Andrea Corbin, the president of the Uptown Association. “It’s corporations that have booked events that are cancelling, taking a lot of revenue.”
But that’s not all.
The two recent anti-ICE protests have put small business owners in a tough spot.
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By closing in solidarity, some lost thousands of dollars, with reduced paychecks for workers.
The Minneapolis Downtown Council says 75% of its partners lost foot traffic or sales because of the first protest on Jan. 23.
A spokesperson says some restaurants saw their income cut in half.
Corbin, owner of Flower Bar, says on a typical day, she serves between 20 and 30 customers.
During the Jan. 23 protest, she did an inventory day, helping a few customers who came in.
She says in the first month of the year, profit margins are tight, trying to make payroll for her five employees, while covering the costs of materials.
“January is our slowest month, so it’s really difficult to have an additional hurdle like this,” Corbin says. “It’s so hard.”
Amid cheers Saturday, Frey announced that the Uptown Art Fair is returning to Hennepin Avenue this August — a $1 million shot in the arm for the neighborhood economy.
Organizers say historically, the fair has attracted up to 400,000 people.
The last two years, it’s been held at Bachman’s on Lyndale Avenue.
“It is a mainstay of unity and of creativity,” the mayor said.
“For Uptown, it’s huge to be able to announce it at a time like this. It means a lot to us,” Corbin says. “I think the community is looking for a sense of normalcy and a way to celebrate and get together.”
But what about the ICE presence and the statement by Border Czar Tom Homan that the ICE surge could end in ‘a couple weeks?’
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“Obviously, I’m hopeful that’ll be the case, and I’ll believe it when I see it,” Frey says. “If the goal is to see additional prosperity and additional economic development, perhaps the best anecdote is to get ICE out of here. It’s time for Operation Metro Surge to end.”
After everything that’s happened, Conrad says she’s optimistic about the future.
“I feel hopeful, I won’t be taking over until March 1, and would have had an opportunity to back out,” she explains. “But I love this community, and I love what we stand for.”