The Number: 56.3 percent
That's the percentage of Duluth homes sold to millennials last year, according to the National Association of Realtors, giving us the fifth-highest rate of young homebuyers in the country. Nationally, about a third of homebuyers were between the age of 22 and 36 last year. This is surprising, since our demographic trends tend to skew so much older than the rest of the country and state. It's also kind of expected, since we millennials are getting old enough to realize we can't live in our parents' basements forever (oh but that we could).
The Word
"With the talk of tariffs, and supplies we purchase, there's lot of talk about price increases and surcharges, though I imagine some of that is going to be backed off," said Bruce Mars of Mars Supply during last week's State of Manufacturing meeting in Duluth. Here's a perfectly stated example of global trade policy having a local effect, and how short-term consequences do battle with long-term consequences. "At first I was a proponent of the tariffs ... but I think even mining companies were perplexed on how much the tariffs might help them, because of how much their costs were going to go up."
The Lead
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Flagship Duluth has opened up shop in Canal Park at 345 S. Lake Ave. Flagship promises a "story with every T-shirt," which are dutifully printed by sister company Duluth Screen Printing Co., which moved its offices to the space as well. They've done some major remodeling, and if you missed my story earlier this year then go catch up on all the cool plans that have come to fruition.
The Happy Hour
Ursa Minor Brewing on West Superior Street has its signs and bear-hop logos on its newly blue-painted building, and every day I'm biking to and from work on the Cross City Trail, there's more being done. Still no firm opening date as far as I can learn, so stay tuned for the planned summer opening for Lincoln Park's third brewery.
The Meeting: Be well at work
I used to sit on one of those exercise balls at work, and maybe I should again? Or maybe I should ask Randy Barker from UWS, who is giving a talk on Well-Being in the Workplace at noon Thursday at the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce offices on Lake Avenue and West First Street. Free for chamber members, $25 for others, check their website www.duluthchamber.com to register.
The Memo is a weekly roundup of things to know, ya know? Send business news of all kinds to biz@duluthnews.com and give cross-city reporter Brooks Johnson a call every now and then at 218-723-5329.
