Bizbeat: 'Santa Costco' is coming to town

Finally, Costco is coming to town -- in this case, Burnsville.

The retailing behemoth opened its most recent Minnesota store Tuesday, a 156,000-square-foot warehouse at 14050 Burnhaven Drive, two blocks north of Burnsville Center.

The south of-the-river location will greatly reduce the travel time for Costcoholics to get their fix. Before this opening, the closest stores from Burnsville were 18 miles away in Eden Prairie and 19 miles away in St. Louis Park.

The Burnsville location will have the same features as other Costco warehouses: gas station, bakery, pharmacy, liquor store, food court. There also will be the usual grocery and consumer products ranging from clothing to furniture.

The store will employ about 200 and feature anywhere from 3,800 to 4,000 items, according to officials.

Burnsville is the sixth Minnesota city in which Costco has a store. Costco has 424 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico and 581 worldwide.

There is a membership fee to join Costco, with fees averaging about $50 depending on the level selected.

A combination business opening and fundraiser was held in Eagan last week.

The Jack Of All Trades Handyman operation, which caters to homes and businesses and allows for online booking, held its grand opening Friday.

A featured part of the event was a food and fund drive in partnership with the Eagan Resource Center, a community food shelf. The company said all of the proceeds from Friday's event would go to the resource center.

CVB promotes Lakeville's five hotels for holidays

It's never too early to start holiday shopping, at least not according to the Lakeville Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Among the hotels listed by the bureau: Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites; Comfort Inn; AmericInn Lodge and Suites; Friendly Host Inn, and Motel 6.

The bureau's motto to sell the promotion: "Stuff Your Turkey, Not Your Home!"