If you have a few hours to kill downtown, you can easily occupy all of your time in Commerce at the Crossings' skyway. You can liquidate Grandpa’s old coin collection at Premium Quality Coin, pick up a bag of THC edibles at In-Dispensary, grab a sandwich at Dagwood’s or a noodle plate at Skyway Wok, and get your teeth cleaned at Skyway Dental. Probably in that order.

And, if you're not too woozy after the dentist, you can peruse high-class gifts down the hall, where you'll find handmade bags and jewelry at Topic Trends or custom artwork at Metro Gallery.

Commerce at the Crossings is a low-key commercial success story in a skyway system that needs more of them.

Elsewhere in the 9.5-mile network, “For Lease” signs seem just as common as active storefronts. Once-bustling passages – most notably the under-renovation Northstar Center West – are totally vacant. Even storied shopping hubs like Gaviidae Common and City Center are sedate. Many skyway sections still close soon after standard business hours, sending folks seeking a post-work bite or drink down to street-level restaurants and bars or out to the North Loop.

To be sure, the situation in the skyways is better than it was a year into the pandemic, but it’s a far cry from the pre-pandemic heyday.

Though the Minneapolis Downtown Council doesn’t specifically track skyway vacancies, there are “about 450 restaurant and retail businesses open” today across downtown, up from about 280 in March 2021, according to Mark Remme of the Minneapolis Downtown Council. The Downtown Council has no earlier restaurant and retail occupancy figures.

The Star Tribune reported in June that close to 40% of downtown restaurant and retail space sits vacant, near a 10-year high. 

Still, the skyway scene “is slowly coming back, but not as strong as we’d like it,” says Adam Duininck, the Downtown Council’s new president and CEO.

That’s due, at least in part, to the Tuesday through Thursday in-person work trend. More workers are consistently coming back downtown, but usually only one or two of those days, so foot traffic is much slower downtown on Mondays and Fridays.

Meanwhile, some employers are downsizing in downtown offices or decamping for the suburbs, adding to already-high office vacancy rates downtown.

Sherman Associates’ Northstar East office-to-apartments conversion — the first in a hoped-for wave across downtown to address office vacancies — could increase the system’s overnight population by hundreds, but it won’t come online until late 2024. 

So, we asked skyway business owners, landlords and downtown boosters what the system needs to realize its potential — and in some cases, what it’s already doing right. Here’s what they told us.

Flexible, shorter-term leases

Some landlords are offering shockingly-good lease deals to fill vacant skyway storefronts or keep existing tenants in place. That’s helping independently owned-businesses, including Sjokolade in SPS Tower, SK Coffee in 50 South Sixth and Blackwater Coffee & Cafe in Fifth Street Towers, all of which have filled vacancies left by departed Dunn Bros. and Caribou locations.

Jonica Shoger’s confectionery, Sjokolade, opened just before Halloween, but it could close as soon as New Year’s Eve. That's due to an unusually-short lease that's essentially a trial run for the business' first brick-and-mortar.

The deal was too good to pass up, says Kirk, Shoger’s husband and co-worker. After years of selling fudge online and at holiday markets, the pair was ready to try a traditional storefront. “When this opportunity came up, it felt like the right time,” he says.

The Shogers will wait until after the holidays to renew Sjokolade’s lease or close up shop — a last-minute luxury few retailers get.

A shorter-term lease also drew In-Dispensary to the Crossings building. Co-owner Mark Eide was vague about its terms, but he said they're more flexible than “any other commercial property owner was offering,”and with many Minnesota cities banning or curtailing THC product sales, “we didn’t want to sign a 10-year lease where we wouldn’t be welcome.”

Satiya Amporful has twice renewed her one-year lease for Uniquely Global, which sources art, apparel and accessories from multicultural makers based in Ghana. But it’s not the lease’s length that entices her. The boutique is part of the Downtown Council’s Chameleon Shoppes program, an incubator for BIPOC- and women-owned retail businesses. Her monthly payment on a prime Gaviidae Common suite is just 20% of sales, with no base rent, utilities or maintenance fees tacked on. 

That’s a lifeline when business is slow, as it often is these days. Some weeks go by with just a handful of paying customers, though Amporful isn’t entirely dependent on in-store sales.

Carlos Santana grabbed an “armload” of product on a chance visit last year, and Amporful now designs for his clothing line. She has wholesale partnerships as well, including one with a fellow Chameleon Shoppes participant.

Chameleon Shoppes’ success has the Downtown Council eyeing an expansion of the program, possibly with Minnesota Department of Economic Development (DEED) funding.

Though retail landlords risk leaving money on the table with the percentage-of-sales arrangement, “many recognize that something is better than nothing” amid persistently high vacancy rates, says Duininck.

More landlord support for independently-owned skyway businesses

Sweetheart lease deals might be a short-term necessity for struggling downtown landlords, but they’re also a crucial tool for those genuinely committed to a more eclectic skyway retail scene. 

Longtime Six Quebec owner (and resident) Larry Abdo is doing his part in his skyway, recently rebranded as Avenue 6Q. He brought over two “displaced” family-owned businesses from the Northstar building, Bamboo Garden and Gittelson Jewelers, both of which were affected by the multiyear construction project there. A sports memorabilia store, 2Bros Sports Collectibles, established its first brick-and-mortar location in Six Quebec's skyway in the past year, too.

Abdo's newest tenant is Crepe Avenue, a French-inspired spot serving up sweet and savory crepes and waffles.

“We were nervous about opening in the skyway, but I couldn’t stop staring at the space when I passed by,” says Crepe Avenue co-owner Zee Vang, who previously worked downtown. Abdo offered a short-term lease “to help us understand how business works here” and proved more detail-oriented than expected during the opening sprint. When Vang mentioned she was having trouble finding the right furniture for the new space, Abdo connected her with a supplier he knew.

To Abdo, that’s just good business. He’d rather go out of his way for family businesses willing to scrap through tough times than chase fickle national franchises. “My bet is on tenants with a strong will to survive, not necessarily a strong balance sheet,” he says.

Bill Himmelwright is on the same page. Along with his own shop, Premium Quality Coin, he owns about 8,000 square feet of retail space in Commerce at the Crossings. Most of his units are cozy, measuring under 500 square feet.

While he doesn’t have any Chameleon Shoppes participants, he does seek out artisanal businesses that bring passion to their work. His tenants include a tailor, two fashion shops and an art gallery. 

“The people who run [the shops here] are super into what they’re doing,” he says. “When you walk into the store, you get the full experience.”

All but two of his 10 units are leased, an above-average skyway occupancy rate these days. It might help that, unlike most commercial landlords, he displays his lease rates online. How does $1,100 a month sound for a 513-square-foot skyway showroom?

Retail spaces for more than just shopping

“Successful” retail hubs like The Dayton’s Project temporary Winter Makers Market prove that people will come downtown for unique seasonal shopping experiences, says Duininck. The question is where they go the rest of the year.

“We’re asking how we can find successful models to create artisan nodes and get little corners of the city noticed as retail hubs,” he says.

While Duininck and other downtown boosters focus on the big picture, some skyway shops are taking matters into their own hands.

At Gaviidae Common, 651Mayday co-owner Bugra Macit is quick to offer walk-ins a cup of Turkish coffee or a round of ping pong. (There’s also foosball in the back and a pool table coming soon.) His men’s and women's fashion boutique has been open since early October, but traffic is slow, so he’s cultivating a “social club vibe” to draw in curious pedestrians and build repeat business.

Down the hall, Uniquely Global has ambitious programming plans. Amporful is partnering with the Douglas Dayton YMCA to offer yoga and dance sessions in Gaviidae’s third-floor YMCA space “instead of pushing aside clothing racks here in the store,” she says. She’s partnering with the YMCA on a separate wellness class series — skin care and massage — and plans some in-store educational programming as well. Recently, she put on a fashion show in a vacant ground-level space.

She can’t imagine such opportunities arising in a random strip mall storefront. “People come down here because they want to be seen and participate,” she says. “I wouldn’t have the same depth in a different space.”

Logistics: longer skyway hours, better usability and access

Most skyways are privately owned and operated, so opening and closing times vary throughout the system. Some shutter as early as 6 p.m., putting businesses that want to stay open later at a disadvantage. 

Duininck wants to change that. He expects the Downtown Council’s upcoming 2035 plan will  set a “bold” near-term goal for “uniform skyway hours” stretching to 8 p.m. or later. That’ll take buy-in from dozens of downtown stakeholders, he admits — “but even if we don’t make our goal, we can say we tried.” 

Finding street-level skyway entry points can be tricky. Many are small, poorly marked doors. Once inside, wayfinding is spotty at best, with limited directional signage and few local business directories. Meet Minneapolis promotes SkywayAccess.com, which has an interactive map that works well on a mobile phone and boasts accurate open hours, but its business directory is eternally “coming soon.” SkywayMyWay.com’s partially completed directory is years out of date. So is the Downtown Council’s business directory, though it’s more comprehensive.

A partial solution may be in the works. 

The Downtown Council is in talks with a vendor to install digital kiosks with business information and directions around Nicollet Mall, says Duininck. If a deal materializes, the kiosks could appear sometime in 2024. 

The Council has also had conversations with building owners about improving internal navigation.That could benefit skyway businesses in an emptier system with higher retail vacancy rates, where folks have to walk farther than before to get what they need.

“When more people were downtown, they didn’t walk that far. Maybe two buildings and that’s it,” says Six Quebec’s Abdo. “We need to help them break out of those old patterns.”