Monthly Archives: December 2009

A Chipotle restaurant in Duluth?

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Texas Roadhouse, Culver’s and Buffalo Wild Wings, all will be opening restaurants in Duluth in 2010. But how about a Chipotle Mexican Grill?

After all, rumor has it…

Actually, there’s good new and bad news for Chipotle fans who would love to see this trendy purveyor of tacos and jumbo burritos right here in Duluth.

The chain — which is on a roll opening more than 100 restaurants a year — has looked at at least one site in Duluth: the former Gander Mountain near Miller Hill Mall.

I got that confirmed this week by Beth Wentzlaff, president of CMRA, property manager for the building at 1307 Miller Trunk Highway.

“We’ve talked to them,” she said. “It won’t work in that building. There’s not enough parking.”

That’s because Buffalo Wild Wings is already going in and will use 7,000 of the building’s 36,000-square-foot space when it opens next summer or fall. The rest of the building hasn’t been leased.

The problem, Wentzlaff says, is Duluth City Code requires twice the parking space for restaurants than it does for retail.

“So we will just be squeaking by with retail, but we would be way short of what city code requires for another restaurant,” Wentzlaff said. “That’s the diffficulty of that location.”

She said there’s plenty of other restaurant sites in town Chipotle could be looking into.
If they are, Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold isn’t talking.

“We’re looking at sites and deals all over the country all the time,” he said. “But we don’t talk about site detail until we have something under lease and a construction deal.”

The chain, founded in 1993 and with more than 900 locations in the United States and Ontario, has led the way with fast casual dining and emphasizes natural, organic ingredients.
It will open 120 to 130 new restaurants in 2010, Arnold said.

Sites chosen have good visibility and access. They have a daytime and nightime population mix with residential, office, retail, hospitals and/or college campuses nearby. The restaurants vary in sizes, but most are between 2,000 and 2,500 square feet.

“We try to build restaurants in places where they become neighborhood restaurants rather than off interstates or touristy places that have changing clientele ever day,” Arnold said.

Hmmm, I guess that rules out Canal Park.

 

Lakeview Castle closing

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Lakeview Castle will not ring in the new year.

A manager there confirmed that the restaurant/liquor store/caterer/banquet hall will close Friday. She did not provide further details, and refered me to owner Dennis Thielke. I’m awaiting his callback.

The stone establishment complete with replica drawbridge sits on the shores of Lake Superior at 5135 North Shore Dr.

A tipster called the newsroom today, saying he had to reschedule a banquet because of the impending closure. We will report more later….

Ainsworth Lumber mill deal closes

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The deal has closed in the purchase for the former Ainsworth Lumber mill in Grand Rapids.

The Itasca Economic Development Corp. completed the purchase Dec. 15 for about 400,000 of square feet of industrial space on 223 acres. The price was not disclosed.

We reported the pending deal Nov. 10, but details in the agreement needed to be worked out.

IEDC plans to transform the site into the Itasca Eco Industrial Park for up to 10 small businesses. The repurposing of the former oriented strand board mill will cost up to $5 million. The work will include demolition, retrofitting, possible environmental remediation and marketing.

Funding will come from public and private sources.

The purchase of the site came from the Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation, IEDC and an anonymous donor, who wants to replace the lumber mills employment.

The mill employed up to 190 workers, but was closed in 2008.

Duluth hospitals make the list

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One can always count on the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal to compile interesting Top 25 lists, from architectural firms to mortgage companies.

Their most recent one ranks hospitals and health care providers in the state, based on revenue. And Duluth’s two major hospitals are well represented.

St. Mary’s Medical Center came in at 15th with about $324 million in total operating revenue while the somewhat smaller St. Luke’s Hospital came in 18th with about $220 million in total operating revenue. For St. Mary’s, that was a slight slip from its 14th ranking a year ago, while St. Luke’s rose a notch from its 19th rank last year.

By the way, No. 1 in revenue was the Univeristy of Minnesota Medical Center-Fairview in Minneapolis, with operating revenues totally a whopping $1 billlion.

The weekly business journal also ranked health care providers in the state. Essentia Health in Duluth, which includes St. Mary’s Duluth Clinic Heart Program, Duluth Clinic Cancer Center and Miller Dwan Rehabilitation Center came in 6th with nearly $910,000 in revenue. Last year it came in 5th.

 St. Luke’s — with its regional trauma, cancer and heart centers –  came in 13th with about $290,000 in revenue. That was the same ranking as last year.

 

She got a job

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The assignment was to interview recent college graduates, see if they have jobs and write about their situation, good or bad. But that May story in the News Tribune had bleak results: One of the seven graduates that made the print edition had a job lined up after they received their diploma.

Now, make it at least two.

Katie Lang, a University of Wisconsin Superior journalism graduate, recently landed a gig as a broadcast reporter with WDIO-TV.

Lang, who said in May she wanted to take the summer off "to enjoy life," has made a few appearances from the newsroom desk.

It appears that she was hired in lieu of Kim Johnson’s departure a while back.

Whole Foods Co-op shares the profits

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The checks came this month like Christmas bonuses.

Thanks to a good year at the Whole Foods  Co-op in Duluth, most of its 5,300 members got rebate checks recently. The checks, ranging from 10 cents to $150, were based on how much members spent at the store in the fiscal year ending June 30.

Despite the recession, the co-op had it’s first profitable year since moving to its new digs near Fourth Street and Sixth Avenue East in November 2005. Sharing the profits with members is part of being in a cooperative. But moving into the black so soon after the expansion, came as a surprise.

"We didn’t expect to be profitable for a while," said Sharon Murphy, the co-op’s general manager.

Not that they didn’t work hard for that $350,000 profit, part of which went to taxes and the remaining $208,000 to members in checks and equity. When the recession started, store managers looked at their expenses for places to cut and save.

"We were constantly putting things in place to get to this place," Murphy said. "We worked really hard to reduce expenses and reduce staff without layoffs."

It took them a while, but staff was reduced from 135 to 86 through attrition.

After the co-op’s board of directors authorized the rebates, about 4,700  checks went out. The average check was about $35.

Roughly 1,000 of the checks were less than $5. The co-op isn’t required to issue rebate checks that small, but it did anyway to remind people of the benefits of membership.

To encourage people to actually cash those small checks, the co-op offered them a 5 percent discount on their purchase when they cashed the checks at the store.

As a result, they’ve been cashing an awful lot of checks, Murphy said.
 

Retailers more friendly in poor economy

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My holiday shopping trip to the Miller Hill Mall area was somewhat echoed by today’s New York Times story.

I wasn’t treated like a king at luxury stores, like the Times says, but it seems like retailers are more courteous and helpful this season of diminished sales expectations.

At Target and Best Buy, customer service reps helped me navigate the hectic check-out area to the most available register.

A few weeks ago, a trip to Pottery Barn in St. Paul was over-the-top friendly. A small army of sales people mauled me with profusive kindness when I walked in.

The recession was given as a reason for the effusiveness in the Times story. And I think online shopping has something to do with it as well.

Has your holiday shopping experience been a positive one? Share your thoughts…

Are direct flights to Phoenix, Denver next?

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 Today Chicago, tomorrow Phoenix and Denver?

Those are real possibilities for future nonstop flights out of Duluth, Brian Ryks, director of the Duluth International Airport, hinted this week.

But there’s a lot of “ifs” involved.

Current flights out of Duluth have to be successful. For United Airlines’ just-launched twice daily service between Duluth and Chicago, that means 70 percent capacity or 35 passengers on the 50-passenger regional jets used.

“You have to use it to maintain it,” Ryks explained.

Other direct flights out of Duluth are Delta Airlines’ flights to Minneapolis and Detroit and Allegiant’s Air’s flights to Las Vegas and Orlando.

The more traffic that comes through our airport, the more opportunities we will have,” said Ryks who estimates a $4 million per year economic impact with each additional daily flight.

“It is critical for the Duluth business community to have the alternative of flying into and out of Duluth,” said George Goldfarb, Maurices’ chief operating officer. “In order to attract and retain businesses, a convenient and accessible airport is very important.”

Goldfarb and many of Maurices’ staff are among those who will be using those Chicago flights. If enough others do and the flights are successful, chances are good United will begin nonstop service to Denver, its other hub, Ryks said.

And, he said, “nonstop service to Phoenix with Allegiant is a real possiblity.”

An improving economy and the $65 million Duluth air terminal being constructed also will give air travel to and from Duluth a boost.

 

Online shopping rush

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If you shop online Thursday you’re not alone.

Forget about Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving that’s touted as the big online holiday shopping day. Industry observers say Dec. 18 is the really big day for online holiday shopping because it’s the last day many retailers will ensure ground delivery by Christmas.

A survey by BIGresearch for shop.org, found that 62 percent of retailers’ shipping deadlines are  Dec. 18 or earlier. But the the greatest number fall on Dec. 18.

Actually, this whole week has some of the busiest online shopping days of the year, as customers try to get their orders in before the shipping deadlines, according to the National Retail Federation.

 

Study: Twin Cities can’t support four pro teams

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As the Minnesota Vikings prepare for a playoff run, Los Angeles prepares for a NFL team.

According to a study from portfolio.com/bizjournals, Minneapolis-St. Paul is one of 19 markets nationwide that is overextended in its number of professional sports teams. Los Angeles, however, has the largest capacity to support pro sports.

As Brett Favre throws touchdowns, rumors swirl of a possible Vikings move to Los Angeles, if a new stadium isn’t built in the Twin Cities.

In total personal income (TPI), the sum of all the money earned by all residents in a year, the Twin Cities has $154.59 billion, about $43.13 billion less than is needed to properly support the Vikings, Twins, Wild and Timberwolves.

Other overextended markets with teams in the four major sports: Denver at -$92 (Broncos, Avalance, Nuggets, Rockies, some MLS team I don’t know); Detriot at -$21 (Tigers, Pistons, Lions, Red Wings); Phoenix at -$49 (Suns, Cardinals, Coyotes, Diamondbacks).

Other overextended markets in the Midwest include: Milwaukee at -$56 (Bucks, Brewers); Green Bay at -$26 (Packers); St. Louis at -$44 (Blues, Rams, Cardinals); Cleveland at -$77 (Cavaliers, Browns, Indians); Indianapolis at -$6 (Colts, Pacers); Kansas City at -$57 (Chiefs, Royals, some MLS team); Cincinnati at -$40 (Bengals, Reds).

Remaining overextended markets: Nashville at -$13 (Titans, Predators); New Orleans at -$23(Saints, Hornets);  Pittsburgh at -$60(Steelers, Penguins, Pirates); Salt Lake City at -$9 (Jazz, some MLS team); San Francisco-Oakland at -$20 (Raiders/49ers, Warriors, Giants/Athletics);  Tampa at -$60 (Rays, Bucaneers, Lightning); Buffalo at -$33 (Bills, Sabres); Charlotte at -$7(Panthers, Bobcats).