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Martino Virgillo grew up emulating the work ethic of his Italian
immigrant family — which worked well when he collaborated with his
mother on family recipes and opened Sorrento Cucina Due.

These days, the long, hard hours are a necessity instead of a choice
to keep his business open. Since the pandemic and a sluggish return
to downtown offices, he has fewer employees. He also had to move to
the CenturyLink building, closing his Northstar Center location
because of building renovations there.

"I'm OK, just because I'm doing a lot of it myself," Virgillo said.
"I don't have four employees like I did."

In the past three years, drastic transformations to downtown
Minneapolis have forced local business owners such as Virgillo to
tweak their business models. Bustling lunch breaks and lively happy
hours at downtown restaurants are still a distant memory for many as
hybrid work and shorter days at the office take hold.

Mondays and Fridays present the greatest challenge, as that is when
the skyways are still nearly empty.

Taking it day by day

Because the number of customers downtown on any given day differs
greatly because of hybrid work, it's hard for businesses such as the
Local and Kieran's Irish Pub to staff accordingly, said Valid
Serhan, president of Cara Irish Pubs, which owns the two downtown
restaurants.

And when special occasions or events aren't happening on a given
night, it's more challenging to stay profitable.

"We do feel the pinch when there's no conventions or events," Serhan
said. "It's just hard to replace that number of people."

Once in a while, after a big game or convention, Serhan feels the
same energy as pre-pandemic Minneapolis.

"There was a big convention and I was talking to people in the pub
and they were like, 'We love this city.' " he said. "It was good to
know. It was like nothing happened, you know? You love to hear
that."

Especially for skyway businesses, with Monday and Friday business
noticeably thinner still, managers and owners say they have had to
get creative.

Sorrento Cucina has cut its menu in half. Gray Fox Coffee, with
three locations in downtown office buildings, has trimmed staffing
on Mondays and Fridays and reduced open hours.

For an industry with slim margins, a drop of even 10% can be fatal.

Still, Chris Bjorling, owner of Gray Fox, said that business is back
up to 80% of pre-pandemic levels. Owners of Sorrento Cucina and
Murray's steakhouse said their revenue is about 70% of what it was
during 2018 and 2019.

Bustling lunch breaks and lively happy hours at downtown restaurants
are still a distant memory for many as hybrid work and shorter days
at the office take hold.
Barren spaces

Weekend traffic is not making up for the loss of weekday revenue
either.

"There was a time when downtown was the place to go," said Tim
Murray, owner of Murray's, a staple restaurant that opened in
Minneapolis 77 years ago. "It was first in many people's minds when
looking for something to do, and that's changed a little bit the
last two years."

The next step, Murray said, is to make downtown a more appealing
place for locals to visit, while perceived safety concerns and
entertainment options in the suburbs make people more hesitant to
come downtown.

https://www.startribune.com/even-with-changes-downtown-minneapolis- skyway-businesses-continue-to-feel-the-pinch-pandemic-
covid/600295656/

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