Many businesses have been impacted by the increasing rates of violence in Minneapolis. One, a salon that has been located in Uptown Minneapolis, announced its decision Monday to permanently close its location that has been open for over 35 years. The owner and founder of the salon, Juut, said in a Facebook post that they “decided to close due to the continued escalation of crime and violence in our neighborhood.”
Other businesses have been struggling since COVID-19 and the riots that occurred in Minneapolis last year. One restaurant, Sushi Tango, closed permanently after their store was looted in the rioting.
The owner of a therapy practice in Uptown shared with The Minnesota Sun that their clients are becoming fearful of coming to their office location for services. The business owner asked to remain anonymous as they were afraid their home and business might be targeted for speaking out. She said, “Several clients have acknowledged the increased crime in the area and reported feeling unsafe coming to and parking by my office.”
The business owner and resident of Minneapolis shared that their family experienced the riots of last summer too.
“Last year I was 39 weeks pregnant when George Floyd was murdered and riots shut down streets, including those to my hospital,” a local resident said. “There were so many sleepless nights for a few weeks, it sounded like a war zone with sirens, gun shots, and masked looters in ours and our neighbors’ yards. We had to water down our grass in hopes that our house wouldn’t burn down.”
She said, “What’s even worse is that no one feels OK talking about this with anyone, because if you express sadness about your neighborhood being destroyed or fears for your safety, you are either labeled a racist, or are told that it’s ‘property over people’ so feelings aren’t being validated and fears aren’t being heard because people are too scared to speak up.”
Another resident of Uptown said in a comment to The Sun that they had similar experiences.
“We had two incidents where people walked through our yard, any time we had friends over we had to watch to make sure nobody carjacked them. We had a friend with a stolen catalytic converter right outside of our house,” the Uptown resident said. “Now we watch Uptown burn again, waking up to helicopters circling, hearing shots ring out from Lyndale, and then listening to business owners vent about how they are barely staying above the water.”
That same resident stated that a friend who owns a business in Minneapolis has had three break-ins and the police were unable to respond.
Another local restaurant owner posted in a local crime group that, “My restaurant was just robbed for the 2nd time in a few days. I’m at my wits end and our city needs help.”
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Hayley Tschetter is a reporter with The Minnesota Sun | Star News Network and The College Fix. She graduated with a degree in Communications from the University of Northwestern-St. Paul. Send news tips to [email protected].
