Axios Twin Cities

February 27, 2025
🌤️ Good morning!
- Another lovely late February day: High in the upper 40s, NWS says.
🎂 Happy birthday to our Axios Twin Cities member Kathryn Hahne!
Today's newsletter is 871 words, a 3-minute read.
1 big thing: Warby Parker's Target collab
Target's Bloomington store will be one of the first in the nation to feature an embedded Warby Parker eyewear shop, the retail giant shared exclusively with Axios today.
Why it matters: The Minneapolis-based company is doubling down on its store-within-a-store strategy that has helped attract consumers and grow sales.
- Target already has shop-in-shops with Apple, Disney, Levi's and Ulta Beauty in some of its stores.
State of play: The first batch of five Warby Parker shop-in-shops will open in the second half of 2025. Target expects to open more in 2026.
- The shops will sell "designer-quality eyewear as well as contacts and eye exams."
The intrigue: Target says the new partnership complements its Target Optical business, which is currently in more than 500 stores.
- The Warby Parker shops will open in stores without existing opticals.
- Prices will start at $95.
The big picture: Other brands have also embraced the concept. Kohl's stores have Sephora shops while Macy's has Toys R Us shops.
What they're saying: "We've long offered our guests well-designed products at a value, and our latest shop-in-shop partnership with Warby Parker continues that tradition," Christina Hennington, Target executive vice president and chief strategy and growth officer, said in a statement.
- Dave Gilboa, Warby Parker co-founder and co-CEO, said the eyewear company was "excited to explore an entirely new retail format that brings our holistic vision care offerings" to more people.
What we're watching: How much Warby Parker helps with a reported decline in store traffic following Target's reversal of some diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
- The company will release its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday, which should provide a better picture of how much blowback from the move hurt its top line.
2. Minneapolis seeks tourism tax district
Nearly three quarters of Minneapolis hotels want to start an improvement district that would tax room bookings to help pay for tourism efforts.
Why it matters: The city is finally starting to see a significant tourism rebound and officials hope that the funds — expected to eventually hit $6 million to $7 million annually — will help lure more visitors.
State of play: The idea would need both City Council approval and for 51% of hotels to opt in, per state legislation that passed in 2023.
- Already, 73% of hotels are on board, said Melvin Tennant, CEO of Meet Minneapolis, the city's convention and visitors' bureau.
How it works: Tennant said Meet Minneapolis envisions a 2% surcharge on bookings which would go toward new programs.
- That could mean a marketing push into a city like Chicago, where Meet Minneapolis doesn't have a presence, he said.
3. The Spoon: Walz won't run for Senate
🗳️ Gov. Tim Walz will not run for Minnesota's newly-open U.S. Senate seat in 2026. He's still weighing whether to run for a third term as governor. (Axios)
- He doesn't plan to endorse in what could be a competitive DFL primary for the seat.
🏋️ The Trump administration threatened to sue Minnesota and two other states for defying an executive order barring transgender women and girls from competing in women's and girl's sports. (WCCO)
🚔 St. Paul is joining San Francisco's lawsuit against the Trump administration over its crackdown on cities with "sanctuary" policies that forbid local police from aiding federal immigration enforcement. (KSTP)
👟 Minneapolis City Council members will decide today whether to override Mayor Jacob Frey's veto of a plan to explore turning George Floyd Square into a pedestrian mall. (Background via Axios)
4. 🧑🌾 License to till
Minneapolis may require gardeners to get a permit for their planter boxes in the boulevard strip between the sidewalk and street.
Why it matters: Raised-bed gardens are already everywhere in Minneapolis, even though city codes don't technically allow them.
- A new ordinance before the City Council today would change that.
Friction point: Some boulevard gardeners call the permit requirement — and the $50 fee that might come with it — an unnecessary barrier to a small-scale balm for environmental harms and high food prices.
What they're saying: Since last fall, city officials have argued the application process will help ensure boulevard gardens don't harm nearby trees, or block a fire hydrant or disability parking space.
State of play: City staff offered to waive the fee for the first two years, but Council Member Aurin Chowdhury said in a social media post that she plans to bring an amendment to drop permitting for some types of gardens.
5. 🌱 New Starbucks cups arrive
A new compostable cup in use at some Twin Cities Starbucks locations is fueling customer complaints online.
Driving the news: Starbucks told Axios it is transitioning to "commercially compostable" cups in a small number of stores across the country "due to local government requirements."
State of play: Axios has spotted the cups at several locations in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
- Both cities are among the localities that have enacted ordinances requiring reusable, recyclable or compostable to-go containers.
Friction point: Some customers complain the cups get soggy fast and are hard to sip from.
- "My compostable Starbucks coffee lid is composting as I drink it," one X user wrote.
What we're watching: Starbucks spokesperson Betsy McManus suggested more design changes could be coming, telling Axios that the chain is "committed to sharing a better cup with our customers soon."
🎿 Torey loved this story on her friend Reid's quest to go from cross-country skiing newbie to Birkie finisher in a matter of months!
🧱 Nick is scheming up plans to build a retaining wall once the ground thaws.
🎳 Kyle, thirteen years after this infamous quote, asks: "Who do you think you are? I am."
This newsletter was edited by Everett Cook and Geoff Zieulewicz
Sign up for Axios Twin Cities









