Maple Grove Council Should Expect More Empty Space: Analysis

MAPLE GROVE, MN — You've probably heard by now that the Maple Grove City Council voted against adding a Portillo's hot dog location, a popular Chicago-based restaurant chain, earlier this month. Local lawmakers rejected the plans primarily because they believed the restaurant would not bring enough foot traffic to the The Shoppes at Arbor Lakes, which has been losing tenants.

What do you think: Should restaurants replace empty retail lots? Let us know in the comments.

Maple Grove Petition: Let Portillo's Bring Us Hot Dogs

The move stirred outrage from Maple Grove residents and criticism from across the metro, including Star Tribune business columnist Lee Schafer. If city councils in Maple Grove and other cities aren't ready to see retail spaces get turned into something else like a Portillo's hot dog restaurant, then they should expect to see a lot more empty space, Shafer said:

It’s clear the council was mostly interested in second-guessing the business strategy of using restaurants as a way to attract more consumers. Two council members expressed skepticism at a recent meeting that anyone would eat at Portillo’s and then walk all the way over to the stores — never mind that a best guess from the aerial map shows that a storefront couldn’t be more than 100 steps away.

The good news for the nay voters on the council is that they seem likely to get a lot less of what they don’t seem to want. As more stores in that part of Maple Grove inevitably close, fewer and fewer shoppers will be driving over there.

Read much more at the Star Tribune.

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