Game Informer continues to grow while other magazines shrink.

​The market for print magazines in shriveling, according to a report released Tuesday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. During the fourth quarter last year, single-copy sales of consumer magazines declined by nearly 10 percent compared with the year before.

But one Minneapolis-based magazine continues to buck the trend and grow. Compared to 2010, Game Informer's paid circulation increased an astonishing 48 percent. To put that in context, of the 10 largest magazines in the world, Game Informer was the only one to grow by more than even one percent last year.

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BW3 had a hot 2011.

​What's hotter than BW3's blazin' sauce? The Minneapolis-based company's stock, that's what.

Buffalo Wild Wings' profits soared 34 percent during the the fourth quarter of 2011, surpassing analysts' expectations. In total, the company killed it all 2011 long, with net income growing from just over $10 million in 2010 to $13.6 million last year.

Next step: World domination. BW3 will have 900 restaurants by the end of this year, and the company is planning to add about 600 more in the next half-decade or so. CEO Sally Smith said BW3 may acquire other restaurant brands along the way to help fuel growth.

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700 black employees alleged Menards discriminated against them.

​Menards has agreed to pay about $1 million to black employees in the Midwest who claim they were passed over for promotions because of their race.

Letters will be sent to the 700 former and current Menards employees affected by the ruling, some of whom presumably live in Minnesota. Menards has 22 home improvement stores in the Twin Cities area.

Despite the settlement, Eau Claire-based Menards continues to maintain it did nothing wrong.

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The Obama administration's "preventative services" mandate isn't popular with Catholics.

​A Twin Cities-based dermatologist may close down his business because of the Obama administration's new "preventative services" mandate.

That mandate requires virtually all employers to purchase health insurance plans that cover contraception. Catholics, in particular, believe this requirement violates their faith.

Dr. Michael Ebertz runs five dermatology clinics around the Twin Cities under the name of Skin Care Doctors, P.A. He's reportedly considering closing his business rather than offering his employees health care plans that cover contraception.

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Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal

Chris Meyer's small Mpls company served as a case study in Facebook's IPO.

​In Facebook's IPO, CM Photographics, a small Minneapolis wedding photography company, served as a case study of how advertising on the social network can benefit mom-and-pop businesses.

Wedding photographers, of course, want to get their ads in front of the eyeballs of as many soon-to-be brides and grooms as possible. And Facebook knows exactly who's living nearby and engaged. It's a perfect match.

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Magnetation says Minnesota's environmental laws are too strict.

​Magnetation, a Nashwauk, Minnesota-based mining company, is kind of like the ungrateful date you spend too much money on, only to see him/her spurn you for another lover.

In 2008, the company received a $1 million grant from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, money that helped the company establish its operation throughout the Iron Range area of Northern Minnesota.

But the Duluth News Tribune reports that the company is now considering building its job-creating iron ore pelletizing plant in another state, news that has left Minnesota lawmakers royally pissed.

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TCF Bank took a pounding during the final quarter of 2011.

​Anecdotally, TCF Bank seems to be struggling -- in Uptown, for instance, the bank used to have numerous ATMs, but they've all been removed over the last year or so, sometimes replaced with generic machines.

TCF's fourth-quarter earnings report provides hard data to support that anecdote. It reveals that the bank's profits more than halved during the fourth quarter of last year compared to the last quarter of 2010.

Though the report is couched in impenetrable corporate-speak, the gist of it seems to be that TCF's rough 2011 is largely attributable to the fact that the bank isn't allowed to screw over retailers anymore by gouging them with high fees for debit card transactions.

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With the theater possibly on its way out, Block E may soon be a black hole of emptiness.

​One of the last tenants in the downtown eyesore that is Block E may be on its way out.

Yesterday, the blighted downtown retail complex's AMC movie theater lost an appeal in federal court to extend its low-rent lease. It isn't clear whether that means the theater will negotiate a new agreement or close when its current least expires this fall, but if the past of Block E is precedent then the theater is probably not for long.

With seemingly no momentum in the legislature toward getting a Block E casino bill done, the future of the once-promising but now mostly vacant Alatus-owned development is a huge question mark.

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Two investment firms are urigng Target and 3M not to repeat the mistakes of 2010.

​The donations Target and 3M made in 2010 to a Republican-run anti-gay group continue to land them in hot water a year and a half later.

Yesterday, two large progressive investment firms -- Trillium Asset Management and Green Century Capital Management -- announced they have filed shareholder resolutions at Target and 3M respectively. The resolutions urge the companies to refrain from making political donations this year.

Though neither Minnesota company is a particularly large political contributor, the investment firms singled them out because of their 2010 donations to MN Forward, a group that supported Republicans running for elected office, including then-gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer.

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US Bank made almost $5 billion last year. How'd you do?

​After a record third quarter, US Bank continued to pile on the profits in the last quarter of 2011.

$1.35 billion worth of profit, to be exact. For the year, Minnesota's sixth-largest company enjoyed record earnings of $4.87 billion.

Tough economy? Evidently not for those in the US Bank business.

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