Bedtime Over for Minnesota Store That Sold Naps

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Wake up! We're closing! The lights are out at MinneNapolis, a store at the Mall of America that sold naps for 70 cents a minute.

The nap center, which charged $14 for 20 minutes in a private, themed room, brought in fewer than 1,600 customers during its six-month run. That was far short of owner Steev RamsDell's projections.

He blamed the failure on the high number of tourists who shop at the mall.

"We had people who said they loved our service and they'd be back next time they were at the mall — next year," he said. "We couldn't develop the repeat business."

The concept seems to work in some places. MetroNap sells space in sleep pods in the Empire State Building in New York and at the airport in Vancouver, British Columbia.

RamsDell still hopes to make money from tired Minnesotans. He said he has signed a lease in the trendy Uptown neighborhood in Minneapolis and plans to open a smaller version of MinneNapolis on June 1.