MINNEAPOLIS — During the busiest shopping season of the year, another store is leaving downtown Minneapolis.
Marshalls on Nicollet Mall will close next month.
"We are at the end of the era of any department stores in our downtown," said Downtown Council President and CEO Steve Cramer. "It's been a 40-year process of seeing them diminish."
For many metro families, a trip to downtown Minneapolis this time of the year is part of tradition.
"When I was a kid, downtown was the place to go when you wanted to do holiday shopping," said Minneapolis small business owner Rashawnda Scott.
Those traditions are seemingly becoming a thing of the past with fewer shopping options as dozens of stores like Nordstrom Rack and Marshalls that have announced closures.
"The larger scale retailers certainly have a lot of square footage, so they have to generate a certain amount of sales to be able to justify their existence here," said Cramer.
It's a troubling sign of the times for downtown residents like Jacob Mazurek.
"Everything was in reach. you know; grocery stores and shopping. Now it's just like nothing left downtown, now it's like you have to go out to the suburbs," said Mazurek.
In a statement from Marshalls, a spokesperson says:
Our Marshalls store at 40 South 7th Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota, is expected to close on January 14, 2023. We are always assessing and reviewing our real estate strategies, and our decision to close this store reflects that thinking. We are grateful for the loyalty of our Minneapolis customers and invite them to visit our nearby stores to continue to find great values, including the Marshalls in Roseville and the T.J. Maxx in Saint Paul. To find the store nearest to them, customers can check our website at marshalls.com or call 1-888-627-7425.
"The preponderance of online retail is beginning to impact brick and mortar retail, then we had COVID things emptied out," said Cramer.
Forcing downtown leaders and local business owners to rethink their approach to urban retail, filling vacant spaces with pop-up shops similar to the Holiday Village in the recently closed JB Hudson Jewelers shop.
"It's an example, I would think, of the future of how storefronts can be used for experiential retail, that is really drawn from our community and can really create interesting ways for people to shop downtown," explained Cramer.
"Yes definitely connect with us," said Scott.
Creating opportunities for smaller, local businesses to succeed.
"I sell quality and affordable jewelry," Scott said.
"I think if we continue to do these, that'll bring the traffic back to downtown where people need to shop," said Scott, owner of Pieces of Kandakes Jewelry.
"It's going to take some intentional work with our city partners, with building owners, you know around policy, around financial incentives to create that kind of new future for retail and storefront vibrancy," said Cramer.
Crime over the last few years, in the wake of civil unrest, have also been a factor in the flow of foot traffic downtown, and has forced some businesses out.
"The perception of public safety over these last couple of years in downtown has gone way beyond what that reality is, and so what we have to do is make sure that we’re working hard to keep downtown as safe as possible, but then recognize that as more people come back, that’ll also make downtown safer," said Cramer.
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