Minnesota malls see huge rebound in foot traffic

Plus: Most Minnesotans want legal weed to go national [Plus: Most Minnesotans want legal weed to go national] View this email as a [web page]( [The Minnesota Star Tribune](   [Essential Minnesota logo] ESSENTIAL MINNESOTA [Essential Minnesota logo] ESSENTIAL MINNESOTA Good morning, Minnesota! Happy birthday to F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Roaring '20s are back, baby — abhorrent income inequality and all 💸 On to the news 📢 [Eder Campuzano] By Eder Campuzano TODAY’S TOP STORIES - [Many people in jail have an opioid addiction, but less than half of jails offer medication, study shows]( - [Minnesota homes tour shows architectural influence of Frank Lloyd Wright, Japan, nature]( - [Child care has long been a vexing problem in rural Minnesota. One county may have cracked the code.]( - [Duluth mayor’s girlfriend and campaign manager is involved in city business, emails show]( - [St. Louis Park gets a flashy new steakhouse from the Crave team](   Let's all go to the mall — a ton of us are already there, anyway Brian Peterson/The Minnesota Star Tribune Minnesotans have begun flocking to malls once again, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're spending money there. That's the upshot of this morning's main story — an analysis of the uptick in mall traffic across the state and what that means for business owners in Minnesota's shopping centers. Five of the state's largest malls have seen increases in foot traffic that outpace pre-pandemic numbers. Eden Prairie Center, which you might remember from the '90s classic "Mallrats," saw a nearly 28% increase in visitors this year compared to 2019. That surge in passersby has been a boon for Bella Roberts, who opened her Reborn Salon near the now-shuttered J.C. Penney. "It's a huge market for us to have that walk-by traffic," she said. But that isn't the case for everyone. A cookware store owner nearby says this summer represented a bit of a sales slump. Still, there's a sort of "Field of Dreams" situation happening in Eden Prairie. A new 250,000-square-foot Scheels megastore that includes a synthetic ice rink and 16,000-gallon saltwater aquarium has drawn folks in. If you build it, they will come, as a ghost told Kevin Costner once. Business reporter Nicole Norfleet and U intern Caleb Fravel have all of the [details about Minnesota's mall resurgence here](. [Read More](     GOING OUT - [The Big Gigs: 10 best concerts to see in the Twin Cities this week]( - [Your drinks are missing a key ingredient: coconut water]( - [New York Times lists two Minneapolis restaurants among its favorites of 2024]( - [Review: Dream-pop band Cigarettes After Sex lights up St. Paul arena with ultra-low flair](   [Share this newsletter with friends]( Do you enjoy Essential Minnesota? Encourage your friends and family to [sign up](. You also can share it using the links below.   Pot should be legal everywhere, most Minnesotans say in poll The latest set of polls from the Minnesota Star Tribune, MPR News and KARE 11 asked hundreds of registered voters for their views on weed legalization, and the majority opinion was: Legalize it everywhere. Only 14% of Minnesotans polled said they've used a THC product in the last month, but 61% said they'd support a national reclassification of the drug. At least one cannabis lobbyist says that number will likely go up once the state's dispensaries go live. “If we were a year into [the market] and people were used to driving by the cannabis store down the street, I think that it would probably go up just due to familiarity with their local shop owners,” Kurtis Hanna said. Read all about that poll, plus another about election integrity, at the links below. - [Minnesota Poll: A majority of Minnesotans support federal marijuana legalization]( - [Minnesota Poll: Most are confident in election system, think voting by mail is secure]( Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune more from the minnesota star tribune - [St. Anthony tables vote on mosque, community center]( - [Marshall woman accused of bilking family company and spending money at casino]( - [Minneapolis passes law aiming to bolster office-to-housing conversions]( ON THIS DAY IN 1992 Brian Peterson/The Minnesota Star Tribune Target Center may host a raucous Lynx fandom tonight, but exactly 32 years ago the venue was all about tennis. Minneapolis hosted the semifinals of the Davis Cup that year. The U.S. faced off against Sweden and the home team was a murderer's row of tennis greats: John McEnroe. Pete Sampras. Jim Courier. In the photo above, Andre Agassi preps a serve against Sweden's Stefan Edberg. He'd eventually win the match and the U.S. would clinch its spot in the Davis Cup finals the same night when McEnroe and Sampras defeated Edberg and doubles partner Anders Järryd. The craziest thing? McEnroe and Sampras had never played together before that tournament, Strib staff writer Nolan Zavoral wrote. IN OTHER NEWS - [A ‘more risky situation’: Abstinence advocates say new legislation could create ‘chaos’ in sober housing]( - MinnPost - [People exposed to pigs at the Minnesota State Fair contract variant flu strain]( - MPR News     THE MINNESOTA GOODBYE u/danielmickphoto via Reddit Daniel Mick took a photo of a Two Harbors sunset. And my, is it stunning. Mick dropped this gem of a frame in the Minnesota subreddit last night and it's been living rent-free in my mind since my editor shared it with me. I don't know how the rest of you Minnesota transplants feel, but I've been really into boats ever since my first trip to the North Shore. Am I alone in that? It feels like every souvenir shop in Duluth sells calendars chock-full of glamour shots of freighters and other watercraft. They're so pleasing to look at and I'm super into it. And I'm super into this photograph. It makes me feel like I need a thick, wool sweater, and I need it now. Thanks for reading Eder Campuzano, reporter David Taintor, editor     [Premium digital access] GET IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO EVERY STORY [Premium digital access] GET IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO EVERY STORY [Subscribe]( SHARE THIS NEWSLETTER [Email]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Manage email preferences]( • [Subscribe to Star Tribune]( • [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe from this newsletter]( [Manage]( your preferences | [Opt Out]( using TrueRemove™ Got this as a forward? [Sign up]( to receive our future emails. View this email [online](. 650 3rd Ave. S. Suite 1300 | Minneapolis, MN 55488 US This email was sent to {EMAIL}. To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.