Investment : Development News

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

Old Town’s Portable Feast is now the Pastry Palette, a restaurant that offers a similar menu to Portable Feast, but with a sweeter twist.

“I do have a lot more pastries and baked goods,” says Pastry Palette's Vicky Morgan. The new sweet treats include brownies and gourmet cupcakes. “There are similarities, but also differences.”

Morgan and her husband William purchased the business at the end of 2009. Due to Old Town’s 2007 IKEA makeover, which added a new flair to many of Old Town’s businesses including the former Portable Feast, renovations were unnecessary.

“We’ve always wanted to own a place like this,” Morgan says. “When we saw this was for sale, we just jumped at it. It was a dream come true.”

Pastry Palette is a traditional family business. Morgan even recruited her nephew Travis Dominguez, who was living in Tennessee, to help out.

Morgan wants to expand the company’s catering sector,which she says has been going fairly well.

“We’re hoping that’s the part of the business that really starts picking up,” she says. “I think that will bring us through the slow time of the year.”

Pastry Palette is located at 1216 Turner St.

Source: Vicky Morgan, Pastry Palette

Writer: Ivy Hughes 

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

East Lansing has a unique consignment store that includes a small lounge area, a large TV tuned to ESPN and a lot of suits.

The Man Store is a high-end consignment store for men only and includes name brand clothing, sporting gear and some jewelry. The 6,000 square foot  building was a Hollywood Video before Kellie Johnson opened The Man Store.

“I’ve never seen another men’s-only store,” says Johnson about what she perceives as an untapped market. “I certainly haven’t seen one around here.”

Johnson, who also opened four-year-old K2 Boutique, a high-boutique geared toward women, also offers style assistance.

“A lot of men don’t know how to dress or don’t take the time to dress and we help with that,” she says. “No one does that anymore.”

The Man Store is located st 2786 E. Grand River in East Lansing near Tom’s Party Store.

“We wanted to be on Grand River,” Johnson says. “Women will find K2, but for men it needs to be right there.”

Johnson is gradually adding a furniture consignment spinoff to the space next to The Man Store.

Source: Kellie Johnson, The Man Store

Writer: Ivy Hughes 

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

Regency Beauty Institute is opening its fifth Michigan campus in Lansing. Plans are to renovate its 6,361 square foot space at 3415 W. Saginaw in time for March enrollment.

“We’re continually adding new campuses across the country and we’re always looking for communities where we think there will be demand for our particular approach to cosmetology,” says Paul Ariloff, vice president of marketing. “We don’t have any campuses in Lansing and this was a natural community to expand into.”

Regency Beauty Institute is a Minnesota-based cosmetology education company that has more than 62 campuses located in more than 15 states.

The school will bring some jobs to the area. Ariloff says the school will likely hire five to six local instructors and central staff for its March opening.

“For years the employment and growth in cosmetology has very closely mirrored population growth and often gets tagged as a recession-proof career,” Ariloff says.

Class sizes are dependent on enrollment, which rotates every four weeks for the full-time program. Ariloff says students are already showing interest in the Lansing school. The facility has two classrooms and a performance floor.

Source: Paul Ariloff, Regency Beauty

Writer: Ivy Hughes

The Michigan Association for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MADHH) moved from Lansing Township to Lansing’s Westside at the end of 2010, a change MADHH Executive Director Nan Asher says will give members greater access to the association.

“Size-wise, it’s the same, but the floor plan is a little better,” Asher says about the 1,600 5236 Dumond Ct. location. “We’re hoping to expand our services at this location.”

The MADHH provides multiple service to those with hearing loss including parental group education and interpretation. Asher wants to expand services to include remote video interpretation for those residing in locations such as the Upper Peninsula.

“We’ll be able to handle more functions at a centralized location,” she says. “These groups are statewide and this relates to our mission to help people.”

Source: Nan Asher, MADHH

Writer: Ivy Hughes

First there was 110 Grand River. Then 1220 N. Washington Ave. Now there’s 1221 Turner St.

In less than a year, against the Grain (atG) has opened three shops in Old Town Lansing. atG is a studio and sustainable millworks company that creates eco-friendly woodwork, flooring and furniture.

The company first moved from Eaton Rapids to 110 Grand River about a year ago. Now the nexus of the company’s studio space occupies 5,000 square foot on Washington Avenue. The third building, the 1221 Turner St. location, was recently acquired and will serve as a living showroom for atG work.

“I came down here for the community,” says atG's Jay Belous about his decision to move and expand in Old Town. “I really liked it down here and when we opened the small show room, the owners and the building owners really took to it.”

atG is renovating 1221 Turner, an 1,100 square foot space and future showroom. Belous says the company hopes to eventually open an industrial arts school in the area.

atG recently added a full-time industrial designer for interior furniture and is designing a sustainable bed and breakfast in Ann Arbor.

Source: Jay Belous, owner of atG,

Writer: Ivy Hughes

Queue, a Downtown Lansing-based advertising company, just finished Advertising180.net, a site that offers online advertising how-tos for business owners who want quick, cost-effective advertising solutions.

Advertising180.net is a subscription service that’s run through Queue. Users have access to multiple four-minute videos about media planning, ad copy writing and other advertising components.

Queue Owner Lori Cunningham says Advertising180.net, a project Queue employees worked on for more than a year, is a way for the company to diversify.

“What we’ve found is that, as the economy shrank, and more and more people are being let go from larger agencies or media outlets like radio and TV, they’re starting their own businesses, so everyone seems to be a competitor,” says Cunningham.

Cunningham says many small businesses don’t have the resources to invest in advertising, but do have the ability to learn basic advertising principles.

“Everything’s on the website and it’s at their fingertips 24/7,” she says. “It really is an agency on-line for a low, annual subscription cost.”

The service costs $249 to $199 a year and gives users access to more than 20 videos. Cunningham says videos are constantly being added.

“This is very innovative,” she says. “We can’t find anything like it.”

Source: Lori Cunningham, Advertising 180

Writer: Ivy Hughes

After operating an animal clinic in Alma, Mich. for 16 years, Tom Armstrong decided to open a second location in Stockbridge.

Armstrong wasn’t looking to add a practice, but found himself purchasing a 1,000 square foot clinic that was closing.

“In going through it, my wife and I and [our] office manager saw some potential there to do some good things,” Armstrong says. “It would have been sad to see that practice go, and it seemed the community could support a practice so we sort of took it on.”

When Armstrong purchased the building, he hired a new staff and completely renovated the building.

“So far so good,” Armstrong says about business. “Anytime you’re starting what essentially amounts to a new venture you get a little worked up about how it’s going to go.”

Stockbridge Animal Clinic is a full service animal hospital and is located at 214 S. Center St.

Source: Tom Armstrong, Stockbridge Animal Clinic

Writer: Ivy Hughes

Simplified Tax’s new 3,600 square foot Charlotte location, as well its 15 new part-time staffers, will help the tax company get through the ensuing months of filing madness.

Simplified Tax opened first opened in Lansing in the late 60s and has since expanded to Owasso, Williamston and DeWitt. The 15 tax season staffers will be distributed across the branches.

“Over the years we’ve opened a number of satellite offices and we were looking for a new location west of Lansing,” says Ryan Lowe, Simplified Tax office manager. “We didn’t want to be in Grand Ledge or the west Saginaw area because it’s more suburban than Lansing. Charlotte is kind of its own community.”

Simplified Tax renovated the original Carnegie Library building in Charlotte before moving in, restoring the original woodwork and making improvements to the outside of the building. The library served as a law office before Simplified Tax took over.

“We’re growing and the service we provide is something that everyone needs,” Lowe says. “What differentiates us from national chains is that we’re quite a bit more private. When we meet with someone we meet in a private office.”

One third of the building is available for commercial space. Simplified Tax is located at 200 N. Cochran Ave. in Charlotte.

Source: Ryan Lowe, Simplified Tax

Writer: Ivy Hughes