MINNEAPOLIS — A north Minneapolis liquor store with a violent history has officially begun a new chapter.
On Thursday, the Minneapolis City Council approved a new liquor license for Merwin Liquors under its current management, TXT Wine & Spirits. The 10-3 decision follows a controversial past year, including an investigation by Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office about the pattern of violence near the business and calls for the business to be converted into a more productive space.
But this year also includes a change in management with Trayhern Pollard taking over the day-to-day operations as the owner of TXT Wine & Spirits. Pollard also brings his passion and commitment to the community as founder and executive director of We Push for Peace, an organization that works to provide people with tools to build their future.
“That’s how you stick a crutch in that revolving door, man, you empower somebody else,” Pollard told KARE 11’s Karla Hult hours after the council’s decision.
Pollard points out that immediately after his team started managing the business, crime dropped significantly in the area.
“There has not been one 911 call or not one shooting on that corner since we’ve been there; not one, in a year and a half,” he said, attributing the drop in violence to a history of relationships in the community: “A lot of those young men that used to be on that corner and occupy that space, some of them work for the organization now today.”
As for those pushing for a different business or organization at the corner of Broadway and Lyndale Avenues North, Pollard says stay tuned, because it’s also the intersection of his company and his community mission.
“I wanted to acquire the business. I wanted to acquire the property, and then I wanted to reimagine the space. Step one is done on to step two,” he said, adding: “I do plan to have an open forum to ask them, ‘What would you like to see over here? What do you think can be beneficial here?’”
“I’m sure the Lord will give me the answers that I need. He always has,” he said.
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