MINNEAPOLIS — There have been more cars on the streets and more people on the sidewalks this week in downtown Minneapolis. Basketball fans are flooding into the Target Center as Target employees are flooding Nicollet Mall.
"Office folk are here, it's nice!" said Brad Johnson, general manager of The Local general manager.
Johnson, like many managers of Nicollet Mall restaurants, are patiently awaiting the return of Target employees. The company is one of four top employers in Minneapolis that doesn't have a return to office policy. The closest thing it has is a strongly encouraged presence during four "core weeks" when the company announces quarterly earnings report.
"It's been nice to be in the office, but it's also been nice to be working from home," Ryan McDermot, a Target employee said.
He's one of the reported 7,100 employees at Target that were encouraged to return to the office this week.
"Downtown isn't the hustle and bustle it was in 2019 but it's starting to come back," Johnson said.
The Mpls Downtown Council reports 65% of workers from the Top 15 employers are back in office. Eleven of the 15 have a return-to-office policy. U.S. Bank joined that list this week when they issued a formal policy asking employees to return to the office at least three days a week.
Mpls Downtown Council President Adam Duininck thinks a return-to-office would create future stability for businesses downtown but he understands the challenge employers are facing.
"As long as there is a workforce shortage, it's hard for employers to say you must be in the office," Duininck says, "Because an employee could just go find another job."
It's why he thinks employers should be offering incentives to bring employees back into offices.
Big events in Minneapolis are bringing in revenue, just look at the reports following Taylor Swift's concerts at U.S. Bank Stadium. According to the Council, more than 9.7 million people came to Minneapolis for concerts, sporting events, city events or conventions in 2024. That number surpasses records from 2019. However, Duininck says it's not reliable to just count on events to keep downtown alive despite the positivity they bring to Minneapolis.
"It makes a difference to have employees in office," Duininck said.
Next weekend, the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament is at the Target Center. The next "core week" for Target is in May.
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