As in prior years, reports of business closings and openings figured prominently into this year’s list of most read stories. That’s no surprise for a business publication like us.

But it did surprise me that our most read story of the year, by far, was northern Minnesota correspondent Gene Rebeck’s report on the housing market in Duluth.

It’s worth examining why that happened. The popularity of that story was to some degree incidental: Rebeck’s report, published in our April/May print issue, happened to come out around the time that Kathy Cargill – wife of an heir to Cargill Inc. – was buying up and demolishing homes in Duluth’s Park Point neighborhood. In the aftermath, housing availability in Duluth became the subject of fierce debate.

As editor-in-chief Allison Kaplan told me at the time: “You can’t plan for the sort of firestorm Kathy Cargill set off, but it sure is nice to be ready with great reporting and writing from a writer who truly knows Duluth.”

It’s also good reminder that our online readership clearly extends beyond the confines of the Twin Cities metro. The status of the housing market — even in smaller communities like Duluth — evidently holds interest for residents across the state.

Meanwhile, executive editor Adam Platt’s sharp analyses on local business and politics also drove many readers to our site. His two accounts on the state of the new St. Paul-to-Chicago passenger train both landed on this list.

It’s anyone’s guess what 2025 will look like for Minnesota’s business community. Global conflicts, the impacts of Trump 2.0, and the continued rise of artificial intelligence tools are likely to dominate the headlines in the year ahead, but we’ll be there to dig into the lesser-known stories that matter to local business leaders and owners. Stay tuned!

1. Want to Live in Duluth? Good Luck
2. Yelloh, Formerly Schwan’s Home Delivery, Is Shutting Down
3. Ann Kim to Shutter Kim’s in Uptown
4. Is the Amtrak Borealis Train Really Profitable?
5. Gucci, Mocler Among Luxury Shops Opening at Southdale
6. Steele Smiley to Open Six New Purlima Restaurants
7. Lululemon Jumps to Southdale; Galleria Signs Rival Brand Alo
8. Return to Sender: City Council Member Leaves Developer on Read
9. Getting to the Big Picture on Rideshare
10. ‘This Industry Is In Trouble:’ Q&A with Restaurateur Tim Niver
11. St. Thomas Lands Record Scholarship Donation from Schoenecker Family
12. Beleaguered Dayton’s Project Put into Receivership
13. Krispy Kreme’s Minnesota Comeback
14. Inside Sun Country’s Quest for Profitability
15. The Devil Wears Shein
16. The Twins’ April Downgrade
17. Restaurants v. Unions and the City
18. TCB 100: Newsmakers to Watch in 2025
19. Resuscitating Downtown St. Paul
20. 17 Minnesota Companies Land on 2024 Fortune 500 List
21. Amtrak Borealis: The Hype Is Real
22. 3M’s Health Care Business to Spin Off in April
23. Colle McVoy Turns Jason Kelce’s Viral Moment Into Super Bowl Ads
24. How Gender Impacts Workplace Communication