Businesses left struggling 5 years after George Floyd's murder
The Brief
Businesses near 38th and Chicago, where George Floyd was killed in 2020, are struggling five years later.
The intersection was closed to traffic for over a year and many businesses have closed.
Locals have lost money and some businesses have since sued the city of Minneapolis.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - You can't tell the story of what Chicago Avenue is today without telling the story of an ongoing and frustrating five-year conversation.
The debate over George Floyd Square has lasted years.
What will George Floyd Square look like eventually? We don't know.
The city council and Minneapolis mayor haven't agreed on how to transform the space and business owners say it is costing them their jobs.
"Business is very slow in this area," owner of Just Turkey restaurant, Sam Willis, said. "I have four children. I want to be able to put them through college and things of that nature, but at this point, I'm not able to."
Big picture view
Before the murder of George Floyd, business was booming near 38th and Chicago in Minneapolis.
That changed after May 25, 2020.
Immediately after Floyd's death, the area became a memorial site. While parts of the city experienced protests, riots, and looting, the business owners near 38th and Chicago tried to protect their buildings.
"We were standing, we were using our bodies to stand there, we were using garbage cans, and we started using vehicles," AGAPE member Reginald Ferguson said.
In a sense, Ferguson and others in the area are still protecting their space.
"This is our last year. This is the last year. We're gonna be heard," Dwight Alexander, the owner of Smoke in the Pit said. Alexander's family started the business in 2013. He took over in 2021.
"Like they say, we lose one sense, you gain another sense. By of the poor traffic being here, I'm tapping into other little things."
Ace Rice, owner of PLOT Gallery is new to the space and is optimistic, hoping for a turnaround.
"There is at least 12 black-owned businesses and at least if you include culinary arts, at least eight arts organizations all on one block," Rice said. "I think that's something really special."
All the businesses decided to open their doors because of the constant flow of traffic which has barely seen movement. They've voiced their concerns about visitors stopping by George Floyd Square to visit, but never spending time shopping locally.
"Upuntil 2020, I would say we just saw things really start to pop. Every single storefront here was full. There was a lot of activity. There was lot of stuff going on. It is different now," owner of Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center, Victoria Lauing said.
The backstory
"How many people have you seen leave?" FOX 9 reporter Symone Woolridge asked.
"Oh, several. So many," Willis said. "Even the guy that, you know, helped George Floyd, helped the guy get convicted for the murder. He had a Black Chinese spot right here. He had to move out because he couldn't afford it, you know. He wasn't generating any income."
From shoe stores to clothing stores, many stores that were open near 38th and Chicago are no longer there.
One business was only able to place signage but never opened and decided to open elsewhere.
The argument about George Floyd Square has impacted businesses tremendously.
It has been a frustrating conversation for them.
"They don't spend no money on this block, but they'll be standing up there doing an interview in front of a camera and then they get in their car and they leave," Ferguson said. "And that's what happens when everybody listens to them and they get their voice heard, and now we say, now this is what we're doing. We're going to do it because of what? We got city councilmen that don't even be in this part. And they're over here telling us what we should do with our community, that we have to deal with every day ourselves."
Majority of the council wants a pedestrian mall which would also include a place to honor Floyd.
"It's bigger than a memorial," AGAPE member Bridgette Stewart said.
Stewart and the other business owners agree with having a place to honor and remember Floyd, but they don't want to have to pack up and find a new home.
"By opening up the street, other businesses were able to come in and become somewhat successful. But we want to see them flourish like they were before 2020," Stewart said.
"We love this community, we're here for a reason. We don't intend to go anywhere. It has been a struggle, but we are committed and we're, we are here for the long haul," Lauing said.
"What I really enjoy is the resilience of this group, and that perhaps this is the first time in Minnesota we refuse to perform what justice looks like, and we really sort of dig in and make sure that we actually get there," owner of Bichota Coffee Terrance Anderson said.
"It's beyond just trying to sustain. We need to be able to regenerate," owner of City Food Studio Lachelle Cunningham said. "We need be able heal. We need able to invest back in so that we can create something greater."
Local perspective
"When the ambulance couldn't come through here, they was telling us to bring the bodies down there to them because they wouldn't come here without a police presence," Edwin Reed said as he spoke with two patrol officers.
Reed owns Sincere Detailing Pros. He's one of many that have sued the city, claiming it failed to protect his business.
He remembers the horrifying days in 2020 and 2021.
The street near 38th and Chicago was closed for over a year, leading to high crime. It was known as a "no-go zone" and police rarely went inside, with the zone blocked by barricades.
"Where were you guys for four years straight?" Reed asked patrol officers Drea Mays and Xander Krohnfeldt.
The two have been patrolling the area for over a year now, hoping to build trust in the community.
"I can appreciate when things are going crazy. And there's not cops to respond. And there were plenty of times where I was on the ambulance and I'd ask for cops, and they'd say, nope, there's no cops, even when the ambulance was asking."
Krohnfeldt was a paramedic at the time.
READ MORE: At George Floyd Square, these officers hope to build trust in MPD
"Now we see firsthand what it's like to not have the police in your community. Because we was in our community, policing our community but we wasn't arresting anybody," Ferguson said.
After the experiences that have shifted their livelihood, the businesses are hoping they can go back to what they remember before everything changed in 2020.
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