BOGO passports connect people to new businesses in the big Longfield.

When it comes to economic development, it is no less than the Longfield Business Association.

For the past four years, the Coalition’s part-time employee, Kim Bakers, has been trying to keep the company afloat for 25 years. More recently, there has been a crisis over the Covenant epidemic and the assassination of George Floyd.

Even before 2020, small business corporations were not thriving, as evidenced by the deaths of determined activists such as the St. Paul Terrible Grand Avenue Business Association. The collapse of many trade unions is driven by a change in retail style, which makes online marketing very difficult for small businesses to secure profit margins. When people come to their homes, Kovid accelerates that trend.

In the midst of the crisis, opportunities are increasing. With some innovations, the Backus and Longfellow Business Association may have hit the nail on the head of the 2022 Passport Promotion Program. For June and July, a neighborhood punch card is now available. A “Buy One, Get One” (BOGO) promotion is like a passport in the palm of your hand for 16 different businesses in Longfield, Cooper, Howe and Hivata. (Note: With over 70, Minneapolis has many neighborhood names.)

So far so good. Unlike low-cost, time-consuming efforts, it is a new concept that is less stressful and more reliable on social media and in word of mouth. We hope it is a sign of things to come in places like Longfello, where low-income, low-income entrepreneurs can connect with each other and trade with their communities.

Low profit

Years ago, Bucks came up with the idea of ​​a visit to the northeastern part of St. Anthony, where a similar punch card system was set up. As she puts it, she slept “on the back of my head,” until one day she pointed it out to some of her colleagues.

“I think it’s good,” said Bucks. “In my end, it’s less administrative, and one thing I like about this model is that it encourages businesses with good social media services and encourages people to try new places.”

The Backus Key Participants’ shops pay for printing in advance and invest in selling the cards free of charge. Mnihaha Street was the perfect place to start an arbitrator brewing session, a brewery that opened the center of the epidemic, transforming the former Harriet brewery into a welcoming pool for the country and Alice.

“Kim is the real rock star,” said Garz Bloomberg, one of the arbiter’s owners. “It’s a great idea, and when we released it in early June, we had a great initial success. It’s closed to some extent, but that’s up to us. It’s something you have to constantly promote and promote. ”

Bloomberg points to local organizations such as the Longfello Business Association and Lake Street Council’s arbitrator brewery that negotiated the rocky ground. At the time of the outbreak and after the assassination of the Minneapolis Police Department by George Floyd, the business of drinking with strangers in public was a difficult start.

But over the past few years, Bloomberg has come up with an idea of ​​how a BOGO card works. It was a great way to “respond” and help keep the arbitrator community in place.

Six months ago, a few blocks from Lake Street, Chris McLeod opened a brick and mortar bakery on the corner of 36th Avenue. (The interesting fact is that the bread is naturally leavened dough.) The fact that he and his partner were running the front of a bakery business was a dream come true. Since then, getting one word out about the store has been a challenge, and the Longfellow Business Association card is helping.

“It looks good,” McLeold said. “People are coming in every week with a card, and it’s fun to see their cards and see what kind of commercials they already claim. It’s like hunting for Easter eggs. ”

Unlike traditional “bakeries” who usually come to work at midnight or 1 p.m., and enjoy Christmas in the morning – McLeold has created a slightly more flexible business. They are open only half a week, and so far they have set a start time for their yeast-producing products at 4:00 p.m. With a community-based subscription model already in place, it seems like a good idea to work with a business association.

Elsewhere, on Minneapolis Street, James Fried, owner of the Minhaha Scope, works a 14-hour shift on long weekends, confirming that ice cream is pouring into Minneapolis’ dog days. He is still a little upset about how many people are using punch cards, even though he saw a lot of excitement last weekend.

“Good,” Fried said. “We had hoped a little more, but it’s getting some energy.”

Fried, who lived in Longfield, worked for years on ice cream trucks in the Minneapolis area, and was always interested in opening a local concrete factory.

“I love the community and I live and work here,” Freud said. “Seven years ago, I was riding a bicycle at the Minehaha Scoop, and I said to myself, if that building is for sale. Then I saw a sign for sale.

Like most people I spoke to about the BOGO passport, Freud sees it as a good start. The rest of the list includes everything from Schooner Tavern (Seward’s Last Dive) to popular coffee shops to Curry in a hurry, Gandhi Mahal’s latest incarnation (displaced by the 2020 unrest). “The BOGO deal on Minhaha Avenue Stewart Parkway Pizza is worth it,” an arbitrator brewer told me. The rest is a bonus, and it encourages exploring the community.

People learn about local businesses through oral, neighborhood or community newspapers. If more trade unions offer this option, such efforts could increase the sense of community.

“We are very excited,” Bloomberg said. “The Longfellow Business Association and other neighborhood organizations have helped us and the community tremendously over the past two years. Whenever we have the opportunity to meet and work with these neighborhood organizations, we will do it. It is a two-way street. ”

In a perfect world, there are small businesses in the twin cities that are large enough to hold passports – bakeries, ice cream shops, breweries, Carrie Verver and more. We hope that Longfello is a good start.