Twin Cities Businesses Close Friday In ICE Protest, Economic Blackout

MINNEAPOLIS–ST. PAUL, MN — "No work. No school. No shopping." That call is being echoed across the Twin Cities as a growing number of restaurants, coffee shops, co-ops and small businesses announce they will close Friday, Jan. 23, in what participants describe as a general strike or economic blackout opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in Minnesota.

Local businesses say the closures are both an act of protest and an effort to give workers space to rest, organize, or grieve amid weeks of fear and disruption tied to federal immigration enforcement.

Hai Hai in Minneapolis said they are closing “in support of the general strike to remove ICE from our cities and get justice for Renee Good,” adding that “as long as ICE is occupying our city, it’s not business as usual.”

Backstory Coffee Roasters in St. Paul said it is closing because “things are really, really difficult right now,” citing the personal toll ICE activity has taken on its team and calling the closure part of a broader economic blackout.

Dogwood Coffee Company in the Twin Cities announced all locations would be closed "in solidarity with our community."

A Bar of Their Own said it was participating in the ICE Out of Minnesota protest, urging people to join "in organizing, protesting, or resting — because everyone is needed in this fight."

The following Twin Cities businesses and organizations have announced Friday closures, including but not limited to:

Restaurants, cafes and bars

• Tangletown Gardens and Wise Acre Eatery, Minneapolis
• Hai Hai, Minneapolis
• George and the Dragon, Minneapolis
• Dogwood Coffee, Minneapolis and St. Paul locations
• Backstory Coffee Roasters, St. Paul
• A Bar of Their Own, Minneapolis

Retail and small businesses

• Magers & Quinn Booksellers, Minneapolis
• Comma Bookshop, Minneapolis
• Wet Paint, St. Paul
• The Yarnery, St. Paul
• Dandelion Fiber Company, Minneapolis

Food co-ops

• The Wedge Community Co-op, Minneapolis
• Seward Community Co-op, Minneapolis
• Eastside Food Co-op, Minneapolis
• Mississippi Market, St. Paul (all locations)
• River Market Community Co-op, Minneapolis

Other community spaces

Pilllar FORUM Café & Bar (open as a non-commercial community space)
Bumbling Fools Mead, St. Paul

Patch will continue tracking business closures, school responses, and broader community impacts connected to federal immigration activity across the Twin Cities metro.

If your business or organization plans to close or alter operations Friday and would like to be included, email william.bornhoft@patch.com.

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