Stores were closed at Karmel Mall in Minneapolis on Friday, Jan. 23, during a statewide protest against the deportation operation in Minnesota. A second such action is not getting as much traction. (Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
A second consecutive Friday “economic blackout” to protest federal immigration enforcement is not picking up as much traction in Minnesota this time around.
Most businesses are staying open, even among the hundreds that closed last week, with some saying financial pressure is keeping them from closing again.
The Jan. 30 “general strike” was quickly organized by Somali and Black-led student groups at the University of Minnesota after
Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents Jan. 24. The “
national shutdown” movement is calling for “No work. No school. No shopping.”
While the planned shutdown has garnered the attention of celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres, Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish, who have all posted information about the strike on social media, the response locally has been mixed.
National organizations like 50501, the group that organized No Kings marches in 2025, have endorsed the Jan. 30 strike, but other local organizations are not participating.
The Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation and other labor unions and federations did not endorse the call for a general strike Jan. 30, as they did with the Jan. 23 strike and protest. MIRAC, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, is not endorsing or participating in Friday’s action, with the group explaining in a statement it would follow labor unions’ lead.
A handful of small businesses have announced closures Friday. They include:
- Angry Catfish Bicycle Shop and Northern Coffeeworks — Pretti was a regular at Angry Catfish, and the shop is organizing a memorial bike ride Saturday.
- Behind Bars Bicycle Shop in northeast Minneapolis
- Studiiyo 23 in Minneapolis and Edina
- Falls Coffee in south Minneapolis
- Rustica Eatery and Tavern in Moorhead
Some other businesses, including Pilllar Forum in northeast Minneapolis, will give away some beverages and will not accept credit cards.
Last Friday saw hundreds of businesses close to protest the nearly two-month-old deportation operation in Minnesota, and thousands marched in downtown Minneapolis in subzero temperatures.
But many small businesses and restaurants that closed Jan. 23 will be open this Friday, with several citing financial pressures that keep them from closing two Fridays in a row. Others say they want to continue providing community space and resources.
“We will remain open to provide food access and opportunities for those shopping local and supporting the many small-scale, immigrant-owned, and local businesses whose products we carry on our shelves,” read a statement from the Seward Co-Op grocery store.
Closing for a second Friday was financially unfeasible for Bessie Snow, owner of
Volstead’s Emporium, a speakeasy-style bar in the Lyn-Lake neighborhood of south Minneapolis. A typical Friday and Saturday brings in somewhere between $16,000 and $20,000 in revenue, she said, but last week — when the bar closed Friday for the strike and saw depressed traffic Saturday after the shooting — Volstead’s only made $4,500.
She hoped activists would give some grace to businesses staying open this Friday.
“I want to be able to help the community,” Snow said, “but we can’t if we’re not here.”
