Winter is Coming 2022

 

Winter is Coming 2022

Todd Swank's Diary Entry for November 13, 2022

Luke and I had Friday off of work for Veterans Day.  We decided to explore Burnsville a bit to see if we could find anything new and exciting to do.  We couldn't.

We had lunch near Burnsville Mall so thought we'd stop in for a visit.  We haven't been here much since the pandemic, but it's about as depressing as it's ever been.  Something like 70% of the store locations are now vacant and it feels more like a cemetery than a shopping center.

I think it's relatively common knowledge that brick and mortar retail has been struggling in the era of ecommerce, but it seems Burnsville Mall has been especially hard hit.  I've heard it called the emptiest mall in Minnesota.  It's so bizarre to me because growing up in Iowa, Burnsville Mall was a special travel destination when we were kids.  We even had field trips in school where we'd take a bus on the 2 hour drive to the Twin Cities and spend the day shopping at an actual mall!  However, it doesn't seem like many people are willing to even travel across the street to go there these days.  Pretty sad!

On Sunday, we were invited to our friends Steve "Cuds" Cuddihy and his wife Melissa's house to watch the Minnesota Vikings take on the Buffalo Bills.  Not sure if you heard or not, but the Vikings Won!!!  They're now 8 - 1 and on a great roll.  SKOL!