Your business week, 9/6 – 9/12
Minneapolis
The Stable, a consumer brands agency, is expanding to Seattle.
- Swap: This is while Seattle-based Amazon is looking to expand to a new city for their second headquarters, and Minneapolis is a potential.
- Well, the Twin Cities fit Amazon’s criteria for HQ2 at least.
- We’ll have more on that soon.
The U of M is looking to raise $4 billion in a fundraising campaign.
- The money will bolster student financial aid, research in areas like clean water, robotics, neurosciences, addiction, and aging, as well support new and existing faculty positions, and a laundry list of other needs.
- $4 billion is lot of scratch. Good thing they’ve already hit the halfway mark ($2.5 billion, or 63%): The campaign has actually been going on since 2011, this is just the first time they’ve told anyone.
Chopping block: Italian restaurant Butcher’s Block is now closed.
- We thought they were pretty good: The Twin Cities’ Top 10 Italian Restaurants
St. Paul
Downtown St. Paul’s riverfront development deal drowns.
- Cardon, a Phoenix-based developer, wanted to build three towers for $225 million that included retail, office space, hotel, and housing.
- The company wanted more money from the country, which already spent $17 million (what was supposed to be $11 million) tearing down existing buildings, for a parking ramp along the bluff.
- Ramsey County said no. The St. Paul riverfront, along Kellogg between Market and Wabasha Streets, will remain empty for the time being.
Good news! The Lexington’s long-awaited rooftop patio is now open to celebrate the remaining days of warm weather.
- The menu is Polynesian-themed drink menu (Chef Jack Riebel has a close connection with Hawaii) is loaded with lethally-potent tiki drinks.
- The small menu of bar snacks includes Crab Rangoon, some truly tender chicken skewers doing the Thai peanut thing, and an amazing kimchi grilled cheese sandwich.
- Yes, we tried everything. And then got seconds.
Metro
Best Buy saying goodbye to two metro stores:
- Inver Grove Heights (open since 1974) and one of two stores in Blaine (open since 2007) will be no more come late October.
Baja Sol Tortilla Grill, a (at least we thought) popular Mexican restaurant chain, known for fast-casual, more lunchtime focused dining, has quietly closed all of its restaurants.
- There were 7 metro locations: In downtown Minneapolis, downtown St. Paul, Eden Prairie, Edina, Northeast Minneapolis, Roseville, and St. Louis Park.
- The surprisingly robust salsa bar will be missed most.
Beyond
The latest iPhone, the iPhone X, has been unveiled.
- We talked about it here: Get ready, MN: The iPhone 8 to be unveiled September 12 back when we thought it was going to be called “iPhone 8.”
- The first iPhone debuted 10 years ago; announced on January 9, 2007 and on shelves June 29, 2007.
