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Minnesota business owner hope fall will help tourism
Explore Minnesota partnered with Hospitality Minnesota and the Minneapolis Federal Reserve to conduct a statewide survey of business owners in the tourism industry.
MINNEAPOLIS — There’s a saying in Minnesota that when things go wrong you can blame it on the weather.
Lauren Bennett McGinty from Explore Minnesota said there is some truth to that phrase this year regarding the state’s travel and tourism industry.
“The weather this summer has been a huge factor,” Bennett McGinty said.
Explore Minnesota partnered with Hospitality Minnesota and the Minneapolis Federal Reserve to conduct a statewide survey of business owners in the tourism industry.
The survey included responses from 266 Minnesota business owners. About half of the respondents said their business saw fewer customers this summer. Around 48% of the business owners in the survey said the excess rain this summer hurt their business.
“When you look at many businesses involved in tourism, of course they are outdoor focused, and in the summertime especially. All the days of rain this summer, it was really challenging for them to have more people come and spend their time outdoors and experience all they have to offer,” McGinty said.
But weather wasn’t the only issue business owners had to deal with this summer. Around 60% of business owners say rising costs of goods and services was a major challenge this summer.
In the survey, business owners say their three biggest challenges this year were higher prices for goods and food, wage increases, and more government regulations.
Jami Olson is the CEO of the Centro Restaurant Group, which owns five restaurants in the Twin Cities. She said a lot of restaurant owners in the Twin Cities are seeing fewer customers and higher costs of doing business.
“Overall, we have seen a downtick,” Olson said. “I think in general the Twin Cities are going through a lot of things right now. I think we will continue to see a lot of changes within restaurants. A lot of things are getting more expensive. Minimum wage went up, so obviously that drives up prices.”
On the northeast side of the state, in the Brainerd Lakes Area, business owners were more optimistic.
Nichole Heinen with the Brainerd Lakes Chamber of Commerce said many hotels and restaurants did see a slight drop in revenue this summer.
“It’s been down maybe a tiny little bit, but it is not something that has been a really big worry for us up here,” Heinen said.
She is hoping the warm fall will help business owners earn back some of the revenue they lost this summer.
“We just got done with Crosslake Days in Crosslake and there was a huge turnout. So many people were out there, and the businesses I spoke with out there were just really excited for the Fall. They’re already seeing a lot of people coming up to see the leaves and change of colors,” Heinen said.
Business owners statewide also say it was easier this summer to find staff to fill their positions. 42% of the business owners surveyed said their staffing levels are stable, which is higher than in years past.
The survey also showed very few business owners had to cut jobs this year, with around 8.5% of owners reporting job cuts in 2024.
Explore Minnesota is also hopeful for the future. McGinty said the Twin Cities metro is seeing higher hotel occupancy this Fall, and she is hopeful that trend will continue this winter.
“We’re very excited to just get back into those seasons and have people experience all four seasons in Minnesota,” McGinty said.
Minnesota’s Judy Garland Museum will be among the online bidders vying for the shoes worn in “The Wizard of Oz.”
DALLAS — A pair of ruby slippers worn by Minnesota native Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” are on the auction block nearly two decades after a thief stole the iconic shoes, somehow convinced they were adorned with real jewels.
Heritage Auctions in Dallas announced in a news release that online bidding has started and will continue through Dec. 7.
The auction company received the sequin-and-bead-bedazzled slippers from Michael Shaw, the memorabilia collector who originally owned the footwear at the heart of the beloved 1939 musical.
Shaw had loaned the shoes in 2005 to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, but that summer, someone smashed through a display case and stole the slippers. Their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI recovered them in 2018.
Now the Garland Museum is among those vying for the slippers, which were one of several pairs Garland wore during the filming. Only four pairs remain.
Grand Rapids raised money for the slippers at its annual Judy Garland festival, and will combine those funds with $100,000 set aside this year by the Minnesota Legislature to purchase the slippers.
The man who stole the slippers back in 2005, Terry Jon Martin, was sentenced in January to time served because of his poor health. Martin, now 76, admitted to using a hammer to smash the glass of the museum’s door and display case in what his attorney said was an attempt to pull off “one last score” after an old associate with connections to the mob told him the shoes had to be adorned with real jewels to justify their $1 million insured value.
The current auction of movie memorabilia includes other items from “The Wizard of Oz,” including a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of the West and the screen door from Dorothy’s Kansas home.
Thompson is charged with five counts of third-degree murder after prosecutors said he hit a car at nearly 100 mph while fleeing police in June of 2023.
MINNEAPOLIS — Derrick Thompson is rolling the dice, turning down a plea agreement and instead going to trial on charges of third-degree murder and criminal vehicular homicide for allegedly crashing into a car and killing five friends while fleeing police.
Hennepin County District Court officials confirm that Thompson and his defense team have scuttled the plea deal, opting instead for a trial that is set to begin on Feb. 18, 2025.
KARE 11 has requested details of the plea agreement that Thompson turned down and will share them when available.
Thompson stands charged with five counts of third-degree murder and 10 of criminal vehicular homicide for allegedly causing the deaths of five young women ages 17 to 20: Salma Mohamed Abdikadir, Sahra Liban Gesaade, Sagal Burhaan Hersi, Siham Adan Odhowa, and Sabiriin Mohamoud Ali. Prosecutors say the victims were in a vehicle sitting at a stoplight on Lake St. when Thompson’s SUV sped through a red light and struck them. Investigators say he was fleeing after being clocked by a state trooper on I-94 doing 95 mph in a 55 miles-per-hour zone.
The defendant fled on foot following the crash before officers took him into custody. Inside Thompson’s rented SUV police found a loaded handgun and significant qualities of drugs, including fentanyl. He would later insist that both the weapon and the drugs belonged to his brother, who Thompson insists was in the vehicle with him at the time of the crash.
When announcing the addition of murder charges in the case Sept. 16, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty indicated her office would seek enhanced sentencing against Thompson.
“The sad fact is that he has done this before. Just six months before this crash, Mr. Thompson was released from a California prison for fleeing police, speeding off the highway and onto city streets where he struck and severely injured a woman. His lengthy record of dangerous driving, the trail of devastation he’s left in his wake, and his conduct in this case make these more serious charges appropriate. We will continue to seek a lengthy period of incarceration to keep the community safe.”
Along with the state charges, Thompson is charged at the federal level for being a felon in possession of a handgun.
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