Two Rochester men want to make it easier for people from Africa and the Middle East to find food and products from their home countries in Rochester.
Yasin Elmi and Mohamed Osman plan to open the Indian Ocean International Market at 440 Third Ave. S.E., the former home of Insty Prints South. The hope is to finish renovations and open in January.
Elmi says they will sell groceries, spices, beverages and produce from regions near the Indian Ocean.
"There are a lot of people here from that part of the world," he says.
The duo also plans to offer halal meat, which is meat slaughtered in a way that fulfills the religious requirements of Islam.
They also plan to offer traditional U.S. items.
"We want people to be able to get things from other countries and local things they might need," Elmi says.
Passion in Rochester
Tasha Khuth is passionate about nails after working for many years in salons.
After a little time away, she opened a new salon in Rochester Tuesday, and its name reveals her feelings about her career.
With help from her daughter, Salina Long, Khuth chose the name of Passionate Nails for her new business at 1126 Seventh St. N.W. in the Northgate Plaza.
"It is something I love to do," she says.
Her salon offers the full range of nail services. However, she says there are a few specialties that set it apart.
"We specialize in sparkle toes, glitter tips and luxury hot rock spa pedicures and manicures," Khuth says.
She has three on staff in the 1,200-square-foot salon.
Labor shift
The labor group that represents 1,200 workers at Mayo Clinic's Saint Marys Hospital recently took on new digs in southwest Rochester.
In late October, Service Employee International Union Healthcare Minnesota moved out of the space on North Broadway that it has long shared with another labor group, Unite-Here Local 21.
Unite-Here previously represented the healthcare workers in Rochester. When those workers voted to work with SEIU, it created a space crunch for the union, says Ashley Christenson of the St. Paul-based organization.
"We wanted more space and a new location that would better accommodate our needs," she says.
The group found that location on Second Street Southwest in the Corporate Gardens complex, next to Kwik Trip. Six to seven people work in the office.
The deal was brokered by Darci Fenske of Paramark Real Estate.
Biz buzz
The word is that a national retail chain that left Rochester this summer is ready to pop back into the Med City like a stuttering jack-in-the-box.
If the tip is solid (and I believe it is), you'll probably see this brand's name back up over a door in its old stomping grounds before the start of 2010.
Stay tuned. I'll be checking this one out.
Jeff Kiger's Heard on the Street column runs in print on Mondays and Thursdays. You can read his daily dispatches on his blog, Kiger's Notebook, at Postbulletin.com. He can be heard on Tracy in the Morning on Fox 102.5 on Mondays.
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