#northeast minneapolis

[twincitiesgeek]

OtaKuPop Is Northeast Minneapolis’s K-Pop Hub

OtaKuPop is a Twin Cities Korean music oasis whose owner is very much part of the fandom.

I remember when I first discovered OtaKuPop in Minneapolis. I’d been complaining to a friend about not having an affordable place to buy K-pop albums in person—when I could manage to find them in a store, they were expensive, or the selection was limited. And while my favorite group, SHINee, is certainly popular, the band is not “buy at Target or Walmart” popular. Frustrated, I pulled out my…

[chaddavisphotography]

An Oromo protest in Northeast Minneapolis over the unrest in Ethiopia.

[crochetbat]

Seen at Pilllar Forum on Central Ave. in Northeast Minneapolis

[badassjfro]

[skin-quilt]

JIMMYS IN NE MINNEAPOLIS HAS TWO BATHROOMS AND I SLAPPED EM BOTH

[ghostlassovlon]

[cardofrage]

Gorkha Palace in Northeast Minneapolis

[mayakern]

upcoming store stuff & why we're doing a super sale

omg hiiii it's devin again, and this time i'm bringing store news

the short version: we're moving ourselves back to minnesota, and we're moving order fulfillment to a fulfillment center

wow, that's big news! maya and i are so so so excited to be closer to our minnesota friends (and also my family lol). i'm hoping to be back in northeast minneapolis, but let's be real we're probably gonna get priced out and into the suburbs

in addition to that, due to a variety of reasons i'll explain in more detail below, we're transitioning from in-house fulfillment to working with a fulfillment center (or 3pl, short for third-party logistics). we're at an awkward size that makes staffing difficult and have had issues with extended processing time. the 3pl should be set up by september, and we're working on the back end to have fulfillment centers in australia, canada, the UK, and eventually the EU. if tax authorities work with us we should have all that ready by december 2024!

to prepare for that we're doing a super sale. ash told me not to call it liquidation but she said that like 30 seconds after i hit send on the marketing email, sorry about that. items that we don't want to pay to move to the 3pl are discounted by 25-70%, with some of them priced at cost. under no circumstances will anything ever be 70% off again

if you're nosy you can read the q&a i made up in my head while eating pigs in a blanket:

how are the labor protections at the 3pl?

pretty good! we were shocked to find anything even halfway decent in the US; we went looking for a fulfillment center in the EU to handle all international fulfillment, and the one we found just so happened to have bought a US location two years ago.

they're located in ohio, pay $19/hr, and provide health insurance and 401k matching. that seemed too good to be true so we dug through employee reviews on places like glassdoor, and while there were some bad reviews those were all dated prior to when the facility was purchased by this new company. they also have a very low turnover rate which is a HUGE green flag

why are you transferring to a 3pl?

the serious

sometimes we have a high volume of sales, and it makes sense to have two full-time employees plus a part timer! but usually we have a low-to-medium volume of sales. we can float by on that, but it gets risky, and the economy is in a bad enough state that we're concerned about the longevity

related, the 2023 holiday sale showed us some major flaws in our fulfillment process. if the same issues were to happen this year the business probably wouldn't survive

we're moving cross-country in early 2025 and would've had to close this location anyway

the dumb:

i'm sick of dealing with commercial landlords and if i have one more wall leak i'm going to throw it into the river brick by brick

what about your staff?

unfortunately we will have to say goodbye to our office staff. they have been given 3.5 months notice and no-questions-asked PTO for interviews with a small severance

why are you moving back to minnesota?

troy was always meant to be a temporary move. initially the plan was to move to vermont or massachusetts, but after being out here for 7 years we just kinda want to go home. the weather in troy is perfect for us, we love the mountains, and we have some great friends here, but for some goddamn reason we want our eyelashes to freeze together.

will you be returning to midwest cons?

if we return to cons at all it will be with ariel and/or ash running the booth, maya will not be involved. this would likely be in california and/or in the northeast US.

my friends are begging me to go to CONvergence as an attendee so ig you might see me there? maya has pledged death before crowded venues tho

will you do any local events in minnesota?

we might do sample sales. honestly idk what we're gonna do with the samples we have in troy, most of them are terrible. do you want samples of the strangest low rise bell bottom pants ever created? please take them from me. my bush hangs out

also my kid brother has gotten really into library events and if he asks nice enough we might do some of those

is there anything else?

i mean probably, but i started this last week and i haven't had any other ideas on what to include

[stuffaboutminneapolis]

Northeast Park Softball, Minneapolis (1970) via Minnesota Digital Library

[sisyphusshrugged]

so where should i live next? i've been thinking Minneapolis lately. though i've still never been to the PNW and that's top of my To Visit list. but this last trip has put Utah/Colorado/the southwest more on my radar. then there's just somewhere else in the south. idk about that, i'd wanna be on the coast or in the mountains if so. and there's always back northeast but i want to try new places so that's unlikely anytime soon.

[chaddavisphotography]

The Pillsbury A-Mill is a former flour mill located on the east bank of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It held the distinction of being the world's largest flour mill for 40 years. Completed in 1881, it was owned by the Pillsbury Company and operated two of the most powerful direct-drive waterwheels ever built, each capable of generating 1,200 horsepower (895 kW). The mill was named a National Historic Landmark in 1966 and has since been converted into resident artist lofts. Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillsbury_A-Mill" rel="noreferrer nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillsbury_A-Mill</a> A-Mil Flour "Flour Mill" "General Mills" "Historical Building" LensTagger Mill Milling Minneapolis Minnesota "Minolta 135mm" "Neon Sign" "Northeast Minneapolis" "PIllsbury A Mill" Redevelopment "Rooftop Sign" Sign Tower "Water Tower" "National Historic Register

[crochetbat]

Graffiti at my favorite coffee shop in Minneapolis

[brianbritigan]

Took part in a small risograph workshop at Back of Beyond Press in Northeast Minneapolis this past weekend — big thanks to Sarah for patiently walking us through the process and producing some beautiful prints!

My test file was a little two-color group portrait I’ve been working on as a gift for my weekly D&D crew 💚❤️ More on that soon!

[richincolor]

New Releases

A fun fantasy, a swoony romance, and a touching contemporary headline this week's new releases. 

Click below to read about this week's releases.

Of Jade and Dragons (Fall of the Dragon #1) by Amber Chen Viking Books for Young Readers

Eighteen-year-old Aihui Ying dreams of becoming a brilliant engineer just like her beloved father – but her life is torn apart when she arrives a moment too late to stop his murder, and worse, lets the killer slip out of reach. Left with only a journal containing his greatest engineering secrets and a jade pendant snatched from the assassin, Ying vows to take revenge into her own hands.

Disguised as her brother, Ying heads to the capital city, and discovers that the answer to finding who killed her father lies behind the walls of the prestigious Engineers Guild – the home of a past her father never wanted to talk about. With the help of an unlikely ally – Aogiya Ye-yang, a taciturn (but very handsome) young prince – Ying must navigate a world fraught with rules, challenges and politics she can barely grasp, let alone understand.

But to survive, she must fight to stay one step ahead of everyone. And when faced with the choice between doing what’s right and what’s necessary, Ying will have to decide if her revenge is truly worthwhile, if it means going against everything her father stood for . . .

With Love, Miss Americanah by Jane Igharo Feiwel & Friends

17-year-old Enore Adesuwa doesn’t dive into things, she wades in very carefully. So when she and her mother and sister move from Nigeria to America shortly after her father’s death, she wants to be as prepared as possible for attending an American high school. Her cousin, Adrian, doesn’t have time to explain the ins and outs to her but, luckily, he recommends the perfect research teen movies.

Still dealing with grief but armed with a list of rules of survival (including no drawing attention to herself) gathered from these beloved movies, Enore is ready as she’ll ever be for senior year. But when she meets Davi Santiago, it may be much harder than she thought to keep to her rules. Because not only is he super thoughtful (and okay, very good looking), he encourages Enore to share her incredible singing voice. She prefers the background but it just might be time for her to take center stage, even in spite of her mother’s own strict rules and desires for her.

With help from Davi, some new friends who don’t quite fit the roles she expects them to play, and her younger sister, can Enore get through senior year with a new passion, new boldness, and new love?

Where Wolves Don’t Die by Anton Treuer Arthur A. Levine

Ezra Cloud hates living in Northeast Minneapolis. His father is a professor of their language, Ojibwe, at a local college, so they have to be there. But Ezra hates the dirty, polluted snow around them. He hates being away from the rez at Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation. And he hates the local bully in his neighborhood, Matt Schroeder, who terrorizes Ezra and his friend Nora George.

Ezra gets into a terrible fight with Matt at school defending Nora, and that same night, Matt’s house burns down. Instantly, Ezra becomes a prime suspect. Knowing he won’t get a fair deal, and knowing his innocence, Ezra’s family sends him away to run traplines with his grandfather in a remote part of Canada, while the investigation is ongoing. But the Schroeders are looking for him. . .

From acclaimed author Anton Treuer comes a novel that’s both taut thriller and a raw, tender coming-of-age story, about one Ojibwe boy learning to love himself through the love of his family around him.

[bigballerpeachcobbler]

Basically no one who id ever think is even somewhat interesting or admirable ever sets foot at my job, and idk like its unfortunate to have days when those people r my only social interaction. But believe it or not ive worked places with an even worse clientele.. (northeast minneapolis) at least back then my coworkers were my friends

[trivialbob]

Last night the four of us went out to play pickleball. The Lucky Shots club in Northeast Minneapolis is pretty cool. It's in an old, brick warehouse that's been repurposed with pickleball courts. Whenever I'm in old buildings like this I think of the people who built them. They are all gone but their work is still standing more than 100 years later.

Sheila plays pickleball often because she teaches lessons. Matt and I have played a few times. Michelle had never tried it. We had a nice time.

Would we have to rent or borrow paddles, I wondered. Then Sheila opened her bag. It was a clown car of pickleball paddles as she kept handing them out. I think she gave some away to the people in the next court before she realized she could stop. She gets some for free or heavily discounted from a store that also gives her plenty of business cards to hand out. She lets her students try different ones. But still, she had a lot of paddles.

Then I noticed her footwear. Oh, those are some nice, new court shoes. Look how bright they are! When we started playing she was wearing different shoes. So apparently there are special shoes just to wear to the pickleball courts, then you change over to (what I assume are very expensive) actual court shoes. Who knew!?

Today we're celebrating Christmas at our house. Over the years, with several in the family who have been in law enforcement and EMS, we often celebrate on a different day, when most of the people can make it. Making lemonade out of lemons, I see it as I get to open presents more than a week early.

Jack and Ali will be here with their dogs. My dad is coming too. Sheila's making a Thanksgiving style dinner. She and Michelle are baking cookies right now. (We strictly enforce gender roles here.) I can't wait to eat. Excuse me now, I need to go move some clothes from the washer to the dryer.