Block E (Duluth, Coon Rapids, Burnsville: movie theater, high school, college)

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by Robert98

I wonder if Hooters will survive? They owe back rent and taxes. And Game works is closing.

Who manages Hooters? because honestly, I don't know how they survive.

When I was in college they opened a Hooters in St. Cloud. Where? Just in the middle of the most congested part of town, 5 miles from the College Campus.

To me, if I were to build in a college town, I would build, um, near the college! You have a built in crowd.

Charge $2 pitcher night and cheap wings or something.

I went there one time with like 6 dudes, and we had a few pitchers and our tab was like $28 for like 4 pitchers of beer or something crazy. Sorry, but broke college kids, and middle class families aren't going to drop $28 for drinks at HOOTERS. Think about it.

[gweilo845]

Not to defend Hooters -- if I want to look at T&A while having bad bar food, I'll go to the lunch buffet at Rick's Cabaret :b

But when I was going to school at SCSU, the city council "cracked down" on bars doing drink specials. I don't know if that's still the norm, since now when I go there it's to visit relatives, not get drunk on the cheap.

Gameworks closing is really going to hit Block E hard. The whole Hennepin Av. side is going to look completely dead.

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by gweilo845

Not to defend Hooters -- if I want to look at T&A while having bad bar food, I'll go to the lunch buffet at Rick's Cabaret :b

But when I was going to school at SCSU, the city council "cracked down" on bars doing drink specials. I don't know if that's still the norm, since now when I go there it's to visit relatives, not get drunk on the cheap.

Gameworks closing is really going to hit Block E hard. The whole Hennepin Av. side is going to look completely dead.

Ahh, good point on the 'crack down' never thought about that... That caused quite the uproar for college students.

I remember beer and pizza days of $7 all you can drink beer and all you can eat pizza from 7-9. Needless to say, I never remembered leaving beer and pizza!

Hi-ho silvers at DB Searles wasn't the best for binge drinking either.

The way I look at it, might as well keep it managable inside a public establishment. Because if a student is too broke to go out, it's not going to stop them from having fun. They'll just split a $10 bottle of Vodka and down it with a roommate, and possibly get into trouble out of sight of the public, usually resulting in more harm had they just gone out and taken advantage of the deals.

[Radical_Car]

Originally Posted by knke0204

Who manages Hooters? because honestly, I don't know how they survive.

When I was in college they opened a Hooters in St. Cloud. Where? Just in the middle of the most congested part of town, 5 miles from the College Campus.

That Hooters closed quite a while ago, the building sits empty, I think its for sale or for lease. Yes, it is a very stupid location, right on Division in a really busy intersection. It's gone now, and the Circuit City right across the road is obviously closed, and the hollywood video right behind the closed circuit city is closing now too, sooooooooooooooo... yea.

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by Radical_Car

That Hooters closed quite a while ago, the building sits empty, I think its for sale or for lease. Yes, it is a very stupid location, right on Division in a really busy intersection. It's gone now, and the Circuit City right across the road is obviously closed, and the hollywood video right behind the closed circuit city is closing now too, sooooooooooooooo... yea.

Looks like the Retail jungle of St. Cloud is falling apart. I have heard of a handful of businesses closing there in the past few years since I moved away.

Why can't developers realize that there is an Untapped market of college students in town. There is almost NO retail near campus. I remember going there and thinking, woah the best place for a college kid to get food? A run down, beat up Subway connected to the grossest gas station one can imagine?

Then, they tore down a Coborns that was within walking distance of the dorms. Then the gas station by there got closed. That's why every freshman student, and heck even the students who live off campus go home every weekend, there is nothing to do there and college kids dont want to drive to the other side of town.

The same goes for the brains (or lack there of) behind Block E. You need to take a look at where the area has been, what it is now, and where it's headed. Demographics, feasibility and efficiency need to be looked at, not just now but looking ahead and even more importantly looking at it's past.

[gweilo845]

I think it's more of the city's zoning ordinances, not developers, to blame why there's no retail/food stuff close to the SCSU campus.

I actually lost weight while I was going there because I got so sick of eating the crap (Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, etc.) on campus. When they opened up a Burger King in the student union, you would have thought they were giving out free beer - the lines were out the door.

BTW, I went by Block E last night and Gameworks has already cleaned out.

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by gweilo845

I think it's more of the city's zoning ordinances, not developers, to blame why there's no retail/food stuff close to the SCSU campus.

I actually lost weight while I was going there because I got so sick of eating the crap (Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, etc.) on campus. When they opened up a Burger King in the student union, you would have thought they were giving out free beer - the lines were out the door.

BTW, I went by Block E last night and Gameworks has already cleaned out.

wow. Thats tough to hear about Gameworks

Yeah, when I was there Subway opened up and you would have thought that nobody ever ate Subway before in their lives.

I think you're right about the government, and zoning. I think the university also plays a role in trying to keep a solid on-campus experience, I not worrying about outside development. They have made a giant push for the 5th avenue live development that now includes student housing

[keroppininja]

Block E just changed hands to local minneapolis developer Bob Lux..

Developer Lux has deal for Block E - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

[Radical_Car]

Originally Posted by knke0204

Looks like the Retail jungle of St. Cloud is falling apart. I have heard of a handful of businesses closing there in the past few years since I moved away.

Why can't developers realize that there is an Untapped market of college students in town. There is almost NO retail near campus. I remember going there and thinking, woah the best place for a college kid to get food? A run down, beat up Subway connected to the grossest gas station one can imagine?

I know exactly what Subway you are talking about, and ya that one is gross and so is that gas station and the book store right there.

There has been tons of business's closing in the past few years

Sportsman's Warehouse

Circuit City

Petters Warehouse

There were 2 small dollar stores that closed called Dollar Avenue, one was across from my old apartment and Waite Park and they had 24 oz bottles of Soda for a dollar, so I walked there all the time, but they were in a bad location and were small and really can't compete with Dollar Tree.

The 2 Hollywood videos and the movie store in Sauk Rapids

the 2 cub foods got bought out by Cash Wise and turned into Cash Wise, now we have a bunch of Coborns and Cash Wises and a single Byerlys, and since Cash Wise and Coborns are the same thing owned by the same company, they pretty much have a monopoly on grocery stores besides the single Byerlys, until the Wal-Mart Supercenter opens, and there is an Aldi food market... which isn't quite what I would call a real grocery store, you can get some good cheap weird generic stuff there that tastes perfectly fine.

Theres also tons of empty buildings, if you drive on Division you'll notice quite a few, some that come to mind are the Sportsman's Warehouse and a Baker's Square which has been for a real long time. My sister's Tae Kwon Do gym moved from an old location to a new one, and the old location was old and looked like it was converted from a garage or something, that building has a for sale sign on it and it says sold, so someone bought it.

Sad to see Sportsman's Warehouse closed, though the chain did file bankruptcy and they were expensive and when I used to walk there frequently when I lived down the street from it, it was never busy. I used to wonder how places like that stay open in a town like this.

St. Cloud does have some really good burger joints, we got Val's and a Five Guys, which might be the only Five Guys in Minnesota(Not 100% sure), though both aren't anywhere near SCSU. We also have a place called Best Burger Ever or something like that, which opened in the old Taco John's location on Division when Taco John's got a new location right across from the Crossroads Mall. I have eaten at both Five Guys and Val's and both are very good, especially Five Guys.

Originally Posted by knke0204

they tore down a Coborns that was within walking distance of the dorms. Then the gas station by there got closed. That's why every freshman student, and heck even the students who live off campus go home every weekend, there is nothing to do there and college kids dont want to drive to the other side of town.

The same goes for the brains (or lack there of) behind Block E. You need to take a look at where the area has been, what it is now, and where it's headed. Demographics, feasibility and efficiency need to be looked at, not just now but looking ahead and even more importantly looking at it's past.

Yes, I am only in High School, and I am going to agree and say there really isn't much in St. Cloud at all, especially compared to the Twin Cities which is right down the road. I can understand why so many college kids get extremely bored. The one thing I do like about St. Cloud is it is close to the Twin Cities and Minneapolis, though I would rather live in Minneapolis, though I stay happy and optimistic, and I do know I could be living somewhere else. My mom grew up in Wabasso, MN and she very well may of stayed there, and I could be living there right now. I am very thankful im not living there, and my mom is glad she isn't living there either, and St. Cloud is so much better then Redwood Falls, MN and all the surrounding towns with only a couple hundred people. St. Cloud could be even worse, St Cloud could be 5 hours from Minneapolis, or even farther. It's nice its not all that far at all.

[knke0204]

^^ I live in Duluth now and we have a 5 guys. Where is the one in St. Cloud?

Did Timberlodge and Outback close too? What about Granite City? How about TGIFs?