Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota's famous Twin Cities, have a lot of love for their local culture, from beer to bands to food trucks. Put together, there's little you can't find.
The Twin City small-business scene is thriving, with everything from an "Alice in Wonderland"-themed Korean restaurant to a custom hair-dye bar to a regional sake brewery.
We found 27 cool small businesses that show the best and brightest of the Twin Cities' innovation and creativity.
Askov Finlayson/The Bachelor Farmer/Marvel Bar
200 N. 1st Street, Minneapolis
What it is: A trendy clothing store/restaurant/bar owned by the sons of Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton.
Why it's cool: The Bachelor Farmer, Marvel Bar, and Askov Finlayson are all located in the same historic warehouse that brothers Eric and Andrew Dayton bought and restored.
Popular with hip diners, the Bachelor Farmer honors Minnesota's Nordic heritage and grows its produce on the roof. While they do great wine pairings, for cocktails you'll want to pop over to Marvel Bar, where whimsical mixed drinks dominate.
Waiting to be seated at either? Browse the racks at Askov Finlayson, a chic clothing and home-decor store that showcases brands one can't typically find in Minneapolis.
The Beez Kneez
2204 Minnehaha Ave. S., Minneapolis
What it is: Raw and local honey, delivered by bike.
Why it's cool: The Beez Kneez is an urban apiary, community beekeeping program, and educational honey house in the middle of Minneapolis. Run by two friends with a passion for cycling and sustainable beekeeping, they make it their responsibility to teach the community about the importance of bees to our food system and how to keep a hive.
They also fill orders of honey from their own hives and deliver it, by bicycle, wearing antennaed helmets.
Benjos Shoelaces
What it is: A stylish specialized shoelace company.
Why it's cool: Ben Hertz makes shoelaces that allow the wearer to express his or her individuality. It started years ago when he replaced some broken laces in Rome with a red pair, and the compliments started pouring in. But because Hertz couldn't find anything similar in the U.S., he decided to make his own so that he and others could add a cool, new punctuation of style detail with this distinct wardrobe addition.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
