35th and Nicollet was dormant. That changed when these women entrepreneurs took over.

Nicollet Avenue in south Minneapolis has traditionally been populated with small shops owned by neighborhood residents.

Destruction and looting following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020, however, left parts of the community in ruin. Many businesses around Nicollet struggled to reopen. Others closed for good.

One node in particular, though, has maintained steady commerce and traffic through the past decade thanks to the vision and determination of four entrepreneurs.

The intersection of 35th and Nicollet is anchored by the pub Pat's Tap; Marigold, a small retailer; Honeycomb Salon; B-Squad, a vintage clothing shop; and Hola Arepa, which serves Latin street food. Since they first opened in 2006, their sustained success marks a resurgence in neighborhood vitality in south Minneapolis.

"It's become a very cool business corridor between us and 38th [Street], all the way to 46th," said Hola Arepa owner Christina Nguyen.

Before the four businesses moved in, the intersection "was kind of a dead corner," said Sarah Linnes-Robinson, director of projects for the Lyndale Neighborhood Association.

"Now it's on its way back," she said.

Following a slowdown during the pandemic and in the aftermath of Floyd's murder, foot traffic at the intersection has improved. A steady stream of patrons now pours from the new 204-unit apartment building down the block at 3536 Nicollet.

Home to mostly young professionals, the building is 90% leased, said owner Jeff Hall of Hall Sweeney Properties. Hall and business partner Sean Sweeney were not only attracted to the area for its proximity to downtown, the interstate and the lakes, but also the existing restaurants and small businesses on Nicollet.

"There was a belief in the city that small nodes weren't viable and everyone should go downtown," Linnes-Robinson said.

As major reconstruction of Nicollet draws near, more opportunities will come to the corridor, Hall said. The four women who run the corner of 35th and Nicollet have set an example other pockets of south Minneapolis can follow.

"It's important for people to be able to shop local," said Erin Flavin, who owns Honeycomb Salon and Marigold. "And I think it's good for my kids to watch their mom do this."

"It's not even surprising to me that it's all women business owners on that corner," added Kim Bartmann, owner of Pat's Tap. "The Twin Cities is really a supportive environment for women business owners."

A go-to for vintage

Betsy O'Connor could see the potential. She lives a block from her vintage clothing store, B-Squad, at 3500 Nicollet Av.

"I can literally see the store sign from my roof," she said. "It's pretty convenient."

O'Connor previously operated B-Squad a few blocks south, but when the building on 35th hit the market in 2006, "I jumped on it," she said.

In the first decade or so, B-Squad experienced some lulls.

"I was struggling a little bit," O'Connor said.

During the riots, B-Squad was broken into and looted, adding more problems, O'Connor said.

Despite the challenges, she said she never thought of moving.

"It's my store and I love it," she said. "I'm not going to let anybody scare me away. It could happen anywhere."

A younger wave of clientele has since breathed new life into the business.

"Vintage clothing is huge right now," she said. "High-schoolers are coming in, and I don't recall it being like that as much before."

Hairstylist turns sober lifestyle into business concept

O'Connor's enthusiasm for the neighborhood extended to Flavin. When Flavin contemplated opening her own hair salon, O'Connor gave her a nudge as to where it should go — right next to B-Squad.

When the discount clothing store next to B-Squad closed and became available for rent, O'Connor immediately told her friend and stylist. Given the lack of hair salons in the corridor, it was a window of opportunity for Flavin.

The landlord was on vacation in the Bahamas. Flavin spent nearly $75 on the international phone call to go over the terms.

With help from friends and furniture from thrift stores and online marketplaces, Flavin opened Honeycomb Salon in 2010.

Several years later, the storefront next to Honeycomb became available. It was previously home to the venue Art of This and Yeti Records. For a while, it sat empty.

In 2020, Flavin's landlord offered to sell her the entire building, including her salon. Flavin, however, wasn't in the best position to make the purchase.

"I had maybe $8,000 total on my whole person with two kids at home and then [during COVID] no stylists working," Flavin said.

It took a year for Flavin to pull together the finances. She used a small business administration loan and a grant from the city of Minneapolis to purchase the building in the spring of 2021. After another year and a half of remodeling, in November 2022, she opened Marigold, a market that offers nonalcoholic drinks and healthy snacks.

"I quit drinking to figure out how I was going to buy a million-dollar building," Flavin said. "The concept of the store came to me when I quit drinking. I just became really interested in a market where there's so many cool things out there to substitute for alcohol."

A retro spot for the locals

Restaurateur Bartmann, who has a flair for opening high-performing establishments in underserved neighborhoods, also saw a need in the community.

Casey's Bar & Grill had operated at 3510 Nicollet for years. Bartmann herself would frequent the pub with friends after their broomball league games.

"One of the players called me the next winter and said the bar was for sale, or they heard it might be," Bartmann said. "So I ended up buying it."

Bartmann purchased the pub in 2010. In 2011, she reopened it as Pat's Tap, named after her mother.

The newly remodeled pub included Skee-Ball and paid homage to a bar in her hometown of Appleton, Wis., also named Pat's Tap.

The bar initially only held a license to serve beer and wine. Bartmann wanted to add liquor but needed regulatory approval, a process that ended up being fraught.

"When I applied for a liquor license ... people were literally yelling at the City Council about all the police calls to that bar and how there was no way they were going to approve a liquor license for me," she said. "There were lots of other neighbors that knew I wouldn't operate a bar like that. So I ended up getting that license and the lady who was the most vehemently opposed, who lives across the street, ended up being really happy with us."

A 'good little neighborhood' for an award-winning chef

Also drawn to the neighborhood were Nguyen and Birk Grudem, who would often admire the El Paraiso Mexican restaurant location on the corner of 35th and Nicollet when they drove through the intersection on their way to operating their food truck, Hola Arepa, at the Midtown Global Market.

The couple lived a few blocks away and pictured 35th and Nicollet as "a good little neighborhood," Nguyen said.

"We'd always drive by and be like, 'Man, that spot would be amazing to have a restaurant in,'" she said.

Plus, Flavin used to do her hair.

Nguyen and Grudem got acquainted with the owners of El Paraiso and soon discovered they were looking to leave the restaurant business.

"We figured out a way to buy them out and get into that space and take over the lease," Nguyen said.

In 2014, Hola Arepa officially went brick-and-mortar.

Like other business owners on the block during the riots, Nguyen watched as chaos unfolded on television.

"The Third Street Precinct burned down. That was a scary time," she said. "When I saw that on CNN from my home, I was like 'OK, we gotta get down to the restaurant and just hold down the property and make sure nobody's going to set our building on fire.'"

The following day, "everybody was out there," Nguyen said. "Neighbors and just the whole community got together in an effort to clean things up and just check in on each other. Everybody was out there in solidarity to clean up the street, and I feel like that made me just very proud of our neighborhood and where we are."

Moving the restaurant, regarded as a must-try in Minneapolis, was never an option, she said.

"I love our neighborhood," Nguyen said. "It's definitely one of those neighborhoods that you're a part of."