Call it déjà vu or a strange coincidence, but some Minneapolis business owners are reporting a drop in business this week, it was the same last year.
This time last year, David Ogaard co-owner of Cheetah Pizza in the Minneapolis Skyway, said he had a drop in business, but it wasn’t because of the cold, it was Super Bowl LII. He said many of his regular customers decided to stay home that week and it was the same this week.
“They were told to stay home and avoid the crowds,” said Ogaard. “Same affect, cold weather and the Super Bowl, same affect!”
Ogaard said business is down 50 percent this week and at The Local on the Nicollet Mall, they’re seeing a drop of 30 to 40 percent, according to staff.
“I think the biggest thing that we’ve seen is typically we get a large crowd come in after Orchestra Hall performances and today we only saw just a few people,” said Adam Moore at The Local.
Moore said over the last few days it’s been hard for staff to make money and they ran a small crew due to the dangers cold. Patrick McNulty closed down the Barrio Restaurant and Tequila Bar next door to The Local for the last few days. He opened back up Thursday with a small staff.
“You can’t do anything,” said McNulty. “You just have to plan for it. There’s going to be days in January where you’re not going to see the business that you want.”
Business owners along the Nicollet Mall are hoping for a small bump in business on Friday with The Great Northern Nicollet Mall Concert that starts at 7:00 pm.