Minneapolis (Dec. 1, 2015) – Meet Minneapolis, Convention and Visitor Association, today announces the Mary Tyler Moore statue is the surprise guest-of-honor at the grand opening of Minneapolis Visitor Information on Nicollet, where the statue will be revealed at the media news conference Dec. 7 at 9 a.m. (media and invited guests, only; store opens to the public at 10 a.m.). The statue will remain there while Nicollet is under reconstruction.

“There was a lot of interest and concern about where ‘Mary’ had gone. It became clear to all of us how important the statue is to the visitors and residents of Minneapolis,” said Melvin Tennant, president and CEO, Meet Minneapolis. “We worked with the owners at TV Land to loan the statue to Minneapolis Visitor Information so the public will be able to visit and take photos with it again until Nicollet Mall reconstruction is completed.”

The statue was removed from Nicollet with the other public art during the reconstruction of the street, which will be completed in 2017. Plans are to move the statue back to the street at a later date. Until then, tourists and local fans can visit Minneapolis Visitor Information during store hours Monday – Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Selfies and photos with the statue are encouraged, as is using the hashtag #MaryInMpls. The statue also will be visible from the Nicollet and 5th Street windows, as well, beginning Dec. 7.

The new visitor center and store on the corner of Nicollet and 5th Street includes: Shop: Minneapolis artistic retail, Move: resources for transit, commuting and getting around the city and Find: help with questions about what to do, where to go and how to get the most out of a visit to Minneapolis, City by Nature.

Located at 505 Nicollet, directly across the 5th Street from the Nicollet METRO stop, Meet Minneapolis partnered with CenterPoint Energy to occupy a 5,000 square-foot corner on the street level of the CenterPoint Energy building, which was formerly part of Gaviidae Common.

The Grand Opening Week will be celebrated Dec. 7 – 11. Each day will feature a special aspect of Minneapolis Visitor Information: Shop. Move. Find. with special guests, discounts and activities:

Monday, Dec. 7: Grand Opening Day

MEDIA INVITED: NEWS CONFERENCE FEATURING UNVEILING OF MARY TYLER MOORE STATUE AT 9 A.M. (Not open to the public; public welcome at 10 a.m.)

Members of the media and special guests will be the first to see the Mary Tyler Moore statue, newly out of storage and unveiled at this event. Doors open to media and invited guests at 8:30 a.m. at 505 Nicollet. Cameras and selfie-sticks are welcome!

Guest speakers include: Mayor Hodges (not yet confirmed), members of the Minneapolis City Council, Dan McLaughlin (Move Minneapolis), Suzie Marty (St. Croix Retail), Bill Deef (Meet Minneapolis) and Doug Peterson (CenterPoint Energy), with the SURPRISE VIP guest appearance culminating the event and the beginning of Grand Opening Week.
Media RSVPs are not required but if you plan to cover the event or have questions, please contact Kristen Montag, kristenm@minneapolis.org.

Tuesday, Dec. 8: Shop Minneapolis Day – celebrating our artistic retail and Minnesota artists

Guest appearances:

• 9 – 11 a.m. Photographer Lisa Rudolph, including free tote bag with $75 purchase (see below)
• 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Artist/Illustrator Adam Turman, including print signing with purchase
• 4 - 6 p.m. Musician Jeromy Darling, including CD signing
• TBD author/book signing

Promotions (discounts and offers available all week, Monday – Friday):

• 20% off All Near and Far Photography (Lisa Rudolph)
• 20% off All Adam Turman and Special Promotion of Buy 4 Pint Glasses for $25
• 20% off All Minneapolis, City by Nature Logo Merchandise
• 10% off purchase with sign up of FREE Loyalty Program – also be entered for drawing of $20 Gift Card (five total, one given away each day of the week)
• FREE Laminated Cherry & Spoon Tote bag with $75 purchase

Treats available throughout the day!

Wednesday, Dec. 9: Move Minneapolis Day – celebrating our transportation partner’s services

Transportation partners featured on Nicollet:

• Zipcar – BMW
• Car2Go – Smartcar
• HOURCAR – Plug-in electric Prius
• Possible: Vintage bus form MN Transportation Museum (weather dependent)

Move Minneapolis featured partners:

• Brickmania – Lego Northstar Commuter Rail & LRT
• Bus history exhibit- MN Transportation Museum
• Possible: Classic Bikes – MN Bike Museum
• One-on-One Bicycle Studio – Latest in fat bikes (winter biking)

Giveaways:

• Who is Move Minneapolis & highlights card
• Equal Exchange Chocolate bars
• MNDOT – Branded glass cleaning cloths

Thursday, Dec. 10: Find Minneapolis Day – celebrating Meet Minneapolis Visitor Services and our partners

Featured partners from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.:

• Above the Falls Sports
• Taste Twin Cities Food Tours
• The Fit Tourist

Friday, Dec. 11: Minneapolis Unwrapped Day – celebrating giving the gift of Minneapolis and Meet Minneapolis partners

• Featuring Meet Minneapolis partner Science Museum of Minnesota
• Drawing for one year-long membership and two four-packs of tickets to Humpback Whales at the Omni Theater
• Local celebrity and notable gift wrappers (TBA) wrapping your holiday purchases for free between 11 and 2 p.m.
• Also featuring Minneapolis Unwrapped – gift cards, special offers and more to “Give the gift of Minneapolis!”
• Shop now: http://www.minneapolis.org/vis...

All week:

• Retail discounts listed above and tote bag with $75 purchase
• Treats and coffee during lunch hours in Meet Minneapolis’ Social Media Command Center in Minneapolis Visitor Information
• More to come! Watch http://www.minneapolis.org/vis... for more details and follow Meet Minneapolis on Facebook and Twitter (see below) for updates!

MINNEAPOLIS VISITOR INFORMATION ON NICOLLET: SHOP. MOVE. FIND.

Minneapolis Visitor Information includes three services in one convenient location:

• Shop: Partnering with St. Croix Promotions & Retail, the new facility offers Minneapolis artistic retail products, as well as area sports team logo merchandise and Minneapolis, City by Nature-branded items. Current items include pint glasses and prints from well-known local artist Adam Turman, as well as jewelry, ceramics, glassware, clothing and much more by talented Minnesota artists. Many of the local artist’s products were created for this store and cannot be found elsewhere.
• Move: Additionally, Move Minneapolis (formerly the Commuter Connection) moved into the new facility and will continue to provide services to commuters, carpool information, transit passes, schedules and maps, MnPass and bicycling commuting information and accessories.
• Find: Meet Minneapolis staff will be available to answer questions from visitors, share visitor maps and help with suggestions about things to do in Minneapolis and the surrounding area. In the near future, plans include offering a starting point for tours of the city and a social media command center for Meet Minneapolis. The Visitor Information Center in the Minneapolis Convention Center will remain open and available to provide similar information to visitors and convention attendees.

ABOUT MEET MINNEAPOLIS

Meet Minneapolis is a private, not-for-profit, member-based association. It actively promotes and sells the Minneapolis area as a destination for conventions and meetings, works to maximize the visitor experience and markets the city as a desirable tourist destination to maximize the economic benefit of the greater Minneapolis area.

Meet Minneapolis is accredited by the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) of the Destination Marketing Association International.

Find out more:

Online: www.minneapolis.org and http://go.minneapolis.org
On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/meetminneapolis?ref=ts
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/meetminneapolis
On Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/meetminneapolis/

MEDIA CONTACT
Kristen Montag, communication and public relations manager, 612.767.8038, kristenm@minneapolis.org, Minneapolis_PR on Twitter.

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