Entrepreneurship : Development News

The FoodTruck Cafe is giving customers of rolling restaurants a place to sit down and eat indoors or out.

The cafe is opening June 24 in Berkley with three food trucks re-created inside the cafe: the Sideshow Sandwich Emporium, Nacho Ordinary Nacho and Airstream Espresso. The cafe is taking shape inside a closed Coffee Beanery at 28557 Woodward Ave.

FoodTruck Cafe will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and serve breakfast, including Airstream Espresso Illy coffee. Lunch and dinner feature the conundrum bacon sandwich with its applewood smoked bacon, avocado, tater tots, tomatoes, onion and mayo from Sideshow Sandwich, or Nacho Ordinary Nacho's barbecue pork nachos with pulled pork, Bermuda onions, Monterey Jack cheese, cole slaw and a dollop of crema de Sriracha sauce.

The founder, Kerry Johnson, wants "to bring street food indoors." There will also be outdoor seating, and the vibe inside and out will be casual with picnic tables and twinkly lights.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Kerry Johnson, owner, FoodTruck Cafe

The local franchisees of College Hunks Hauling Junk have expanded their business in more than one way.

Dan Ryan and Patrick Lipa have moved the company into a larger space in Madison Heights and also added moving to their services.

Junk hauling has been lucrative for the pair who have seen growth every year since opening in 2009 and are hiring new employees to meet demand. College HUNKS, Honest, Uniformed, Nice, Knowledgable, Students, has 45 locations in the U.S.

The new Madison Heights facility includes pool tables and other amenities for a "work-happy atmosphere," says Jill Vanderpol, a spokeswoman for the company.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Jill Vanderpol, spokeswoman, College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving

Stone Works is bringing interior design and masonry work for indoors and outdoors to a storefront in Grosse Pointe Woods.

The store can serve as showroom and planning site for home and commercial projects. Stone Works is scheduled to open mid-June on Mack Avenue in place of a closed Verizon store.

"We've had very vibrant activity along Mack Avenue," says the city's building department director, Gene Tutage.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Gene Tutag, director, Grosse Pointe Woods building department

A beef from the Piedmonte region of Italy and prized there and in the U.S. for its quality is being sold from a new market in Royal Oak.

Monty's Beef Co. opened June 1 at 324 E. Fourth St. in downtown Royal Oak  and specializes in Piedmontese beef from a herd of cattle imported from Italy and raised humanely by a rancher in mid-Michigan.

It is sold at the store, online and by phone to customers -- whether for home use or by restaurants -- looking for cattle raised organically, fed well, not pumped with chemicals and known for producing meat that's as flavorful as prime, aged beef but with less cholesterol and fat.

The owners Jon and Rachel Leemis spent many months researching the beef industry, looking for purer, higher quality beef.

Their Monty's Beef Co. will sell directly or through orders that can be picked up in the store or delivered. Monty's has a Steak of the Month Club and gift packages as well as its regular menu of choice cuts.

In Italy, the Piedmonte breed of cattle graze in the Alps. The beef has been eaten there for centuries and is said to be tastier and healthier and considered superior to North American cattle breeds.

It can be found occasionally on menus in the U.S., but the owners of Monty's Beef Co. hope to make Piedmonte beef a menu staple.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Rachel Leemis, owner, Monty's Beef Co.

A new gym that combines yoga and boxing into one workout has moved into Birmingham's burgeoning Rail District.

JABS Gym opened last month at 2285 Cole with a boxing ring inside and an intimate workout studio, where BoYo is taught and combines the stretch, strength and inner calming of yoga with the high-impact cardio of boxing.

Besides BoYo, owners Willie "Fortune 500" Fortune, a pro boxer, David Tessler, a yoga expert, and his wife Meagan Tessler offer kickboxing and boot camps with group and individual classes and workouts.

There is also a weigh room and workout equipment.

The opening is filling out the Rail District, a mixed use development just east of downtown Birmingham off Maple Road, where there are townhouses, successful retailers and service-oriented businesses such as the Robot Garage and Goldfish Swim School and soon-to-open restaurants such as Griffin Claw Brewing Co.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Meagan Tessler, co-owner, JABS Gym

A man with a name that's pretty close to perfect for his line of work is opening a coffeehouse and smoothie bar in downtown Northville.

Johnny Coffey is the man behind Northville Roast, which opened last month at 133 W. Main, Suite 222, on the downtown square.

He is hoping to make a success of the storefront that's been home to other coffee shops by mixing it up with fresh-roasted beans and adding twists such as bringing in musicians and serving smoothies and fresh juices.

Northville Roast celebrated the opening at Northville's Memorial Day parade and, as Coffey says, "We are so excited to be re-launching your much anticipated hometown coffee shop."

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Johnny Coffey, owner, Northville Roast

Hamlin's Pubs, a metro Detroit restaurant and sports bar chain, is opening what it describes as a sophisticated sports bar with live entertainment on the ground floor of the Wooodward North Lofts in Royal Oak.

Hamlin Corner, named after its corner spot in the loft and retail development, opens May 23 in the renovated 6,700-square-foot space at 386 N. Main near 11 Mile Road, a location that's been disappointedly vacant for six years.

Besides a redone interior with rich colors and dark woods, there will be sidewalk seating with restaurant windows opening to the patio. The restaurant capacity is about 300 customers, and a DJ stand and dance floor are part of the design by the owners who have years of experience in restaurants.

The menu will be "locally inspired," manager Anthony Mancini says, and offer burgers, sandwiches, soups, heartier entrees and specials like mussels and 50 beers on tap. It'll also give the ambitious Woodward North Lofts project more life and activity.

Giancarlo DeAngelis, majority owner of Hungry Howie's pizza restaurants, and Anthony Mancini co-own Hamlin Corner. Mancini will be the operating manager, continuing the growth of Hamlin Pubs, which has six other locations: Lake Orion, Rochester Hills, Troy, Clarkston, Chesterfield and two in Shelby Township.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Anthony Mancini, owner/manager, Hamlin Pub Royal Oak

The Grosse Pointe Athletic Club is adding 2,000 square feet of space and introducing classes at the 18-year-old business that maintains a loyal following of locals who gravitate toward hometown entrepreneurs.

Dr. Carlos Borrego, a lifelong Grosse Pointer who left radiation oncology several years ago to earn a master's degree in public health and become a consultant, was first an investing partner in the private club. In 2006 he took over as owner operator.

"I was between jobs and took over the job of streamlining the club, making it paperless, building in efficiencies," he says. "I was enjoying it so much."

It gave him the opportunity to offer trainers who could specialize in clients' needs, depending on age, activities, and injuries, as well as tie their training and workout to healthy lifestyles.

"This was never really on my radar," he says, "but it's been a wonderful thing. The thing about GPAC is it's really a neighborhood business and with a very loyal customer base who see it as a part of the community, which was all the more reason to expand and become a bigger part of the community."

The club at the corner of Fisher Road and Maumee in the Fisher Road shops will increase from 3,500 to 5,500 feet by taking over a former hair salon.

Borrego is replacing most equipment with new models in the the current space and using the new space for classes, most likely spinning, yoga, zumba and pilots, he says. The new club will open late September. There will be additional trainers and instructors in the new space, a former hair salon.

The building's owners are redoing the facade, the streetscape and landscape and there will be more parking and free parking in front and in back.

"It will be new inside and outside," he says.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Dr. Carlos Borrego, owner/operator, Grosse Pointe Athletic Club

A new self-serve, self-top ice cream bar with a smorgasbord of choices has opened on Fisher Road in Grosse Pointe Farms.

Serving your own ice cream from a wall of different flavors and picking out the toppings, from cookies to fruit to sauces and nuts, is trendy but not so new.

Snogo, however, is taking some of the bite out of the concept, which usually has consumers paying by weight and paying a pretty penny for it. At Snogo there is no weighing, just a set price per cup, to keep it more affordable and fun, says owner David Cracchiolo.

Snogo seems to be in an ideal location, across from a high school with a swimming pool and athletic facilities that go seven days a week at all hours.

Snogo opened a few weeks ago and has been so busy more employees are already being hired.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: David Cracchiolo, owner, Snogo

A former professional dancer and classically-trained dance teacher is opening a studio this month in downtown Rochester with hopes of replacing the competitive, reality TV twist of some dance studios with one that's focused on classical education and performance.

Cindy Raffel, 27, will bring her experience as a dancer and choreographer with companies around the country and as a certified K-12 dance instructor to her 2nd Street Studio of Dance. It will open with a ribbon-cutting on May 17th, with three days of free classes that day through the 19th. By July, classes for ballet, tap, jazz, modern dance and hip hop and other forms of dance will begins.

The studio at 100 E. 2nd Street is 5,600 square feet of space with three dance studios and classes for children and adults.

She plans to keep prices low, partly by eliminating the competitive dance aspect that can come with so many costs. Classes themselves will be affordable, she says.

Raffel, who's danced with ballet and theater companies in places such as Virginia, where she is from, and Florida, where she was with the Tampa Ballet, moved to Michigan in September after her husband, Tom, received a tenure-track position at Oakland University. They bought their home in Rochester and really dug downtown, she says. They loved Rochester and after hearing about the vacant RARA building -- Rochester Avon Recreation Authority -- she decided to open the studio she's dreamed about for years.

"Obviously with dance I started as a kid and I always wanted to have a dance studio…As an elementary schooler I was making up a show, picking out a costumes and showing my parents my choreography," she says. "It was always in the back of mind because I didn't know how far my professional career would go. When we decided to move here, we bought a house really quickly. I thought, this is going to be where we're settling down. I should for it. Lo and behold there was this vacant building waiting for me.

The studio "is literally steps away from Main Street," she says. "For me it's a great location only because it is a great area…but for all that's going on. You can walk out the door and be at a parade. Amazingly enough the house that we bought in August is exactly halfway between the university and the studio."

Before finding a place to open, she had been researching what was missing in the local dance scene.

"It's kind of hard as an outsider looking in…The dance world is so much word of mouth," she says, "But I think people are looking for something kind of different. something that's not competitive…I want dance to be a fun, happy experience. I want it to be enjoyable for everyone, including the parents."

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Cindy Raffel, owner/instructor, 2nd Street Studio of Dance

Painting With a Twist, where customers are encouraged to BYOB and pick up a brush to learn from artists how to paint, is expanding, moving into a new space in downtown Ferndale.

The move down the road on 9 Mile will almost double the space for Painting With a Twist Ferndale, which is a franchise of Corks n Canvas.

The new 3,000-square-foot space is being renovated inside the former Dollar Castle on 9 Mile. Dollar Castle closed in October and is being divided for three tenants. Modern Natural Baby is moving is moving into 5,000 square feet of the building, adding to its inventory and building parts of the business it previously didn't have the space to do.

At Painting With A Twist Ferndale, birthday parties are celebrated, charity events are held, and girls' nights out are common, as are outings for artists just wanting to paint.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Chris Hughes, Ferndale Downtown Development Authority

A metro Detroit distributor of craft beers and other alcoholic beverages is hosting a Craft Beer Expo May 15 as a celebration of American Craft Beer Week and Michigan's standing as a state that's home to accomplished craft brewers.

The hope is to make the expo an annual event. Host Power Distributors, an Orion Township company that employs over 200 people, will feature beers from 17 breweries, including six from Michigan, as well as a strolling dinner and raffles at the expo, which runs from 6 - 9 p.m. at Canterbury Village in Lake Orion.

“Craft beer is exploding in popularity,” says Gary Thompson, chief operating officer of Powers Distributing. “Michigan is the fifth-largest craft beer state in the country. Our breweries are experiencing fantastic development and the state offers an amazing selection of both local and national beers to craft beer drinkers. To celebrate this, we created a local beer event. American Craft Beer Week seemed to be the perfect time to invite the public to learn more about this 4,000-year-old beverage and how wonderfully it pairs with cuisine.”

The expo also has a philanthropic angle with $5 of each $15 ticket purchased going to Rock STAR Warriors, a Michigan nonprofit that helps Michigan veterans find work and land careers. The STAR in the name stands for Sustainable Talent And Retention.

The breweries represented at the expo: Cheboygan Brewing Company, Dragonmead Brewing Company, Kuhnhenn Brewing Company, North Peak Brewing Company, Saugatuck Brewing Company, Uncle John's Cider, Oskar Blues Brewery, Blue Moon Brewing Company, Tenth & Blake Beer Company, Samuel Adams – The Boston Beer Company, Magic Hat Brewing Company, Vermont Hard Cider Company (Woodchuck), Brooklyn Brewery, Boulder Beer Company, Tommyknocker Brewing Company, Spoetzl Brewery (Shiner), and Anchor Brewing Company.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Jim Miller, publicist, Franco Public Relations Group; and Gary Thompson, COO, Powers Distributing

Oakland County is trying to make starting a business or taking it to the next level easier for entrepreneurs by offering free, walk-in business counseling.

The One Stop Shop Business Center at the Oakland County Executive Office building, 2100 Pontiac Lake Road, in Waterford will open May 9 and offer regular walk-in hours after that. The hours for May 9 are 9:30-noon and 1:30-4:30. The business center is on the first floor of Building 41W.

“We usually operate on an appointment-only basis but many entrepreneurs walk into our One Stop Shop with questions on how to get started with their business idea,” says Greg Doyle, supervisor of the One Stop Shop Business Center. “By designating special walk-in days, we hope to reach more entrepreneurs and help them understand their next steps as well as present the resources we can make available to them. Our aim is to get them started quickly in a way that makes the most sense to their unique situation.”

Counselors at the business center can answer specific questions, suggest planning tools and give direction on where to go to solve problems or achieve goals. All sessions are confidential. The counselors have expertise in business development, community planning, financing and market research.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Greg Doyle, supervisor, One Stop Shop Business Center

The Bozeman Watch Company's speciality, limited edition watches and accessories will soon fill a downtown Birmingham store, importing a Michigan native's high-end goods from the Montana and Wyoming showrooms where they're now sold.

Its handmade time pieces are known for their rugged styling -- the B1 Hellcat, Smokejumper GMT and Sidewinder are a few styles that convey manly man adventure. The company is also known for its hand-tooled leather luggage and handbags.

Christopher Wardle, a former Michigan resident started the company in Montana and is expanding from three stores in Bozeman and Whitefish, Montana and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The Birmingham store opens May 1 on Pierce Street in the spot formerly occupied by Stacy Leuliette home accessories, says Ed Nakfoor, spokesman for the Birmingham Principal Shopping District.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Ed Nakfoor, spokesman, Birmingham Principal Shopping District

The menu at a new restaurant in Royal Oak is striving to show that what it serves can come from close to home and not from a box.

Local 212 -- the 212 comes from its address on Fifth Avenue in downtown Royal Oak -- opened just over a week ago and the reception to the shrimp from Okemos (there's a farm there), the Northern Michigan boar, Michigan chestnuts on a baby spinach salad and grilled cheese on Detroit Avalon bread has been hearty.

When the Royal Oak Farmers Market opens veggies will come from there and other farmers. All the sausage and bacon is made in house at Local 212 and the slider patties are ground in the kitchen too.

The meats served at Local 212 come from local farmers through Sparrow's Market in Ann Arbor. Local 212 also serves beer and wine, many made locally and around the state, as well as from places around the world.

While there are plenty of ingredients not from Michigan, none are processed.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Jenna Goudrea, general manager, Local 212