Tag Archives: money

Bug market, big returns

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Sure, you could listen to the experts about what the stock market will do.

But how reliable is that?

The return of the cicadas this summer — now that’s something you can bank on.

These locusts make their appearance in mass every 17 years in the Northeast. And when they do, stocks go up nearly 21 percent on average. That’s double the historical average. And that’s been the case since 1928, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Howard Silverblatt, a market data whiz, saw the cicada correlation but, according to the Journal, warned against reading too much into it.

“You can prove nanything you want,” he told the Journal. “Start with your answer, and I have the data to prove it.”

Ya, but 85 years of stock-rising coincidences? That’s hard to swat away.

Downtown store openings galore

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Several stores recently opened in downtown Duluth , though not all store signs are up yet. They’re all locally owned and operated and not associated with retail chains.

Port City Antiques opened quietly on Saturday at 120 W. Superior St. The new antique mall with about 30 dealers fills the 6,000-square-foot space that formerly housed the Saw-Mill Unpainted Furniture Store.

Jerry Fredrickson, founder and former owner of Father Time Antiques in Canal Park is behind the new mall.

Some dealer have more items to add to their displays and a couple of Twin Cities dealers have yet to move in. But so far, it’s looking good. I found something I had to have within minutes of walking though the door on Sunday. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, except Sundays when they’re open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A block to the west, Superior Ballroom Dance Studio opened a storefront at 208 W. Superior St. on May 1. Led by award-winning dancer Andrea Kuzel, it’s the only dance studio around devoted to teaching ballroom dance to adults in the Duluth area. And classes for children are coming this summer, too, she says.

For more information about private and group lessons, call (218) 348-1928 or just stop in.

Over at Fitger’s Brewery Complex, Lotus on the Lake, a new women’s boutique also opened on May 1 on the Superior Street Level. The space previously had been occupied by Andi’s Closet which has moved downstairs.

The store offers moderate to upper end clothing for women ages 35 and older as well as jewelry, paper goods and home decor similar to what Catherine Imports carried in the Duluth Technology Village. Catherine’s, which had quite a fan base, closed late last year.

That’s because Kelly Yetter, Catherine’s former store manager and Jackie McLean, Catherine’s office manager, are behind this venture. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.

As we previously told you, Eva Morris, another new women’s boutique opened recently at 732 E. Superior St., next to Coppola Artistica and Va Bene Italian cafe.

It offers clothing at affordable prices to women of all ages and includes larger sizes. Owner Stacy Foster previously operated Colors of Benetton at Fitger’s which closed in January. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 12 to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

While it’s not a storefront, Northland Special Events opened a showroom just inside the front door of the Torrey Building, 314 W. Superior St., on May 1.  The site also serves as the wedding and event planner’s offices, floral studio and design center. They plan to have regular hours come fall, but until then, it’s by appointment. Call (218) 499-9449.

 

Eva Morris boutique opens

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When Stacy Foster closed Benetton, an upscale women’s clothing store she owned at Fitger’s Brewery Complex, she had a plan.

She would open another women’s boutique in a storefront on Superior Street, a block to the east. But instead of the Benetton brand of tailored European clothing topping at size 12, Foster wanted to offer more affordable clothes to women of all ages, including middle-aged women who need larger sizes.

The resulting store — Eva Morris (a combination of Foster’s paternal grandparents’ first names) — has opened at 732 E. Superior St., next to Coppola Artistica and Va Bene Italian cafe.

The new store gives Foster the greater flexibiity with her store hours that she had sought. The new store — offering women’s clothing, accessories and gifts — is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.

You can check it out on Facebook.

Hobby Lobby up and running

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Officially, the new Hobby Lobby in Duluth opens at 9 a.m. Monday in the old Miller Hill Kmart space.

Unofficially, it quietly opened Thursday to allow its new staff to become acclimated to their jobs before crowds of customers arrived.

On Saturday evening, however, there was a crowd. Although the parking lot lights weren’t on, the store was aglow with plenty of people coming and going. So I stopped in to check it out.

It’s a nice store, with an extensive home decor and storage section that I lingered in for quite a while. Fun stuff with prices already 30 percent off. And the scrapbooking section made me want to start scrapbooking. Other than that, there’s the usual floral, hobby, fabric, frames, art and craft items that you would expect in a leading arts and crafts store.

By the reaction of the customers, I’d say they were liking it, too.

On Monday, the store will hold its grand opening celebration with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that will see local officials, business people and chamber of commerce ambassadors.

Hobby Lobby, based in Oklahoma City, has more than 520 stores and is the No.3 arts and craft retailer in the country. The chain had looked for a suitable location in Duluth for years before the Kmart site at Mall Drive and Maple Grove Road, near Miller Hill Mall, became available last year. It’s Hobby Lobby third store in Minnesota.

“We are very pleased to become an integral part of the Duluth community by adding new jobs, revitalizing an empty facility, and providing exceptional selection, service and value in the crafts and home decor market — all of which enables us to share in the economic growth of both the community and the stae,” John Schumacher, the chain’s assistant vice president of advertising said in a statement.

In Duluth, under store manager Ben Horst, it’ll be competition for the Michaels Arts and Crafts at the nearby Stoneridge Shopping Center.

Hobby Lobby store hours will be 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday but closed on Sundays.

Gas prices plunge in Duluth

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It happened today.

Unleaded gas prices plunged below $3 per gallon in Duluth. Prices were at around $3.15 per gallon before the big drop to $2.99 per gallon. You can even find some stations at $2.98 per gallon. They include the M&H station on West Michigan, Holiday at 27th Avenue West, Cenex at 13th Avenue East and Fourth Street and Mobile at 12th Avenue East and Fourth St.

Sure, gas prices sliding below the magical $3 mark would have been a nice Christmas present. But we’ll take it for New Year’s.

The big price drop, which also happened around the state, followed a slight price rise last week. And it followed a year when the average price of gas in the country hit an all-time high of $3.60 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.com.

While you can find gas even cheaper in the Twin Cities today, we still have bragging rights. Duluth prices are currently cheaper than Cloquet’s $3.04 to $3.12 per gallon and Two Harbor’s $3.09 to $3.12.

Duluth’s $2.99 per gallon also is less than the Minnesota average of $3.04  per gallon and the national average of $3.26 per gallon.

Prices are projected to continue to fall. But who knows for how long. So fill ‘er up, and enjoy it while it lasts.

Employers cautiously optimistic

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There’s good news and bad news coming out of this year’s Minnesota Chamber of Commerce business survey.

The annual “business barometer survey,” found employers are generally optimistic about the state’s long-term economic future.

But businesses aren’t confident the state has completely emerged from the recession. And that’s keeping them from hiring more people and investing more in their businesses right now.

Optimism, however, is slowly returning for the first time in several years, the survey found. Thirty-one percent said the economy is improving, compared to 13 percent last year.

An equal number of the 350 Minnesota businesses surveyed reported adding staff as said they had reduced their staff in the previous year.

Taxes, government regulations, rising employee health insurance costs, electricity costs — all were identified as barriers to job creation. Half said there are enough skilled workers in their industries and that training can solve apparent shortages.

Art in the Alley opens downtown

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The owners of Art in the Alley don’t waste any time.

Just one-and-a-half months after Tami LaPole Edmunds and Dan Edmunds signed a lease for a storefront at 230 E.Superior St. in downtown Duluth, they have opened.

And by mid-September, just as they said they would.

The official grand opening is 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday with a ribbon cutting and live music. But, what the heck, the boutique — with its offerings of unique home decor, clothing, jewelry and odds and ends by 30 local artists — was looking great Monday. So while finishing touches were done to displays, they opened their doors for the first time.

Many of the items are repurposed. All are displayed with the use of antique furniture and vintage items, which adds to the colorful store’s appeal.

So ladies, if you like originality and what thinking outside the box can create, check out the store at the corner of Superior Street and Third Avenue East, next to Zeitgeist Arts in old Downtown. Hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays.

It’s the second store for the artist couple. The first Art in the Alley opened four years ago in historic Old City Hall at Hammond Avenue and Broadway in Superior. It continues to operate.

West Duluth CVS opens, Superior is next

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The new CVS pharmacy in West Duluth opened quietly Sunday, marking the pharmacy giant’s entrance into the Twin Ports market. By Monday, people were filtering in at a good rate, greeted by a cheerful store staffer.

The actually grand opening will be this Sunday, the same day a new CVS store is set to open at North 28th Street and Banks Ave. in Superior.

The West Duluth CVS, at Grand and 46th Avenue West, is right across the street from a Walgreens store. Locating its stores across the street from the industry leader is part of CVS’s aggressive, combat strategy for market share. Regardless of how one feels about that, I got to admit, the new CVS store is downright pleasant. Far from the stark warehouse feel of a lot of stores, colors are pleasing, the ceiling isn’t overly high with the stark industrial look that’s popular now. Sections are labeled clearly. A curving walkway helps you along. And with shelving just shoulder high, it’s easy to see across the store to to what you want and it’s easy to reach anything.

“The big thing with CVS is we want customers to see our pharmacy so they know where to go,” said one store staffer. And, he said, no one will have to strain to reach anything high.

The West Duluth CVS is big enough to have a craft section for kids, seasonal items, even some clothes and boots. It employs about 30 people, the staffer said.

A third CVS coming to the Twin Ports, at Superior Street and 12th Avenue East in Duluth, has been delayed. The Plaza strip mall  — to be razed to make way for CVS — has been vacated except for the Beijing Restaurant, which had a long-term lease and is the lone holdout. Last we heard, construction could be delayed two or three years as a result.

New Kenwood Walgreens is open

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The new Kenwood Walgreens opened on the sly on Friday, sporting the squeaky clean and antiseptic look of the chain’s new stores.

“Hardly anybody knows we’re open,” said a clerk who stood in the near customer-less store about 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

Unlike the new Walgreens at East Superior Street on 12th Avenue East that opened about a year ago, the Kenwood store isn’t open 24 hours a day. It’s open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays, the clerk said. Its pharmacy department closes even earlier.

With its two stories (the second floor is for staff) and large windows, it looks big from the outside and quite nice. But while it’s much bigger inside than its former space across the street in the Kenwood Shopping Center (a former Falk’s Pharmacy), it’s smaller than the Superior Street store.

That will likely limit the extent of the Kenwood store’s seasonal and less basic drug store offerings which the Superior Street store has plenty of on its selves.

Getting married? Don’t forget the prenup!

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Well, I suppose Star Jones should know.

Among the deluge of e-mails we get here at the DNT every day, came one recently with advice from Star Jones. She’s the attorney-turned-”The View” TV host-turned author-turned… well, whatever she’s doing these days.

Apparently her over-the-top wedding and short-lived marriage, makes her advice on prenuptial agreements for professional women more credible.

She never says whether she got a prenup herself, but as the national spokeswoman for the National Association of Professional Women, Jones provides the following advice:

Who needs one?

–People who have children from a previous marriage.

–People who own a business or are a partner in a business, law firm or medical practice.

–People who own significant assets or property.

–People who have much more money than their future spouses.

While a prenuptial agreement can derail the romantic start of a marriage, it establishes clear financial ground rules for the union and results in a fair division of assets if the marriage ends in divorce. It also preserves the inheritance rights of children from previous marriages.

Jones says each one in the couple should have their own lawyer. Each must reveal all their assets and each must sign the document willingly. Oh, and this is interesting. If you’re the one with the dough, Jones says be sure your fiance has the better attorney… so he or she can’t come back later and claim ineffective counsel.