The Walking Horse Gallery has joined the growing art scene in Old Town Lansing. Walking Horse Owner Arminda Presgrove opened her Turner Street gallery in October 2007, and is already thinking about expanding her services.

“I kept looking at Old Town for a possible move because I love it down here,” Presgrove says about opening up in the artsy north Lansing neighborhood. “This was my downtown when I was little. When I first came here, it was like a homecoming.”

Other business owners and the Old Town community have welcomed Presgrove with open arms.

Though Presgrove gets clients from all over the country, she wants to offer something a little extra for locals, which is why she’s going to start hosting art classes in the back of her store.

Presgrove plans to release her first art class schedule in early 2008. Presgrove says she may teach some of the classes herself. She is an artist and displays her work along with other local art work in her store.

Source: Jamie Schriner-Hooper, Old Town Commercial Association

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here. 

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

Mama Bear’s Café and organic food restaurant in Old Town opened in August 2007, but its unique atmosphere, healthy food and enticing pastries are already attracting people from all over the region.

“I was kind of surprised by how many families and students from East Lansing and Okemos came in,” says Mama Bear’s co-owner Cecilia Garcia.

Garcia chose the 1224 Turner St Old Town location because it’s close enough to her house that she can walk to work. Support from the Old Town Commercial Association and her Old Town business neighbors also prompted her to take up the 2,300 square foot space.

Mama Bear’s is very much a part of the Old Town community. This month Mama Bear staffers are taking classes at Old Town Hilltop and Old Town Pilate's to get in shape and support local businesses. New, healthy organic recipes designed by Mama Bear’s employees will also be added to the menu.

Source: Jamie Schriner-Hooper, Old Town Commercial Association

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here. 

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

Hilltop Yoga owner Hilaire Lockwood recently opened her second Hilltop Yoga studio in a 1,600 square foot building in Lansing's Old Town.

Lockwood says she opened the 108 East Grand River Avenue studio to accommodate the 13 teachers and growing client base of her Haslett-based Hilltop Yoga location.

“I want to hold on to these teachers that want to stick around with us. These people are amazing not only as people, but as teachers,” she says.

Lockwood says the Haslett location gains an average of five clients a week, a growth rate she expects to extend to the Old Town location. Lockwood looked at expanding in East Lansing, but settled on Old Town because she loves the area.

Lockwood lived, trained and taught yoga in Los Angeles for 15 years before moving back to East Lansing area, which is where she grew up.

“Old Town reminded me very much of L.A. and I loved that. Also, the community is amazing,” she says.

Source: Hilaire Lockwood, Hilltop Yoga

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

If things go as planned, Amy Zander will complete her renovation of a 7,000 square foot warehouse in Lansing's Old Town, and the new Zander’s Old Town Brewery will be open for business by then end of 2008.

Zander says the brewery will have at least seven brews and will include a limited food menu. Zander and her husband Chris are moving from northern Michigan to the Lansing area to open the brewery. Both Zanders went to Michigan State University (MSU), lived in the area for 10 years and are ready to return to their roots.

Zander says she and Chris were sold on Old Town after they held a successful tasting there in March.

“We were phenomenally received,” Zander says. “Everyone liked our beer and we got nothing but positive comment cards.”

Chris is the experienced brewer. He started brewing beer in college and graduated from the Siebel Institute of Technology and World Brewing Academy in Chicago. His concoctions will be available at a free beer tasting Saturday, Jan. 12 at the brewery’s 319 Clinton St. location. The tasting is open to the public and starts at 5 p.m.

Source: Amy Zander, Zander’s Old Town Brewery

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.