- With significant wealth departing the state of Minneota in addition to leftist policy being hostile to small businesses, this is the inevitable result.
Minnesota’s nearly $9 billion hospitality industry “is on the brink of no return,” according to a new report warning years of mounting regulation and economic uncertainty threaten to decimate a key part of the state’s economy.
The new survey from Hospitality Minnesota found only a third of restaurants, hotels and other tourism businesses expect a better spring than last year. In contrast, nearly three-quarters expected a better spring in 2021.
“We’ve not recovered since the pandemic,” said Angie Whitcomb, Hospitality Minnesota’s president and CEO. “We are at a point now where it is dire and we’re starting to see the effects of this.”
In 2025, more than half of hospitality businesses in the state saw foot traffic and profits drop year over year. Slightly less than half reported being in financial decline, an increase of 12 percentage points over 2024.
Several hot spots closed in 2025, including Keys Cafe, Zen Box Izakaya, Soberfish, Cocina del Barrio and Petit León.
The report cites a slew of pressures on the industry, which employs about 230,000 people statewide. Federal tariffs have raised wholesale prices; state and local regulations have added new costs and red tape; and widespread economic uncertainty has consumers spending less.
Yeah, the Trump administration certainly doesn't get a pass here given how higher costs due to tariffs are essentially regressive taxes. And with the war in Iran, fuel costs are also a factor in raised prices.
But hey, at least we have a new state flag in Minnesota!
- Just gonna leave this here:
Sincere request from those on the left side of the political spectrum in Minnesota:
— Pat Garofalo 🇺🇸 (@PatGarofalo) April 8, 2026
Please explain how this is sustainable. pic.twitter.com/EyqMXZB1Y3
I imagine the patented prog responses were shrieks of "rIcH pEoPlE nEeD tO pAy ThEiR fAiR sHaRe." But, again, since may upper income individuals have moved elsewhere, that well is quickly running dry. It also means that the left's definition of "rich" is going to shift also.
- With Minneapolis beset with crime, employers leaving the downtown area and residents departing the city for the 'burbs or outstate (if not leaving Minnesota completely), you'd think city officials would be laser focused on reversing those trends, right? Right?? RIGHT?!?!
Minneapolis city leaders are considering legalizing adult bathhouses and sex venues where sexual activity between consenting adults would be allowed.
The City Council will decide Thursday, April 9, whether to have city staff research several ordinances that would allow adult bathhouses and sex venues to operate again after a 38-year ban.
The ordinances would remove “stigmatizing language” and add “new definitions to be inclusive of establishments where sexual activity between consenting adults may be facilitated.”
Adult bathhouses were popular among some men in the U.S. until public pressure and laws led to their closures in the 1980s during the AIDS crisis.
In Minneapolis, bathhouses and sex clubs operated until a 1988 ordinance banned businesses that facilitate “high-risk sexual conduct” — which it defined as fellatio, anal intercourse and vaginal intercourse for pay.
Because nothing says "progress" like bringing back the depravity and moral decay of 1980s San Francisco.
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