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For nearly 30 years, downtown Minneapolis workers have wended their way through the skyways at lunchtime to grab Chicago-style hot dogs at Walkin' Dog.
Just over a year after most downtown office workers began working from home, Walkin' Dog is the only spot still open on the first-floor food court of Northstar Center. And owner Dave Magnuson misses his customers.
"I've taken to writing down descriptions of people I no longer see," he said.
He's filled a sheet with dozens of customers that he knows by name, job, order or physical attribute -- Chocolate Shake Richard, Loading Dock Larry, Mike from Ameriprise, Fort Myers Steve, Canada Craig, Firedog Shawn, Big Mike Capella.
The famed Minneapolis skyway system, nearly 10 miles of arteries coursing through downtown's buildings, used to be traversed by hundreds of thousands of people every weekday. Since the pandemic and the unrest that began after George Floyd's death, most of the 200 or so businesses on or just off the skyway have closed. For places like Walkin' Dog that are still open, business is down 70 to 80%.
As Magnuson looks across the Northstar Center food court, he sees that Cheetah Pizza, Twin City Bites, La Loma Tamales and a convenience store are gone. Bamboo Garden still has seating but no signs of activity. And the Crowne Plaza Hotel whose doors emptied into the food court is closed.
"It was a neighborhood down here and now I'm the only one left," Magnuson said.
For businesses that never closed, hopes for a revival keep getting stalled by new waves of infections and, more recently, the trial of Derek Chauvin, which led to heightened security for blocks around the Hennepin County Government Center.
"It's been absolute devastation. I've used up everything I've had to stay open," said Frank Gambino, who owns three sky
way restaurants, Andrea Pizza in the Capella Tower and Andrea Pizza and Jalape±o Mexican Grill in the 330 S. 2nd Av. building.
Like many small-business owners, Gambino stayed open partly because he didn't want to lose valuable employees who've been with him for as many as 18 years. But he didn't expect to lose 80% of his customers.
When they'll return remains in the minds of all downtown business owners. Some are...
