Service

Car Wash/Detailing
The Downtowner Car Wash is consistently excellent and efficient. 520 E. 7th St., St. Paul, 651-222-7045 [top]

Computer Repair
Since going corporate as part of Best Buy, homegrown Geek Squad has lost some of its nerdy appeal, but the Geeks are still the best bet when you need a computer fix. They’re pricey to be sure, but they still make house calls 24/7 and have the range of expertise to handle most problems. 800-433-5778 [top]

Dry Cleaner
Cleanliness may be next to godliness, but care and consistency also rank high at Colonial Cleaners in south Minneapolis. Cleaning is reasonably priced and environmentally conscious. Even unstarched men’s dress shirts come out looking great. 3701 Lyndale Ave. S., Mpls., 612-823-8095 [top]

Making the Best of a Bad Situation
Since you can’t take it with you, the worthiest alternative we know about is the U of M’s Anatomy Bequest Program, by which your body—when you’re done with it—is donated to the university’s health sciences schools for anatomy education. The program is managed with dignity and care and helps meet an essential need in the training of doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals. For more information: 612-625-1111 [top]

Shoe Repair
Only the corporate signage has changed at the crack shoe repair stand in the basement of Marshall Fie—check that—Macy’s downtown Minneapolis store. Randall and his crew will keep you as well-heeled and sure-footed as ever. 700 Nicollet Mall, 612-375-2922 [top]

Short-Term Wheels
This nonprofit system of car-sharing began in Europe during the 1980s and was introduced here in 2005. Though of  obvious appeal to greenies, the Hourcar concept of sharing small, inexpensive cars for brief periods of time and short trips around town seems to be catching on among small business people and other folks who find it a practical alternative to unreliable taxi service, mass-transit limitations, and other big-city trans-portation woes. Currently, there are more than a dozen local hubs and seven different plans. 651-221-4462 [top]

Tailor
For a stitch in time—and any number of other emergency repairs, alterations, and improvements—Laurine Lewis, at Sew Biz, in downtown Minneapolis, is a life saver. Unfailingly pleasant, she is also the choice of several area retailers, who send their valued customers her way for alterations. 510 Marquette Bldg., 75 S. 5th St., Mpls., 612-332-6364 [top]