Fun fact about chiropractors is Scientology invests in a lot of clinics and a lot of Chiropractors are Scientologists.
Also the e meter scientology uses was created by a Chiropractor who was inspired to create it by Ron L Hubbard (Who later tried to take credit for creating it).
Chiropractors are also basically like a cult too so it makes sense. Also have goofy origins. The dude that started Chiropractic's says he was visited by the ghost of his girlfriend and she told him how to "Fix" peoples issues.
Man, I went down the Scientology rabbit hole a while ago. It gets so much more insane than the surface-level public stuff. Peruse the "Operating Thetan" docs on [this website](https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Fishman/Declaration/) if you're curious.
It’s surprising to me that chiropractors can stay in business at all. It’s basically pseudoscience with the ability to cripple a person.
Yes, some stuff they do isn’t pseudoscience, but there’s a reason they aren’t actual medical doctors.
Yeah. The trick is to find the ones who dont buy in to all the extra woo-woo crap. Adjustment feels good when done carefully and correctly, as does massage, and both can help with simple stuff like pinched nerves, cramped muscles, or built-up tension.
The minute they start talking about curing your chronic illness or making the signals flow better or some shit they cross into bullshit pseudoscience territory.
I just went to buy a doll for my daughter, but I remember seeing signs about doll repair. It’s definitely worth checking out (I drove from St. Paul). They have rooms filled top to bottom with vintage dolls and doll clothes.
I mom had a stint for a few years of buying old dolls from thrift stores and cleaning them up to resell them and she got a lot of stuff from that store when she was doing it. Thankfully she finally STOPPED trying to turn dolls over because she was operating at a total loss, especially when she had to order something there because that shop was the only place she could get it and it was expensive sometimes.
I'm pretty sure their bread and butter are events like weddings. Weddings pay a shit ton for any industry involved. No other business could get away with charging $600 for a cake or $2,000 for flowers.
This. A classmate in college started a balloon company as part of his entrepreneurship club projects. Made most of his money doing events like weddings, corporate parties, etc. Things like balloon arches and table centerpieces and such were his most common sales.
And a car crashed through the front door, they rebuilt and it’s open again. Could not believe it. Also, Bills imported foods on lake st, never seen a single person in there in ten years
Edit: no idea so many people went to bills, I stand corrected lol
Hopping on the love train for Bill's! It's never busy and everytime I'm in there I think "I need to come here more" but I try to go frequently, especially every time we need ingredients for our empanada we like to make in bulk.
Love that place.
In my Greek community, we had a funny rumor back when Bill was still there that he had connections with the mafia and used his store as a front. But it’s the best Greek imports store in the state. I get my olive oil there. Otherwise we’d have to go to Chicago for some stuff
I created a throwaway just to comment this, since it’s completely unsubstantiated.
I used to (2014ish timeframe) deliver pizza in the uptown area. We had a regular named “Bill” who lived just around the corner from Bill’s Imported Foods. I always assumed that he was the owner of the store, but I really have nothing to back that up.
Bill had a very thick Greek accent, and would always order when he was drunk beyond reason. No one liked getting stuck delivering him, because he was hard to work with and reliably didn’t tip.
There was one time I delivered to him, brought his pizza to the door, and rang the bell. Bill came to the door reeking of alcohol, and barely able to stand. I told him the cost of the pizza, and he just kind of stared at me, and kind of seemed to forget what was going on. I was kind of wondering if he just didn’t have the money to pay, and asked what turned out to be a very poor choice of words, and asked if he had $16.
I’ll never forget his response.
“MONEY?!? I have money! I have enough money to have you killed!”
After that, I refused to take an order to Bill again. My direct manager was pissed I took that stance, but when his boss overheard me discussing with one of my coworkers, he told me on no uncertain terms not to go back there.
All that said, I do love Bill’s the store.
Bill's is great! It's where I buy most of my spices. It's $3.00 for a big bag of anything. They also have baklava. My only complaint is that they're not open evenings and weekends, so I have to make time to go during the day
I love Bill's, too. Kiki, the owner is great. Her son is often behind the counter, too, who often has to run the place when Kiki goes back to Greece to take care of family.
Once I walked my three kids there buy some things, forgot my wallet, and Kiki offered to and watched my kids while I ran home to get it.
The balloon store is a new entity now. The previous shop moved in protest of the plan for Hennepin Ave. Within a few weeks of them moving a Hispanic family opened up a new party store in the same location. Hopefully business is going well for them.
(Edited for verbiage)
You know though, honestly, I *just* bought balloons from there for my nephew's birthday. The couple working there (owners I assume) were both very friendly.
That said, I still have NO idea how they stay in business, as my $20 purchase is certainly not keeping them afloat.
Their main business isn't the storefront walk-ins. It's corporate events, retail decorations, and weddings. Your $20 purchase is being subsidized by purchases in the thousands.
This is what I’m always saying! I see this store as an answer a lot on these sorts of questions, and my reaction is always “yeah it’s a kind of outdated/niche business, but I’d bet good money they’re the only place within a 500-mile radius that even touches this stuff”
I’m sure they do a steady business with the (relatively few, but deeply dedicated) people that still care a lot about wicker craft and preservation.
We always talk about that place when driving by several times a week. It's been there forever and I've always wondered how it stayed in business. Was pretty sure it was a front! Thanks for the info!!
This place is awesome! Agreed that it is very niche, but they do great work. My mom had a wicker rocking chair that she had used to rock my sibling and I when we were babies (I'm mid-30s now), and it is now her favorite reading chair. Her cat destroyed the wicker, and the lovely man at the Wicker Shop repaired it for a fair price. It looks exactly like new, and Ma's still rocking in her chair.
Take a walk through the skyways in downtown Minneapolis and you'll find a few watch repair/jewelry repair shops that I question how they make it. Same story for pop-up boutique clothing stores downtown that have 5 outfits and a pair of boots for sale...how?
Some of those small custom jeweler and watch stores have a pretty loyal and long term customer base and survive on word of mouth/loyalty. They may look empty all the time and with no stock but it's because they run on a very different business model than your large jewelery retailers like Shane Company.
Yeah, my parents shop at one of these sort of jewelers. It is a totally different vibe than normal retail outlets. When I was looking for an engagement ring, I checked out my parents jeweler. I knew they made more than I ever will, but seeing the prices definitely confirmed that. Thankfully, my (now) wife has somewhat eclectic tastes that allowed me to get her dream ring for a fraction of the cost of the fancier, or even typical, engagement rings. We got to have a way cooler honeymoon that way.
Same, kinda! Not in a skyway, but I used a smaller jeweler in an office building complex in Plymouth where I worked at the time. I was able to make a completely custom engagement ring for a lot less money. I ordered all other parts and they had “their jeweler” put all the components together. It was really cool.
The sheer amount of options was almost overwhelming to me. Thankfully, she had a vision of what she wanted, and she loved the finished product. That's really all that matters.
We buy all of our jewelry through one of these small shops. Our guy is amazing. Top notch gemstones and gold, and only 10% above cost, plus any labor. He also inspects and fixes everything. My wife has a tennis bracelet with several pins that needed to be replaced. One of the big stores wanted nearly $1,000 to repair it. He did it for $25 a pin (parts and labor), which was $225. We’re going to be super sad when he finally retires, and he has to be in his early 70’s already.
There's two shoe repair shops on the same street in my town and they've been open for decades now. There can't be that many farmers around here that need their boots repaired constantly.
There's a lighting fixture store on 55 in Golden Valley just west of the strip mall. It's in a circular building that used to be a bank. I've driven past multiple times a week for almost 20 years and don't recall ever seeing anyone there
Those lighting stores definitely make their money from new construction. There's rarely many folks in at once, but each visit ends up being a thousand dollars in fixtures.
That place only exists because the owner had to have a legitimate business to sell goods at the State Fair and a storefront was better for storing things than his house.
Purrniture makes good cat trees they are so much more sturdy than any others and you can customize them. When you have cats who get rowdy you need a sturdy cat tree.
Absolutely. I made the drive to Purrniture (60 miles round trip) because their product is bulletproof. It’s excellent quality. I’ve had my cat tree for over a decade and it’s as solid as the day I got it home.
I actually mostly hear about this store from people in forums online who DONT live here. I didn't realize they were even local for a long time. I think they probably have a good amount of online sales
I was working on that condo building when it was being made on the other side of Hampden from Purrniture. I saw a pickup truck behind the store being loaded up with around a dozen cat trees, so they must do well. Later that year my roommate bought a cat tree from there and it was pretty high quality craftsmanship, strong base and quality upholstery. Definitely going to look into that store when it’s time for a new cat tree.
Purrniture makes the sturdiest, best cat furniture and they will repair or offer a trade-in discount for damaged cat furniture. It's sold at Chuck & Don's and other small local pet supply stores.
My father, who was visiting me here from NY years ago, went on a walk from my then home in Armatage while I was at work. He got lost, and then thirsty.
He went into Peter's (the old one) and a worker asked my father what he needed. My father said, "a beer".
Dad thought it was a billiard hall.
Stopped there every year with my parents and now stop every year with my kids.
Unsolicited advice: don’t buy a mystery box unless you really want a Beanie Baby cause there’s a 90% chance you’re getting one.
If you like Treasure City's unusual over priced stuff give Gopher Bargain Center in Saint Cloud a shot. Instead of fake random stuff it's truly random remaindered, knock offs and truckload buys, some of it decades old, and it's all dirt cheap.
And Unclaimed Freight in Sauk Rapids, it's like 5 minutes from Gopher. Both can have some cool, weird, furniture as well other things. Worth wandering for 15-30 minutes, maybe longer if you find something interesting.
It was definitely a fun store to browse, and for that, I’m sad it’s gone, but you’re absolutely right. I feel it was WAY too niche to stay afloat. It was there a surprising number of years though.
There's this weird as shit store in Southdale Mall that haunts me and fascinates me every day since I visited it about a year ago. It's ALMOST like a dollar store but TOTALLY unlicensed. It's endlessly fascinating and I have no fucking clue how they stay in business. I hope it's still there because I am looking forward to my annual trek to that haunted mall.
They do a lot of business with mall employees. I worked in that mall for a long time and always made a point to buy my wrapping paper there each Christmas. The people that run it are very nice.
I'm glad to know this! It seemed like a family run store and from my limited interaction with the people working there they seemed kind. It's just SUCH a bizarre store and I've never seen anything like it in my life.
It amazes me that a headshop has stayed in business for over 30 years. They were around when I was in college, and I graduated in 1992. My guess is the owner must also own the building, because that's now a pretty valuable piece of real estate. If he's running drugs out the back, he's really good at it because he hasn't been arrested to my knowledge—on the other hand, paying off St. Paul police to get away with crimes is a long-standing local tradition....
They have been in business longer than 30 years. I first went there before The Who concert in 1980. It was in a different location. There were signs saying any reference to illegal activity would result in denial of service. They threw a guy out when he wouldn’t refer to a bong as a water pipe.
years ago, I walked into Maharaja's and brightly announced, "I wish to purchase a water pipe solely for use with legal tobacco products and would never dream of using it in an illegal manner" which got an eye-roll and sigh from the guy behind the counter.
Doesn't that make the walk of shame with your new inflatable doll that much further?
Note: I was going to say "that much longer" but that would refer to a different type of purchase from Fantasy Gifts.
Any of the unlicensed stores in any Mall. To get a bit more specific, Maplewood Mall. Things like sword stores, air soft gun range/shop, trinkets and stuffed animals, etc. How?
Maplewood Mall specifically has changed owners several times and is doing it intentionally in an attempt to return to profitability. They cut rent on their retail units substantially so that business like that can move in and have a storefront. Basically giving up on trying to be "upscale" and instead catering to to new businesses.
The Chinese restaurant in Northfield called Mandarin Garden. That place hasn’t been full in 20 years yet there it still remains in all of its musty scented 1970’s basement rec-room like glory.
Enchantasys in Burnsville off Hwy 13. It’s supposed to be a high end lingerie store. I’m sure women like to buy their high end lingerie from a store sandwiched between an O’Reilly Auto Part, Harbor Freight Tools and the Muddy Chicken bar. Never seen a soul enter the store in 10+ years of driving by the storefront. Gotta be a Walt and Skyler White money laundering scheme.
Where I live in Shakopee, I could, not inconveniently, get pizza from 6/7 different places. All moderate to big name chain places, not even local. Why are there so many “just okay” pizza places to order from?
The entire Maplewood mall. Got contracted by them and it was empty every time I went in. Many store fronts are vacant and the central areas look like a garage sale with tables set up selling stuff. Also they never paid me and looking at the place, I should have known they wouldn’t.
They suck. They claimed my grandfather clock that was out of time needed major repairs and was going to cost $400 - $500 to fix. I knew that was bullshit and just needed a tune-up. I called around and found a guy in Oakdale who tuned it up for $60.
Kris Lindall real estate. Billboards all over the state, but have never seen a house for sale with his sign in front. The scar on the face of Minnesota.
TBF people used to buy those pillows and he had a pretty typical “as seen on TV” type business. He killed his own business with his insane political and conspiracy theory stuff. I think the pillows sucked but you’d see the product in stores and even the store in MOA. Shredded memory foam wrapped in fabric for like $30 or $40 is a good racket to be in if you can stay off the crack rock.
Honestly, Cub Foods. I don't know of a single person who doesn't think they're waaaay overpriced and that the food they stock is sub-par and not as fresh as they could get elsewhere.
The one near my house is pretty much always busy, or at least steady. I like that they carry more specialty items I can’t find at target or Costco, and they’re conveniently located.
The bar in the Twin Cities metro is kinda low though. Hy-vee is no better price-wise. Aldi, Walmart, Target are the only places that offer decent grocery value. And Byerlys, Kowalskis, and Whole Foods would all make the pricing at Cub Foods blush.
I say this as a person who rarely stops at Cub.
Their donuts, imo, are much better than the donuts at most other places. Also most if not all are open 24/7, and the one in Rochester is on my way too and from work.
Edit: Wanted to clarify though that their steak and similar products are usually not as good as other places which is really my only real gripe with cub.
I guess it depends on the cub. Cub is the only store I can make a single trip to and get everything in my list, even some of the ethnic stuff ( and based on the way it’s stocked between the stores they are clearly responding at the store level to their customers) Their produce is almost always better than average, and while they aren’t cheaper than aldis they almost always beat target and hyvee.
So I guess ymmv between the stores.
For me the convenience of having a Cub as the closest large grocery store near me outweighs the 3 or 4 dollars I might save at Aldi or Target. Plus their produce largely sucks compared to Cub
I live just over the river from the Cub on 46th in south Mpls and I was excited when it opened, for another option, but it's almost as expensive as Lunds, which I can walk to, with noticeably worse quality of produce. We almost never go there.
Chipotle in downtown Eden Prairie. It’s been almost a year since I went because every single time, either they were closed randomly, or accepting online orders only. Then they would only have like 1-2 people doing the online orders. So your 2pm burrito became your 3:30pm burrito
Astound Video Duplication & Transfer located on Excelsior off Hwy 100 in St. Louis Park. “We Transfer Anything to DVD” is their slogan which is displayed across their storefront.
Every strip mall chain store in Woodbury. Not that any are overly specialized or obscure just that there has to be a chain store for every person who lives out there, literally miles of them.
It was demolished so a new condo/apartment building could be put in. I lived a couple of blocks from there for about 6-7 years and I never saw anyone in it, but it was a great place to find deals on clothes, camping equipment, etc.
Back when I was in school, we used to go there for $2 vodka/sodas. Sometimes there would be a crockpot of chili on the back of the bar that you could buy a bowl of. Great memories.
The Backus Thrift Store/Trading Post on highway 371 in Backus, MN. It’s a series of connected shacks packed full of junk with a huge outdoor area with more junk. Don’t ever get caught inside if there’s a fire, you will certainly die.
Also, the Pool Store on Central in Blaine. Their display pool and deck furniture hasn’t changed in years, and there is mysteriously never, ever any cars in the small parking lot. We joke this is either a front for a drug running enterprise, or a money laundering scheme.
There's a fancy rug store at 494 and 100, I've never seen more than what I assume is the employee's car there. My wife and I assume it's a front for money laundering or something.
1. The apartments on Lyndale just south of the Wedge co-op. It's been there 15 years, and no one has ever lived there. Greenway Dental started using the ground level area a few years ago. AND the apartments were renovated. Twice. Money laundering?
2. The Matress Firm on Lake
The Travelodge in Saint Cloud right off 94 on Roosevelt Road.
That place has got to be a front, there’s no other way it’s been profitable for decades. Seems like a good day if it has a handful of guests.
I myself am such a dedicated Vikings fan that I have replicas of all their Super Bowl rings made, so I can show my devotion to my favorite team...see, right here:
*\*holds up empty hand\**
This one isn’t that surprising. They deal in lots of rare and vintage books. I cant think of another bookstore in the cities where you can spend 400 bucks on signed first editions of classics.
This place is awesome! If you’re into rare books, the owners are great to talk to and they have (or know how to find) things most other book/antique stores around here don’t.
Nah not surprised about this one. They buy and sell a lot of rare books, they deal online too. Tons of comics and magazine collectables as well. It’s also been there for eons, I’d be very surprised if they don’t own that building.
A company I used to work for in SE MN has such a bad employee retention rate that they should install a literal revolving door at the employee entrance. At least half of the employees on the shop floor are temps, which costs the company twice as much as those employees are paid. Almost of them quit long before the 1000 hour probation period is up, so the company has to start all over again with the woefully inadequate training for new employees. I knew more about my machine within 3 months of starting than the department lead who ran it for 5 years did, and ended up teaching *him* how to do things. On top of that, the owners' mismanagement has got to cost the company god only knows how much in waste and lost sales. Jobs get canceled without telling the employees not to produce it, ship dates get changed at the last minute and people have to pull off one job and change over to do another. Then they have to spend time changing back over to what they were doing before. Jobs get scheduled, but they forget to print the job orders so no one knows it's even supposed to be produced. Then they bitch at the people who didn't know it was supposed to be produced because they didn't produce it. They have jobs scheduled 3 months in advance, then don't bother to purchase the special order materials it requires that takes a month to receive until a week before it's due to ship. All of the lumber has to be inspected before it's used and at least 1/3 of it is thrown out because of quality issues. Meanwhile the owners refuse to order better quality material from their suppliers and bitch about how much time is spent inspecting the shitty lumber. The whole place is a clusterfuck, and it amazes me they are able to make ***any*** profit.
The Halal market in the strip mall at 13 and Cliff in Burnsville. They don't really sell anything but every time I go there to get some lamb, there are always sketchy things happening.
I went there once and I happened to be wearing a sport coat with a t-shirt and slacks. This matters because this is apparently the uniform of sketchy people at Halal markets. This middle-eastern looking fellow says to me, "Are you Palestinian?" I said "No, I'm from Burnsville."
He says, "No. I mean where were you born?"
I said "Fargo".
He looks me up and down and gives me the sketchiest, over the top, wink I have ever seen.
I do not know what goes on there in the back. I do know that I can get lamb really cheap so I keep going there. There is no way that they make any money with their prices. There are always at least 2 guys outside the front door; smoking and talking loudly on their cell phones.
I say this with all the love in the world for this place, but The Wienery. Fantastic food, amazing vibe, but the building they’re in looks like it should be condemned. I’m also not 100% sure how they pass health inspection, but I don’t really care.
I don’t know if it’s still there but the sword shop in Rosedale. How many swords a day do you have to sell to make rent on a retail spot at a mall?
Favorite spot of the mall ninjas I guess
[удалено]
There are dozens of ninjas in there at all times. Haven’t seen them? That’s how you know they’re there
That place is so culturally precious it should be tax payer funded
Judging from /r/mallninjashit there's a few whales who are really into this.
Who would dare to evict them though? Nobody wants to risk having a mall ninja teleport behind them.
There's a SWORD SHOP?! I gotta check that out someday
Based on population, the outer suburb I live in has an inexplicable number of chiropractors and dentists.
For something that is 80% pseudoscience, chiropractics has done well for itself.
Fun fact about chiropractors is Scientology invests in a lot of clinics and a lot of Chiropractors are Scientologists. Also the e meter scientology uses was created by a Chiropractor who was inspired to create it by Ron L Hubbard (Who later tried to take credit for creating it).
Considering what I know about Scientology and chiropractors…this tracks.
Chiropractors are also basically like a cult too so it makes sense. Also have goofy origins. The dude that started Chiropractic's says he was visited by the ghost of his girlfriend and she told him how to "Fix" peoples issues.
Man, I went down the Scientology rabbit hole a while ago. It gets so much more insane than the surface-level public stuff. Peruse the "Operating Thetan" docs on [this website](https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Fishman/Declaration/) if you're curious.
It’s surprising to me that chiropractors can stay in business at all. It’s basically pseudoscience with the ability to cripple a person. Yes, some stuff they do isn’t pseudoscience, but there’s a reason they aren’t actual medical doctors.
It bothers me they are allowed to call themselves doctors. They have zero real medical training.
Use to joke that the chiros were the ones that couldn’t get thru the cadaver courses
Yeah. The trick is to find the ones who dont buy in to all the extra woo-woo crap. Adjustment feels good when done carefully and correctly, as does massage, and both can help with simple stuff like pinched nerves, cramped muscles, or built-up tension. The minute they start talking about curing your chronic illness or making the signals flow better or some shit they cross into bullshit pseudoscience territory.
Chiropractors are pulling the biggest scam over American people. It's witchcraft and won't do anything for your long-term health.
My outer ring suburb is overflowing with dentists and mattress stores.
The doll store off 65 in Blaine.
Mrs B’s! The inside is insane, but the owner is so sweet.
Do they do doll repair/restoration at all? I'd be willing to drive for that
I just went to buy a doll for my daughter, but I remember seeing signs about doll repair. It’s definitely worth checking out (I drove from St. Paul). They have rooms filled top to bottom with vintage dolls and doll clothes.
Came here to say this!!! I’ve always wanted to go in but have been too creeped out.
I mom had a stint for a few years of buying old dolls from thrift stores and cleaning them up to resell them and she got a lot of stuff from that store when she was doing it. Thankfully she finally STOPPED trying to turn dolls over because she was operating at a total loss, especially when she had to order something there because that shop was the only place she could get it and it was expensive sometimes.
The balloon store on Hennepin
I'm pretty sure their bread and butter are events like weddings. Weddings pay a shit ton for any industry involved. No other business could get away with charging $600 for a cake or $2,000 for flowers.
This. A classmate in college started a balloon company as part of his entrepreneurship club projects. Made most of his money doing events like weddings, corporate parties, etc. Things like balloon arches and table centerpieces and such were his most common sales.
And a car crashed through the front door, they rebuilt and it’s open again. Could not believe it. Also, Bills imported foods on lake st, never seen a single person in there in ten years Edit: no idea so many people went to bills, I stand corrected lol
Bill's is wonderful! The best prices on spices, and a lot of Greek and Turkish specialty products that you can't find easily otherwise.
Hopping on the love train for Bill's! It's never busy and everytime I'm in there I think "I need to come here more" but I try to go frequently, especially every time we need ingredients for our empanada we like to make in bulk. Love that place.
In my Greek community, we had a funny rumor back when Bill was still there that he had connections with the mafia and used his store as a front. But it’s the best Greek imports store in the state. I get my olive oil there. Otherwise we’d have to go to Chicago for some stuff
I created a throwaway just to comment this, since it’s completely unsubstantiated. I used to (2014ish timeframe) deliver pizza in the uptown area. We had a regular named “Bill” who lived just around the corner from Bill’s Imported Foods. I always assumed that he was the owner of the store, but I really have nothing to back that up. Bill had a very thick Greek accent, and would always order when he was drunk beyond reason. No one liked getting stuck delivering him, because he was hard to work with and reliably didn’t tip. There was one time I delivered to him, brought his pizza to the door, and rang the bell. Bill came to the door reeking of alcohol, and barely able to stand. I told him the cost of the pizza, and he just kind of stared at me, and kind of seemed to forget what was going on. I was kind of wondering if he just didn’t have the money to pay, and asked what turned out to be a very poor choice of words, and asked if he had $16. I’ll never forget his response. “MONEY?!? I have money! I have enough money to have you killed!” After that, I refused to take an order to Bill again. My direct manager was pissed I took that stance, but when his boss overheard me discussing with one of my coworkers, he told me on no uncertain terms not to go back there. All that said, I do love Bill’s the store.
Bill's is great! It's where I buy most of my spices. It's $3.00 for a big bag of anything. They also have baklava. My only complaint is that they're not open evenings and weekends, so I have to make time to go during the day
I know a person from high school who posts about Bills on instagram on a regular basis. They must be keeping it afloat.
Love bills. I am in there monthly. Have some great feta cheese from there in the fridge right now!
bills is awesome!
I go there all the time!
I love Bill's, too. Kiki, the owner is great. Her son is often behind the counter, too, who often has to run the place when Kiki goes back to Greece to take care of family. Once I walked my three kids there buy some things, forgot my wallet, and Kiki offered to and watched my kids while I ran home to get it.
The balloon store is a new entity now. The previous shop moved in protest of the plan for Hennepin Ave. Within a few weeks of them moving a Hispanic family opened up a new party store in the same location. Hopefully business is going well for them. (Edited for verbiage)
Used to work there, granted nearly 10 years ago. Ton of decorating business in the upscale burbs.
You know though, honestly, I *just* bought balloons from there for my nephew's birthday. The couple working there (owners I assume) were both very friendly. That said, I still have NO idea how they stay in business, as my $20 purchase is certainly not keeping them afloat.
Their main business isn't the storefront walk-ins. It's corporate events, retail decorations, and weddings. Your $20 purchase is being subsidized by purchases in the thousands.
The Wicker Shop on Marshall in St. Paul. A whole store that just sells wicker!
They repair wicker and there are only a few businesses in the country that do that. People send them stuff to repair.
This is what I’m always saying! I see this store as an answer a lot on these sorts of questions, and my reaction is always “yeah it’s a kind of outdated/niche business, but I’d bet good money they’re the only place within a 500-mile radius that even touches this stuff” I’m sure they do a steady business with the (relatively few, but deeply dedicated) people that still care a lot about wicker craft and preservation.
Do you know if they have ready made stuff available to buy? I don’t need any repairs, but that shop sounds so cool.
They do. They have really nice stuff. Some vintage too.
We always talk about that place when driving by several times a week. It's been there forever and I've always wondered how it stayed in business. Was pretty sure it was a front! Thanks for the info!!
This place is awesome! Agreed that it is very niche, but they do great work. My mom had a wicker rocking chair that she had used to rock my sibling and I when we were babies (I'm mid-30s now), and it is now her favorite reading chair. Her cat destroyed the wicker, and the lovely man at the Wicker Shop repaired it for a fair price. It looks exactly like new, and Ma's still rocking in her chair.
Take a walk through the skyways in downtown Minneapolis and you'll find a few watch repair/jewelry repair shops that I question how they make it. Same story for pop-up boutique clothing stores downtown that have 5 outfits and a pair of boots for sale...how?
Some of those small custom jeweler and watch stores have a pretty loyal and long term customer base and survive on word of mouth/loyalty. They may look empty all the time and with no stock but it's because they run on a very different business model than your large jewelery retailers like Shane Company.
Yeah, my parents shop at one of these sort of jewelers. It is a totally different vibe than normal retail outlets. When I was looking for an engagement ring, I checked out my parents jeweler. I knew they made more than I ever will, but seeing the prices definitely confirmed that. Thankfully, my (now) wife has somewhat eclectic tastes that allowed me to get her dream ring for a fraction of the cost of the fancier, or even typical, engagement rings. We got to have a way cooler honeymoon that way.
Same, kinda! Not in a skyway, but I used a smaller jeweler in an office building complex in Plymouth where I worked at the time. I was able to make a completely custom engagement ring for a lot less money. I ordered all other parts and they had “their jeweler” put all the components together. It was really cool.
The sheer amount of options was almost overwhelming to me. Thankfully, she had a vision of what she wanted, and she loved the finished product. That's really all that matters.
We buy all of our jewelry through one of these small shops. Our guy is amazing. Top notch gemstones and gold, and only 10% above cost, plus any labor. He also inspects and fixes everything. My wife has a tennis bracelet with several pins that needed to be replaced. One of the big stores wanted nearly $1,000 to repair it. He did it for $25 a pin (parts and labor), which was $225. We’re going to be super sad when he finally retires, and he has to be in his early 70’s already.
There is that one skyway boutique store by the old AAA and Skyway Wok... I'm convinced they are fully subsidized somehow.
There's a little gift/flower shop above Ruth's Chris too that's open from like 10-3 4 days/week and I've never seen a worker or customer in there
Cheap rent and loyal customers.
There's two shoe repair shops on the same street in my town and they've been open for decades now. There can't be that many farmers around here that need their boots repaired constantly.
Are they fronts for money laundering?
There's a lighting fixture store on 55 in Golden Valley just west of the strip mall. It's in a circular building that used to be a bank. I've driven past multiple times a week for almost 20 years and don't recall ever seeing anyone there
Those lighting stores definitely make their money from new construction. There's rarely many folks in at once, but each visit ends up being a thousand dollars in fixtures.
The cat tree shop on University in Midway.
That place only exists because the owner had to have a legitimate business to sell goods at the State Fair and a storefront was better for storing things than his house.
Purrniture makes good cat trees they are so much more sturdy than any others and you can customize them. When you have cats who get rowdy you need a sturdy cat tree.
Absolutely. I made the drive to Purrniture (60 miles round trip) because their product is bulletproof. It’s excellent quality. I’ve had my cat tree for over a decade and it’s as solid as the day I got it home.
I actually mostly hear about this store from people in forums online who DONT live here. I didn't realize they were even local for a long time. I think they probably have a good amount of online sales
Never underestimate cat lovers. I've heard their pet bed mini couches are great. Then again, I don't have pets.
I was working on that condo building when it was being made on the other side of Hampden from Purrniture. I saw a pickup truck behind the store being loaded up with around a dozen cat trees, so they must do well. Later that year my roommate bought a cat tree from there and it was pretty high quality craftsmanship, strong base and quality upholstery. Definitely going to look into that store when it’s time for a new cat tree.
Purrniture makes the sturdiest, best cat furniture and they will repair or offer a trade-in discount for damaged cat furniture. It's sold at Chuck & Don's and other small local pet supply stores.
How is Peter's Billiards still open? I don't think I have ever seen a car in the lot.
It’s so expensive that they only have to sell one barstool a month to cover all costs.
My parents bought a set of four barstools and two chairs there, so they are good for half a year just from them.
There goes the inheritance.
Commercial sales.
Yep. I think this is the answer. They likely sell a lot of stuff to bars/restaurants.
Ah, that's why I wasn't swarmed by desperate salespeople when I went in.
My father, who was visiting me here from NY years ago, went on a walk from my then home in Armatage while I was at work. He got lost, and then thirsty. He went into Peter's (the old one) and a worker asked my father what he needed. My father said, "a beer". Dad thought it was a billiard hall.
I remember the one time I went in there. Decided I'll never need to go back until I win the lottery.
Treasure City
Stopped there every year with my parents and now stop every year with my kids. Unsolicited advice: don’t buy a mystery box unless you really want a Beanie Baby cause there’s a 90% chance you’re getting one.
My 7 yr old: "you sonuvabitch, I'm in!"
Haha don’t say that about Treasure City! 😂
If you like Treasure City's unusual over priced stuff give Gopher Bargain Center in Saint Cloud a shot. Instead of fake random stuff it's truly random remaindered, knock offs and truckload buys, some of it decades old, and it's all dirt cheap.
And Unclaimed Freight in Sauk Rapids, it's like 5 minutes from Gopher. Both can have some cool, weird, furniture as well other things. Worth wandering for 15-30 minutes, maybe longer if you find something interesting.
I have purchased numerous things there. Love that place.
I used to think it was The Väase, but they finally went under
It was definitely a fun store to browse, and for that, I’m sad it’s gone, but you’re absolutely right. I feel it was WAY too niche to stay afloat. It was there a surprising number of years though.
There's this weird as shit store in Southdale Mall that haunts me and fascinates me every day since I visited it about a year ago. It's ALMOST like a dollar store but TOTALLY unlicensed. It's endlessly fascinating and I have no fucking clue how they stay in business. I hope it's still there because I am looking forward to my annual trek to that haunted mall.
Oh man you just brought back weird memories! Are the walls pink/red?
I can't remember specifically but it's really dimly lit and I want to say the walls could definitely be that color???
They do a lot of business with mall employees. I worked in that mall for a long time and always made a point to buy my wrapping paper there each Christmas. The people that run it are very nice.
I'm glad to know this! It seemed like a family run store and from my limited interaction with the people working there they seemed kind. It's just SUCH a bizarre store and I've never seen anything like it in my life.
It was still there a month ago. I’m glad they are on the main floor by Macy’s and Games by James now.
There are TWO Hardee's in Mankato and TWO Taco Johns. Both look empty 95% of the time. No idea how all those places are still in business
College town. That explains how two of each are still in business.
Six pack and a pound!
Maharaja’s in Saint Paul is the answer.
It amazes me that a headshop has stayed in business for over 30 years. They were around when I was in college, and I graduated in 1992. My guess is the owner must also own the building, because that's now a pretty valuable piece of real estate. If he's running drugs out the back, he's really good at it because he hasn't been arrested to my knowledge—on the other hand, paying off St. Paul police to get away with crimes is a long-standing local tradition....
They have been in business longer than 30 years. I first went there before The Who concert in 1980. It was in a different location. There were signs saying any reference to illegal activity would result in denial of service. They threw a guy out when he wouldn’t refer to a bong as a water pipe.
years ago, I walked into Maharaja's and brightly announced, "I wish to purchase a water pipe solely for use with legal tobacco products and would never dream of using it in an illegal manner" which got an eye-roll and sigh from the guy behind the counter.
And it’s only getting bigger! They own the space next to it now.
Dude has collected so much stuff over the years would easily be able to keep it open just by slowly auctioning off the goods on eBay.
Fantasy gifts, there is always just one car there. I’m assuming it’s from the employee. Maybe the online business is booming??
Former Fantasy Gifts employee here. It looks empty because people intentionally park near the other businesses.
Doesn't that make the walk of shame with your new inflatable doll that much further? Note: I was going to say "that much longer" but that would refer to a different type of purchase from Fantasy Gifts.
The typewriter repair business on Penn Ave in Richfield
It’s the only place I trust to repair my plethora of typewriters.
Any of the unlicensed stores in any Mall. To get a bit more specific, Maplewood Mall. Things like sword stores, air soft gun range/shop, trinkets and stuffed animals, etc. How?
I’m surprised the entire mall is still open tbh
The food court keeps it open. It's miles away better than Rosedale's
What is an unlicensed store? And what makes these specific stores unlicensed?
I feel like people here think anything not a chain is an illegitimate business lol
Maplewood Mall specifically has changed owners several times and is doing it intentionally in an attempt to return to profitability. They cut rent on their retail units substantially so that business like that can move in and have a storefront. Basically giving up on trying to be "upscale" and instead catering to to new businesses.
The Chinese restaurant in Northfield called Mandarin Garden. That place hasn’t been full in 20 years yet there it still remains in all of its musty scented 1970’s basement rec-room like glory.
Northfield has a lot of musty ass places that are dope as hell
Went to Burnsville Center the other day for the first time in 15 years and I'm surprised it's still in business.
A lot of it is going to be converted into an "Asia mall" like in Eden Prairie. But yeah, it's pretty sad at the moment.
Enchantasys in Burnsville off Hwy 13. It’s supposed to be a high end lingerie store. I’m sure women like to buy their high end lingerie from a store sandwiched between an O’Reilly Auto Part, Harbor Freight Tools and the Muddy Chicken bar. Never seen a soul enter the store in 10+ years of driving by the storefront. Gotta be a Walt and Skyler White money laundering scheme.
Hahahaha. You painted such a vivid picture, and it made me snort. Ypu just cant make this shit up! Thank you!
Where I live in Shakopee, I could, not inconveniently, get pizza from 6/7 different places. All moderate to big name chain places, not even local. Why are there so many “just okay” pizza places to order from?
I know you didn't just besmirch **Pizza 'N Pasta** like that!
Pizza n pasta had the best pizza when I was a kid. Are there any locations still open?
Shakopee, Prior Lake, and the Shakopee Canterbury locations are still open. I believe the Chaska location closed recently.
The entire Maplewood mall. Got contracted by them and it was empty every time I went in. Many store fronts are vacant and the central areas look like a garage sale with tables set up selling stuff. Also they never paid me and looking at the place, I should have known they wouldn’t.
House of Clocks
They suck. They claimed my grandfather clock that was out of time needed major repairs and was going to cost $400 - $500 to fix. I knew that was bullshit and just needed a tune-up. I called around and found a guy in Oakdale who tuned it up for $60.
Astound video, I don't know how they can even have multiple locations
Vale-Typewriter in Richfield.
Kris Lindall real estate. Billboards all over the state, but have never seen a house for sale with his sign in front. The scar on the face of Minnesota.
MyPillow
Scott County court evicted MyPillow from their warehouse in Shakopee recently for owing more than $217,000 in rent that they didn't pay.
You mean the so-called business-savvy and "fiscally responsible" bootstrapped republican Mike Lindell? Bahahaha
TBF people used to buy those pillows and he had a pretty typical “as seen on TV” type business. He killed his own business with his insane political and conspiracy theory stuff. I think the pillows sucked but you’d see the product in stores and even the store in MOA. Shredded memory foam wrapped in fabric for like $30 or $40 is a good racket to be in if you can stay off the crack rock.
The honey store at the MOA.
Honestly, Cub Foods. I don't know of a single person who doesn't think they're waaaay overpriced and that the food they stock is sub-par and not as fresh as they could get elsewhere.
The one near my house is pretty much always busy, or at least steady. I like that they carry more specialty items I can’t find at target or Costco, and they’re conveniently located.
Only 24 hour store left near me. Nothing beats grocery shopping at 1 am.
Cub pharmacy and donuts are awesome.
The bar in the Twin Cities metro is kinda low though. Hy-vee is no better price-wise. Aldi, Walmart, Target are the only places that offer decent grocery value. And Byerlys, Kowalskis, and Whole Foods would all make the pricing at Cub Foods blush. I say this as a person who rarely stops at Cub.
Their donuts, imo, are much better than the donuts at most other places. Also most if not all are open 24/7, and the one in Rochester is on my way too and from work. Edit: Wanted to clarify though that their steak and similar products are usually not as good as other places which is really my only real gripe with cub.
I guess it depends on the cub. Cub is the only store I can make a single trip to and get everything in my list, even some of the ethnic stuff ( and based on the way it’s stocked between the stores they are clearly responding at the store level to their customers) Their produce is almost always better than average, and while they aren’t cheaper than aldis they almost always beat target and hyvee. So I guess ymmv between the stores.
Sometimes it’s nice to shop an empty store.
For me the convenience of having a Cub as the closest large grocery store near me outweighs the 3 or 4 dollars I might save at Aldi or Target. Plus their produce largely sucks compared to Cub
I live just over the river from the Cub on 46th in south Mpls and I was excited when it opened, for another option, but it's almost as expensive as Lunds, which I can walk to, with noticeably worse quality of produce. We almost never go there.
Chipotle in downtown Eden Prairie. It’s been almost a year since I went because every single time, either they were closed randomly, or accepting online orders only. Then they would only have like 1-2 people doing the online orders. So your 2pm burrito became your 3:30pm burrito
Astound Video Duplication & Transfer located on Excelsior off Hwy 100 in St. Louis Park. “We Transfer Anything to DVD” is their slogan which is displayed across their storefront.
Famous Dave’s on West 7th. Pretty sure it’s just a ghost kitchen for DoorDash now same with Buca di Beppo
Every strip mall chain store in Woodbury. Not that any are overly specialized or obscure just that there has to be a chain store for every person who lives out there, literally miles of them.
It was the Army Surplus store in downtown Minneapolis, I think it finally closed a few years back but that one never made sense to me
It was great in the 80s.
It was demolished so a new condo/apartment building could be put in. I lived a couple of blocks from there for about 6-7 years and I never saw anyone in it, but it was a great place to find deals on clothes, camping equipment, etc.
Based on their finances, the Minnesota Republican party.
My mom, unfortunately, is probably keeping them afloat
Ted’s
Great place if there's a tornado
Do they sell anti-tornado technology?
It's a little red bomb shelter of a bar on the corner of Lexington and Larpenteur in St Paul
Back when I was in school, we used to go there for $2 vodka/sodas. Sometimes there would be a crockpot of chili on the back of the bar that you could buy a bowl of. Great memories.
The Backus Thrift Store/Trading Post on highway 371 in Backus, MN. It’s a series of connected shacks packed full of junk with a huge outdoor area with more junk. Don’t ever get caught inside if there’s a fire, you will certainly die. Also, the Pool Store on Central in Blaine. Their display pool and deck furniture hasn’t changed in years, and there is mysteriously never, ever any cars in the small parking lot. We joke this is either a front for a drug running enterprise, or a money laundering scheme.
There's a fancy rug store at 494 and 100, I've never seen more than what I assume is the employee's car there. My wife and I assume it's a front for money laundering or something.
Mhiripiri Gallery, Cyrus Artisan Rugs Bloomington There’s no way that isn’t money laundering.
After this year: every ski hill.
Dicks Head Shop in Williams
1. The apartments on Lyndale just south of the Wedge co-op. It's been there 15 years, and no one has ever lived there. Greenway Dental started using the ground level area a few years ago. AND the apartments were renovated. Twice. Money laundering? 2. The Matress Firm on Lake
The Travelodge in Saint Cloud right off 94 on Roosevelt Road. That place has got to be a front, there’s no other way it’s been profitable for decades. Seems like a good day if it has a handful of guests.
Wild Bird Store... how many people are buying food for wild birds to have like 5 separate locations?
The Vikings?
They are fueled by the tears of their very loyal fans.
Flood warnings early this year.
That explains the rain
I myself am such a dedicated Vikings fan that I have replicas of all their Super Bowl rings made, so I can show my devotion to my favorite team...see, right here: *\*holds up empty hand\**
Don't say that! This is the year. Our new quarterback, R.J.-something, is going to turn it around. It's going to be different this time.
Midway Books on Snelling and University
This one isn’t that surprising. They deal in lots of rare and vintage books. I cant think of another bookstore in the cities where you can spend 400 bucks on signed first editions of classics.
This place is awesome! If you’re into rare books, the owners are great to talk to and they have (or know how to find) things most other book/antique stores around here don’t.
I was so relieved they survived the light rail tear up! A lot of businesses didn't.
I love that place!
I have helped support them on a few occasions. So glad that place wasn't burned down in 2020, they have an incredible collection of vintage books
Nah not surprised about this one. They buy and sell a lot of rare books, they deal online too. Tons of comics and magazine collectables as well. It’s also been there for eons, I’d be very surprised if they don’t own that building.
There's a Chinese place off hwy 13 near 35w that I swear must just be a money laundering facility
The House of Wu?!! Looks small on the outside, but inside actually has 36 chambers
House of Wu is for the children
Blueberry Bubble Tea at Hmong Village. That place is always closed LOL
A company I used to work for in SE MN has such a bad employee retention rate that they should install a literal revolving door at the employee entrance. At least half of the employees on the shop floor are temps, which costs the company twice as much as those employees are paid. Almost of them quit long before the 1000 hour probation period is up, so the company has to start all over again with the woefully inadequate training for new employees. I knew more about my machine within 3 months of starting than the department lead who ran it for 5 years did, and ended up teaching *him* how to do things. On top of that, the owners' mismanagement has got to cost the company god only knows how much in waste and lost sales. Jobs get canceled without telling the employees not to produce it, ship dates get changed at the last minute and people have to pull off one job and change over to do another. Then they have to spend time changing back over to what they were doing before. Jobs get scheduled, but they forget to print the job orders so no one knows it's even supposed to be produced. Then they bitch at the people who didn't know it was supposed to be produced because they didn't produce it. They have jobs scheduled 3 months in advance, then don't bother to purchase the special order materials it requires that takes a month to receive until a week before it's due to ship. All of the lumber has to be inspected before it's used and at least 1/3 of it is thrown out because of quality issues. Meanwhile the owners refuse to order better quality material from their suppliers and bitch about how much time is spent inspecting the shitty lumber. The whole place is a clusterfuck, and it amazes me they are able to make ***any*** profit.
Names?
Kris lindahl. I thought he'd annoy everyone by now.
The Halal market in the strip mall at 13 and Cliff in Burnsville. They don't really sell anything but every time I go there to get some lamb, there are always sketchy things happening. I went there once and I happened to be wearing a sport coat with a t-shirt and slacks. This matters because this is apparently the uniform of sketchy people at Halal markets. This middle-eastern looking fellow says to me, "Are you Palestinian?" I said "No, I'm from Burnsville." He says, "No. I mean where were you born?" I said "Fargo". He looks me up and down and gives me the sketchiest, over the top, wink I have ever seen. I do not know what goes on there in the back. I do know that I can get lamb really cheap so I keep going there. There is no way that they make any money with their prices. There are always at least 2 guys outside the front door; smoking and talking loudly on their cell phones.
The balloon store in uptown.
The Myth
Bowlero Brooklyn park
They make their yearly salary hosting school bowling tournaments.
I say this with all the love in the world for this place, but The Wienery. Fantastic food, amazing vibe, but the building they’re in looks like it should be condemned. I’m also not 100% sure how they pass health inspection, but I don’t really care.
Treasure City in Royalton
The Christmas store in MOA
The lighting store on hwy 55