During the peak of last year’s immigration crackdown, Colonial Market owner Daniel Hernandez was a fixture: appearing beside the mayor after a high-profile federal sting on Lake Street; batting down ICE rumors on social media; and delivering free meals when customers were afraid to leave their homes.
But Hernandez couldn’t outlast the sharp drop in business that came with Operation Metro Surge. Earlier this month he closed his market at the Hi-Lake Shopping Center in south Minneapolis, two years after it opened.
The market at 2100 E. Lake St., closed its doors on June 14. Its restaurant shut down in March. The store was unable to recover from the loss of business after this winter’s immigration crackdown, said Hernandez, the CEO and founder of the Colonial Market chain.
Rent was due on the Lake Street location and the chain was almost a half-million dollars in debt, forcing a decision, Hernandez said. Colonial Market’s other two locations, in Bloomington and north Minneapolis, remain open.
The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown this past winter has had a lasting impact, he notes.
“In my south location, the one that closed, immigration was taking people literally out of my parking lot. They have probably taken over 20 people,” Hernandez said. “That’s why people are so scared to come to the south Minneapolis location. It may sound crazy, but [it is] because of trauma. They think that if they go to south Minneapolis, the immigration is going to be there.”
He opened the Lake Street location in November 2024 with high hopes. The store featured a variety of Latin American foods and other staples and the restaurant drew customers for its fresh tamales and salsas.
Helping hand during the Surge
The Lake Street store’s primary customer base was the thriving Latino community in south Minneapolis. As thousands of federal agents flooded the community, fewer and fewer of his customers felt comfortable leaving their homes — even to buy groceries, Hernandez said.
In early December, Colonial Market was one of the first local stores to begin offering free food deliveries to vulnerable families.
The impact of Metro Surge on his workers was also severe. Hernandez was forced to let go half of his employees at Colonial’s Lake Street location as business dried up. Workers who did show up faced potential arrest by ICE agents.
“Many of my employees offered to work for free, but I said no, because at the end of the day, I could get in trouble,” Hernandez said. “It’s so touching to see the employees. They’ve been with me for so long.”
He was able to transfer two of his 23 Lake Street employees to his other locations.
A community’s impact
Operation Metro Surge cost Minneapolis workers $152 million in wages, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has said.
Labor economist Aaron Sojourner, who collaborates with Minnesota’s North Star Policy Action institute, said 2 to3% of all small businesses in the Twin Cities metro area closed at least temporarily during the immigration crackdown.
The crackdown cost the 1,000 businesses located along the Lake Street corridor a cumulative $46 million in December and January, said ZoeAna Martinez, senior community engagement manager for the Lake Street Council.
However, she also noted that the majority of these immigrant-owned businesses were able to reopen once ICE agents began leaving Minneapolis in late February.
The Lake Street Council has been providing grants, offering legal assistance, helping fund repairs and hosting cash mobs to boost sales along the corridor. Thanks to these efforts, fewer than five of their businesses have permanently closed, including the Colonial Market and Restaurant.
“We’re hopeful,” Martinez said. “But it really depends on all of us putting our dollars into these small family-owned immigrant businesses to see them into the future.”
The city of Minneapolis “has an ongoing obligation to these business owners, this corridor, and small businesses still impacted,” said Council Member Jason Chavez, who represents the ward where Colonial Market was located. He said he has championed efforts to support small businesses impacted by Metro Surge, including a small business recovery package.
A path forward
Hernandez is now focused on keeping his other locations — 3120 N. Penn Ave., in Minneapolis and 8100 31st Ave. S. in Bloomington — open.
He remains hopeful, although none of his economic problems have gone away. Hernandez started a GoFundMe to raise money for his business.
“I have two options: either to cry about it or to do something, so I choose to do something,” Hernandez said. “I don’t think it’s been working like I wish, but we’re growing little by little.”
To support other Latinos whose businesses went under due to Metro Surge in the area, Hernandez started a free flea market at his Colonial Market in north Minneapolis. Vendors bring food and products and sell them to Colonial Market’s visitors without having to give any of their profit over to Hernandez for using his space.
“This flea market we’re doing … it’s for the community, by the community,” Hernandez said. “So we can lift ourselves up. Together.”
