FARGO — With 2025 fading in the rear-view mirror, it may be an appropriate time to reflect on businesses in the Fargo-Moorhead area that called it quits in the past year.
The Forum noted at least 18 stores and restaurants that threw in the towel, with the following list forming a non-comprehensive accounting of many of the enterprises that closed their doors.
In February, the Forever 21 store at the West Acres Mall let the world know it was closing with signs declaring that everything in the store was 10% to 40% off.
“No returns,” warned a sign that greeted customers at the checkout area.
Bloomberg reported last spring that the U.S.-based operator of Forever 21 Inc. was preparing to close additional locations in the U.S. as part of a bankruptcy process, unless a qualified buyer emerged.
No such buyer materialized and all of the Forever 21 stores in the U.S. ultimately closed.
Chris Flynn / Forum file photo
Fargo’s
Uncorked Lounge
announced in a March Facebook message that it had closed.
“It is with a heavy heart and profound gratitude that we announce the closing of Uncorked Lounge. Our journey, though brief, has been nothing short of a blessing, and we feel incredibly fortunate to have shared our passion for fine wines with this wonderful community,” owners Jessica and Joe Medler said in the March 17 post.
The business opened on June 1, 2024, at 5601 33rd Ave. S. , in the EagleRidge Plaza, offering 56 different wines.
Wines were sourced from smaller vineyards and family vineyards.
Anna Paige / Forum file photo
Kindred People boutique closed its downtown Fargo store in March after a seven-year run.
Owners Marceia Andreasen and Kelly Falk announced the closing in social media posts.
The family’s Alexandria, Minnesota, store with the same name remains open.
That store opened in May 2015. The
Fargo location,
in space once occupied by the Art Materials store, opened in August 2017.
Andreasen and Falk said a combination of factors were the reason for the closing and they thanked their customers in a social media post, stating: “We are grateful for the memories, relationships, and experiences gained throughout the years that we had the privilege to serve your apparel and styling needs.”
Chris Flynn / Forum file photo
El Torero Mexican Restaurant in Moorhead closed in March, when a sign was placed on the door that read: “Thank you Moorhead, for 5 years of your support.”
El Torero
opened at 3005 U.S. Highway 10 E. in January of 2020.
The location was formerly home to a Perkins restaurant and bakery, which closed in January 2019 after a water main break flooded the building.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
The Alina Collective home and lifestyle boutique announced in March that it had closed.
Owner Britt Belquist said she had been looking for a buyer for the shop, located at 716 Main Ave., and had gotten some interest, but a sale never materialized.
Alina Collective
opened in 2023, offering unique and artistic goods, including clothing, glassware, toys, rugs, books and food.
Many of the brands carried by the business put part of their profits into initiatives supporting communities.
Alyssa Goelzer / Forum file photo
The Toasted Frog in downtown Fargo closed at the end of June.
But it wasn’t the end of the story.
After announcing the closure in an April news release, owners Jonathan Holth and Shawn Clapp were approached by Ryan Langerud, a friend they have known since all three worked together decades ago at the Sanders 1907 restaurant in Grand Forks.
Langerud said he was interested in buying the restaurant
and a deal was made.
Although The Toasted Frog closed for a time, Langerud reopened the restaurant and kept the name.
Langerud has said it’s still fairly early to know how everything will turn out, but
he’s happy to be a part of what he sees as downtown Fargo’s Renaissance.
“I’m hopeful it’s the beginning of a good time,” Langerud said.
Chris Flynn / Forum file photo
The Smiling Moose Sandwich Grill at 102 Broadway in Fargo closed in April, when a sign on the door invited customers to call or visit the area’s remaining Smiling Moose at 2877 45th St. S., in Fargo.
The shop on 45th Street was the area’s first Smiling Moose when it opened in the summer of 2012.
The downtown location opened in early 2013.
But, as with The Toasted Frog, the Smiling Moose closing wasn’t the last word of the story.
A new business,
Maria’s Homestyle Mexican Food,
recently opened in the space that was home to Smiling Moose.
Contributed / Daily Thread
The Daily Thread, a fast fashion retailer in the West Acres Mall, closed in early 2025.
The Daily Thread opened its Fargo store on April 13, 2022.
The space was previously occupied by Christopher & Banks
Chris Flynn / Forum file photo
Rebecco’s Taco Bar in West Fargo closed in April.
The business
opened in the summer of 2024
at 611 32nd Ave. W., in West Fargo, replacing Mas Tequila, a tequila-foward, upscale Mexican dining experience.
The owners of Mas Tequila said at the time that they were changing the restaurant’s concept to the more family oriented Rebecco’s.
“It’s for everyone. Basically, you can order a taco for about $4,”
co-owner Juan Perez said at the time, referring to Rebecco’s.
David Olson / Forum file photo
Another store that closed in April was the Little Caesars pizza shop at 1020 19th Ave. N., in Fargo, which had its last day of business on Sunday, April 27.
Prior to that, the business had briefly closed in September 2024 due to a dispute between the owners and the Little Caesars franchise, the owners told The Forum.
The Little Caesars location opened in 2015.
The closing this past April might have been the end of the story for the Little Caesars location, but a new owner
reopened the business this past fall.
Alyssa Goelzer / Forum file photo
Aal Yours Consignment and Refinishing
Aal Yours Consignment and Refinishing opened in Fargo’s historic Hawthorne neighborhood in 2021 amid a global pandemic, when owner Heather Aal decided to follow her dream of opening her own business.
However, in early 2025 Aal told The Forum that health issues
had prompted her to close the business.
Aal said she was hopeful someone would find a new use for the space.
“The building is fantastic. It has amazing light. … It has been a fabulous space with good energy,” she said.
Chris Flynn / Forum file photo
Applause Costumes and Dancewear
Applause Costumes & Dancewear, located at 788 2nd Ave. S., in Moorhead, closed in August.
Owner Jinny Trotti said she made the decision because she was facing expensive building repairs and because the business had never really bounced back after COVID.
“Our business was doing great,” she told The Forum.
“Then COVID hit and now life sucks. We never recovered.”
David Samson / Forum file photo.
Pixeled Brewing, a Fargo business that featured vintage arcade games, closed this past summer.
The
brewery and arcade opened in 2018
at 1100 NP Ave. N., in an historic business complex in downtown Fargo.
In a post on the business’s Facebook page on Monday, Aug. 25, co-founder Nick Hill stated he had started the business because there was no longer an arcade in the area that provided the same thrills he found playing video games as a youth in the old Pirate’s Den arcade in the West Acres Shopping Center.
“The place I wanted to go to didn’t exist anymore, so I built it myself,” Hill said in the Facebook post.
“I never opened Pixeled to get rich. I opened it to share my love of 80s arcades with this community,” he added, closing with: “Thank you for playing my games.”
Forum file photo
GP’s Greek Kitchen closed in September.
Around the time the business opened in late 2018 at 2553 Kirsten Lane S., in Fargo, owner
Mandy Morton shared
that the initials stood for George Petraqis, a name associated with her family.
The restaurant’s menu reflected the Mediterranean region and included homemade soups.
In 2022, GP’s Greek Kitchen was named the best Greek restaurant in North Dakota by the “Eat This, Not That” website.
At the time, Morton said of the honor: “I was looking casually over the list and when I got to North Dakota, there it was and I fell out of bed. It’s so great to know that we get national recognition.”
John Lamb / Forum file photo
The Spirit Room, a business that showcased regional culture in downtown Fargo,
closed this past fall.
The closing was announced in a social media posting that said: “Come stop in, purchase a piece of local history and absorb the atmosphere one last time.”
Dawn Morgan, who served as executive director of The Spirit Room, said the decision was tied to demographics that have changed since the enterprise began more than two decades ago
“Twenty-five years ago our classes were full and we had a full exhibition schedule. We were super busy. It’s changed. People aren’t as committed to attending events,” Morgan said.
Alyssa Goelzer / Forum file photo
Discontent, located at 610 Main Ave. in downtown Fargo, closed its doors this past fall, when signs in the windows announced a going-out-of-business sale.
The counter-culture lifestyle brand that sold items like T-shirts and vinyl records operated out of a storefront on Main Avenue in Moorhead for many years before the location closed in January 2012.
The area’s latest incarnation of the Discontent name opened at 512 Broadway in Fargo in 2019.
That business moved in the spring of 2024 to the 610 Main Ave. address.
Chris Flynn / Forum file photo
Two Fargo area Hardee’s restaurants closed this past fall.
In November, signs on the doors of the businesses, one located at 3072 45th St. S., in Fargo, and the other at 1450 13th Ave. E., in West Fargo, invited customers to visit the area’s two remaining Hardee’s restaurants.
Those locations include one at 3819 Main Ave., in Fargo, and one at 3402 28th Ave. S., in Moorhead.
Chris Flynn / Forum file photo
Hannah Blazinski Cuhel closed her downtown Fargo coffee bar in November.
She opened Revival Specialty Coffee in the First Avenue Market in 2023.
The Forum covered her story at the time as Blazinski Cuhel was also
North Dakota’s youngest funeral director
and was working at Boulger Funeral Home.
However, Blazinski Cuhel’s attempts to balance a full-time career with small-business ownership took a toll on her health and she left the funeral home to expand her coffee bar into a little shop inside First Avenue Market.
Then, when her lease with the market ended in late October, Blazinski Cuhel left First Avenue completely, posting farewell messages on her social media.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
While it was not an individual business, the Moorhead Center Mall essentially disappeared in 2025,
when the last of its stores either closed or moved to new locations.
With the notable exception of Moorhead City Hall, which is being renovated into a standalone building, the Center Mall has largely been demolished to make way for redevelopment of Moorhead’s downtown,
which is already taking shape
along Center Avenue.
Ongoing work includes construction of a new community center and library building, as well as a mixed-use business and residential building.
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