Top 10 of 2014: #7 Popular St. Cloud Businesses Close

ST. CLOUD - We resume our countdown of the Top 10 Local news stories of 2014 today with our #7 story of the year.

Several longtime businesses in St. Cloud closed their doors this year, including the Electric Fetus, St. Cloud Bakery, downtown Bo Diddley's and Qdoba Mexican Grill.

The St. Cloud Electric Fetus closed its doors in May after 27 years in business. It was located at 28 5th Avenue South. The music and imports store's lease expired. The company says it will continue to dedicate its efforts on the Duluth and Minneapolis locations.

The St. Cloud Bakery shut down in February after 67 years in business. The business was at 1408 West St. Germaine Street since 1947. Owner Jeff Westerlund said the state health inspector gave him an ultimatum, either make several upgrades to the business or shut down the bakery. The cost for upgrades, along with fines, would have cost thousands of dollars, leading to the closing.

The downtown St. Cloud Bo Diddley's closed in early April. The Pub and Deli was first established in 1981 in St. Joseph and is known for its award winning sandwiches. John Forsythe, who owns the three Bo Diddley's locations said the store closed down due to several factors. The downtown location was too large of a space in relation to rent and prices, Forsythe added that the impending minimum wage hike also played a big part in the decision to close the store. Over the last few months, the Beaver Island Brewing Company has started moving into the location. The brewery is planning to officially open by the end of January.

Qdoba Mexican Grill on Division Street closed in early September. A new philly sandwich restaurant, PepperJax Grill, is expecting to open at the location in January.

Space Aliens and Kmart also closed their locations in West St. Cloud. It was also recently announced that Toys R Us and Big Lots will be closing.

Coming up tomorrow, we'll continue our countdown of the Top 10 local news stories with a look back at the #6 story of the year.