‘Tis the Season to Shop Local

‘Tis the Season to Shop Local

by | Oct 31, 2018 | LBN Community Series, Small Business

’Tis the Season to
Shop Local

31

OCTOBER 2018

EDITOR’S NOTE: Local Business News Executive Editor Glenn Gilbert discussed LBN’s ’Tis the Season to Shop Local campaign with LBN Publisher Guy Williams. Here is an account of their conversation.

GLENN GILBERT
LBN EXECUTIVE EDITOR

LBN PUBLISHER GUY WILLIAMS WITH VICTORIA KNIGHT, GENERAL MANGER FROM THE ST. CROIX SHOP

\

GLENN: You have suggested that people shop local for Christmas — meaning patronize locally owned, Main Street retailers as opposed to big box or online retailers. Why do you feel this way? GUY: Small local businesses have struggled to compete with corporate chains for decades. Hardest hit have been independent retailers. Now the Internet has created even more competition for them. Local stores with one or two locations can’t compete on price with Amazon or Walmart. However, mom-and-pop businesses survive and thrive because the owners are so passionate about what they do and consumers embrace that. Studies show that, 96 percent of consumers think local businesses beat national chains on personalizing service. In fact, a study last year stated that “local businesses should compete on service/quality, not price; 72 percent of consumers are willing to pay a local business more for better quality work.”

GLENN: Do you feel LBN’s campaign will benefit local communities and their residents  more than would shopping wherever one pleases? GUY: It’s more than a feeling, there are statistics to back it up. When we interviewed Constance Logan, the district director of the Michigan Small Business Administration, back in May, she shared some interesting facts, such as: “when you shop local, each dollar you spend at independent businesses returns three times more money to the local economy than one dollar spent at a chain.” As we launch the ’Tis the Season to Shop Local campaign, those numbers really add up when you consider that if each household simply redirected just $100 of planned holiday spending from chain stores to locally owned merchants, the local economic impact would reach approximately $10 million.

“It’s as simple as this: including neighborhood businesses in your everyday shopping helps the community. A larger percentage of those dollars stay local when you spend locally.”

GLENN: Do you have statistics to back up local retailers impact on the community? If it is true that patronizing local retailers benefits the local community, why would this not also be true of shopping at the so-called big-box stores located in one’s community? GUY: It’s as simple as this: including neighborhood businesses in your everyday shopping helps the community. A larger percentage of those dollars stay local when you spend locally. To quote Ms. Logan again, “We have 870,301 small businesses in Michigan.  Those small businesses employ 1.8 million and created 66,240 net new jobs.” More information can be found at https://www.amiba.net/resources/localhero/.

GLENN: Is it really realistic to suggest that all shopping needs can be met by local, mom-and-pop businesses?

GUY: No, that isn’t the point. We don’t need to completely abandon corporate shopping or chain restaurants to improve things for local businesses. It’s more an issue of balance. I think more people would patronize more of their local businesses if they were more aware of them. The biggest disadvantage mom-and-pop business owners have is their lack of marketing funds along with a lack of marketing know-how. The majority of the business owners that I know are razor focused on creating the product or service that they offer. Most are not becoming millionaires, the truth is that, 86.3 percent of small business owners said they take a yearly salary of less than $100k. 30.07 percent of small business owners don’t take a salary. (Source: Fundera 2017.)

As our lives become more global, our focus is becoming more local. Many studies suggest that consumers who have said that they would like to buy local, also said that it’s difficult sometimes finding a local business that can meet their needs. Of the many hats that small business owners wear, marketing is most often the most difficult one to master. Marketing is only expensive when it doesn’t work, and when you don’t know what you’re doing it doesn’t work most times, regardless of your budget.

GLENN: Do you feel that locally owned retailers can turn the clock back and regain their previous ascendancy? GUY: America is very different than it was 50 or 75 years ago and so is retailing. The only time in history when civilization went backwards was during the Dark Ages. We are constantly moving forward, so hoping that retail will suddenly move back to what it was is not very realistic. This forward movement results in change, which often causes fear of the unknown. Retailing has always changed; it’s typically entrepreneurs that embrace technology and use it to separate themselves from their competitors. Retailing icons like Macy, Kresge, Walton and now Bezos have changed the face of retail in their times. each of these retailers have faced experts warning of dire consequences that never seems to materialize.

I read an article the other day about Amazon’s new stores, Amazon Go (https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/10/03/tech/amazon-go/index.html). These stores have no checkout line, cashiers or waiting. The technology allows you to shop and then walk out with your items that are automatically scanned and you’re billed to your phone after leaving the store. Today I can understand how some people could see this as the nail in the coffin of small retailers. However, once the technology is available and affordable to mom-and-pop businesses, it could be just the thing they need to compete.

GLENN: What is the future of retailing? GUY: When I look into my crystal ball, I see a very vibrant retail industry that includes many small local businesses. I believe that mom-and-pop store owners are embracing technology like never before and that will continue and accelerate with the next generation of shop owners. Today, 51 percent of owners of small businesses are 50 to 88 years old, 33 percent are 35 to 49 and only 16 percent are 35 years old and under. As the next generations of local business owners emerge, their understanding and comfort with technology will help them better succeed.

SEE OUR PREVIOUS ARTICLE ON SMALL BUSINESS

No Results Found

The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.

Mid-Century Modern, Present-Day Cool

Mid-Century Modern, Present-Day Cool

by | Oct 24, 2018 | Clawson, LBN Community Series, ModMart

Mid-Century Modern, Present-Day Cool

25

OCTOBER 2018
BY REBECCA CALAPPI

LBN Community Series
Clawson

The market for mid-century modern designs is on fire and Modmart Detroit is the epicenter for all things Bertoia, Eames and Wegner.

Catering to a devout following of mid-century modernism, Modmart Detroit offers carefully presented furniture, home décor and even furniture refinishing.

BRIAN LAUNDROCHE, LOREN WEINER & DAN LAUNDROCHE

CO-OWNERS OF MODMART DETROIT

“We also take a lot of pride in knowing we’re rescuing furniture that is going extinct and bringing it back to life,” said co-owner Loren Weiner. “People do want to display them in their nice houses because it’s the pieces they want. There’s also an aspect that these pieces are so highly collectible. They want people to look at their furniture and say, ‘Oh yeah that’s original.’”

The Clawson store wasn’t always devoted to mid-century modern. Decades ago, it was a machine shop, which was converted into a furniture refinishing business by brothers Brian and Dan Laundroche.

The brothers worked in the building for 15 years, adding an antique storefront. However, it attracted more garage sale-type business, instead of clientele who want to make major home purchases.

That’s when the Laundroches met Weiner.

Wiener is an artist and interior designer. She would bring pieces to the Laundroches to refinish for her clients.

“It used to be Affordable Solution resale shop, but the main business was always the finishing,” said Brian Laundroche. “Loren suggested we go to mid-century modern and here we are. It just happened to work out the two go hand in hand. We’ve progressed a lot.”

Now, the three are co-owners of ModMart Detroit.

The store is arranged in small vignettes, much how furniture would be in a home. Couches and chairs are matched with end tables, lamps, chairs and chandeliers. Vases, candlesticks, bar ware and area rugs complete the look for shoppers, making it easy to imagine each piece in their home.

“When customers are leaving the store happy, that’s a good feeling,” said Brian Laundroche.

Sidney Rausch is a nurse from Royal Oak. She wandered into ModMart Detroit looking for a couch.

“I just love the style of this place, I love all the items they have for sale. I haven’t found a place like it that sells this style of furniture. Especially if you have your heart set on something, I feel like you’d find it here,” Rausch said. “It’s a call back to a different era and we’re still honoring it. So much has changed, but these have a very classy, elegant look to them.”

From tulip tables and square-backed couches to vintage bar sets and tangerine-colored everything, mid-century modern design runs in the Laundroche family. The brothers are relatives of Harry Bertoia, who’s signature wire chairs are familiar to just about anyone who remembers the 60s and 70s, even if the name doesn’t ring a bell.

“We’ve just always been hands on. We were the kids painting bikes hanging in the garage,” said Brian Laundroche, whose mother is Bertoia’s niece. “I’ve been finishing my whole life. We were painting something or doing something since we were 10 years old.”

Modmart Detroit offers consignment, furniture sales, refinishing and even design consultation. “We’re very passionate about rescuing the furniture. It’s very important for people to know they can consign furniture. It’s good for them to give us a call. There could be hidden treasures out there,” said Brian Laundroche. “On the other hand, there’s a lot of people into this mid-century modern, where they think their item is worth more than it really is worth.”

Weiner continued, “A lot of times people don’t realize their stuff has value. Rather than just donating it, you could sell it and donate the money.”

[metaslider id=”44158″]

According to Weiner, many people come in looking for work by Danish designers. “Our store mainly focuses on the 50s and 60s and our clients are looking specifically for Danish Modern,” she said. “I learn about a new designer all the time, then I obsess. I’m really lucky where this is my passion and hobby. I’m a purist.”

Weiner and Laundroche also encourage people to take pictures of their treasures and email them to modmartdetroit@gmail.com to find out if there’s any interest. However, the shop only considers items that are specifically from the mid-century era and it has to be modern design.

 

In the refinishing area, the brothers refinish wood and metal items and even create their own lighting fixtures, which can be custom made to order.

“When you’re refinishing a piece, you have to honor the design of it, otherwise it loses its value,” said Brian Laundroche. “I have to match the application and color and in some cases, it can be tricky.”

Mostly, the Modmart Detroit team aims to make customers happy. Customers on the hunt for a certain piece can work with Weiner to have it sourced, and families cleaning out grandma’s attic can call and one of the Modmart owners will go to the house and determine anything of value.

“When customers are leaving the store happy, that’s a good feeling,” said Brian Laundroche.

932 West 14 Mile
Clawson, Michigan 48017
(248) 757-4663
modmartdetroit.com

jfklsadjfklsjdklfjs

sdjfksdjfklsad

fasdjklfjsad

fj

asjdf

ksjdaf

kjsdk

fjsa

dkjf

sadjfjf

ksadj

[et_bloom_inline optin_id=”optin_5″]

LATEST CLAWSON POSTS

Dentists All Smiles Over Merger

Dentists All Smiles Over Merger

by | Oct 24, 2018 | Birmingham, LBN Community Series, Total Dental Fitness

Dentists All Smiles Over Merger
24
OCTOBER 2018
BY REBECCA CALAPPI
LBN Community Series
Birmingham
Scott Meldrum, D.D.S., was looking to slow down.

Glen Maylath, D.D.S., wasn’t actively looking to merge his practice with someone else.

But in June, the long-time friends and colleagues combined their dental practices creating Total Dental Fitness, and so far, it’s working beautifully.

GLEN MAYLATH, D.D.S (l) & SCOTT MELDRUM, D.D.S. (R)

CO-OWNERS OF TOTAL DENTAL FITNESS
“I mentioned it to Glen, and he said, ‘Why don’t you come work for me?’ I looked at the office, thought it was exquisite, merged all my clientele here and I think it’s been fairly successful,” said Dr. Meldrum.

Dr. Maylath agrees.

“We’ve known each other for a long time, and it just turned out,” Dr. Maylath said.

Andrea Kowalyk, 44, has been a patient of Dr. Meldrum since she was a child.  She said she was uncertain when she heard about the new business relationship.

“I was nervous,” Kowalyk said. “I really trust Dr. Meldrum. Then he merged with Dr. Maylath and he’s great. I could be alright now if Dr. Meldrum chooses to retire. Both dentists are great at making sure nothing hurts you and treating you like you have a brain in your head They have great bedside manner and are very compassionate at what they do.”

For many years, Dr. Meldrum worked out of an office on Elm in Birmingham. He bought that practice in 1978 from his then father-in-law, whose family had owned the practice since the 1930s. Now, the two dentists work out of offices at 50 W. Big Beaver Road.

They offer the full spectrum of dental care for the whole family including a fully digital experience using leading-edge technology, same-day crowns and even some orthodontics.

“I think the biggest difference in our two practices is how my practice was a very small, old-fashioned dental practice,” said Dr. Meldrum. “We had one small computer, but most things were done on paper. I moved from the 1980s to the 21st century in one afternoon. Everything here is digital as much as possible. The instant modernization is the biggest change.”

Having worked solo for many years, the new business partners are enjoying talking shop.

“We want to make it a fun, positive experience. When they’re in the dental chair, we really engage them so they have a good time.”
“There’s certain dynamics of having other eyes looking at something,” said Dr. Maylath. “It’s nice to be able to have a different viewpoint or reaffirm a viewpoint.”

Said Dr. Meldrum, “I’ve always worked by myself. It’s fun to have a colleague to talk about dentistry in general. He and I can be candid when we’re in the back room eating lunch.”

While dentistry is the bread and butter of their business, they occasionally stumble into something much deeper. Dr. Maylath remembers patients who thought they were having teeth issues, but it turned out to be a brain aneurysm, multiple sclerosis and even a brain abscess.

While Dr. Meldrum has worked mostly by himself, Dr. Maylath went into the army after dental school and worked with other professionals on a daily basis.

“After dental school, I was in the army at different dental facilities. There were different dentists trained in different parts of the country, and that opened new options,” said Dr. Maylath.

A Paw Paw, Michigan, native, he knew he wanted to be a dentist in eighth grade. After attending Kalamazoo College and then University of Detroit-Mercy for dental school, Dr. Maylath was posted on an army air base in Germany for six of his seven years in the service. He also served at an evacuation hospital during operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield.

“When I came back to Birmingham over 20 years ago, I decided that if I’m going to establish a practice, why don’t I make everything digital. We’ve been doing it for more than 20 years. My whole goal is to stay on the leading edge with crowns in a day and laser dentistry,” he said. “Whether it’s new technology or something that’s been done for many years, we still treat people how we want to be treated. That’s key. And that aspect doesn’t change whatever the technology is.”

[metaslider id=”44050″]
That philosophy mirrors Dr. Meldrum’s.

 “It doesn’t make a big difference in how I fix someone’s tooth. But it helps with the business,” said Dr. Meldrum. “It was tough for me to get used to, but now I’m used to it and it’s more efficient.”

Total Dental Fitness is also supported by Diana McQuirter, D.D.S., who sees patients a few days a week.

 

The practice is an experience. Patients can use video games, such as a snowboarding simulator, in the waiting room before or after their appointment. Parents appreciate the distraction for the whole family.

“We want to engage the patient,” said Dr. Maylath. “We want to make it a fun, positive experience. When they’re in the dental chair, we really engage them so they have a good time. When they see what happens, they tell their friends and they refer their friends.”

Read our previous story about Dr. Scott Meldrum:

https://localbiznews.net/dentists-old-school-approach-puts-focus-on-people/

50 W. Big Beaver Road
Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
248-642-5020
totaldentalfitness.com
jfklsadjfklsjdklfjs

sdjfksdjfklsad

fasdjklfjsad

fj

asjdf

ksjdaf

kjsdk

fjsa

dkjf

sadjfjf

ksadj

[et_bloom_inline optin_id=”optin_5″]

LATEST TROY POSTS

At Scrubbers, Dogs and Cats are Groovin’ to the Grooming

At Scrubbers, Dogs and Cats are Groovin’ to the Grooming

by | Oct 18, 2018 | LBN Community Series, Royal Oak, Scrubbers Dog Wash

At Scrubbers, Dogs and Cats Are Groovin’ to the Grooming

18

OCTOBER 2018
BY PATTY LANOUE STEARNS

LBN Community Series
Royal Oak

Just off the corner of Webster and Woodward in Royal Oak, a steady parade of customers is streaming into Scrubbers, fur babies in tow, all of the latter in need of a good bath.

Dennielle McIver, a Royal Oak MS LPC (Master of Science, Licensed Professional Counselor) just popped in with Happy, an adorable Pomsky puppy that she is training to be an emotional support dog. The Pomeranian/Husky mix, hugging McIver like a baby, is a ball of thick black fur. Today is his first grooming.

Ilza Berzins comes in just after McIver, toting her Cockapoo, Fifi, and her Havanese, Lula. The Beverly Hills dog owner says she’s been a Scrubbers customer for a year, for trims and other grooming. “They’re great here—always on time, and they do a good job,” she says, holding both dogs.

NIKKI BUDAJ-CHATFIELD

CO-OWNER OF SCRUBBERS DOG WASH

Buster—aka The Shop Dog—an 11-year-old terrier-mix rescued from the Michigan Humane Society, pads out near the front desk, sniffing the thrice-his-size Godendoodle that’s just come in. As each new dog enters, the barking amps up. Buster, who belongs to Scrubbers groomer Candace Jude, seems cool with that.

Amid all of this canine cacophony is Nikki Budaj-Chatfield, 32, herself an oasis of calm. The mother of two young children and co-owner of this and two other Scrubbers locations in Oakland County stands at the counter, fielding new customers, phone calls and questions. The barking doesn’t faze her. She knows once the dogs relax, they get into the groove and come out clean and manicured in the end.

Cats are welcome here, too, for professional nail and other trimming, shaving, bathing and brushing. “As long as owners are comfortable bathing their cats, they’re welcome for self-serve as well,” says Budaj-Chatfield.

While most clients are leaving their pets with the grooming staff for nail trims and other primping this morning, they’re welcome to do their own, seven days a week. Scrubbers offers five tubs with shampoo, face wash, combs, rakes, scrubbers and even mouthwash, plus fluffy towels and blow-dry stations to make Fluffy even fluffier.

“It’s great to build relationships with our customers and recognize them when they come in. The customers really appreciate that.”

The tubs are large enough to accommodate Scrubbers’ biggest canine customer, a 240- pound English Mastiff.

Budaj-Chatfield bought Scrubbers in May of 2012 as a turnkey business from its previous owner. “He was afraid the business was going to plateau, but we doubled the business within six months,” says Nikki. 

Scrubbers has been growing ever since, adding locations in West Bloomfield, where she grew up, and Rochester Hills, the newest, almost a year old. Now the Royal Oak location is expanding 1,200 more square feet to the suite next door, with four new grooming tables, two tubs and a blow-dry and crate area, all of which should be completed by November.

“We’ve just rebranded ourselves so we can to get into franchising,” says Budaj-Chatfield. She and her husband, co-owner Jim Chatfield, 50, plan to franchise locations starting in early 2019.

The couple met when she bought Scrubbers. “He was the previous owner’s best friend. He was helping out to teach me the business, we became good friends, and then things just happened. I always joke that I bought the husband and got a free business.”

Budaj-Chatfield has always loved animals. She rescued her first dog from a shelter when she was 18, and while attending Western Michigan University as a nursing student, she eventually fostered and adopted out 35 cats and dogs through the Kalamazoo County Animal Rescue.

[metaslider id=”43973″]

That experience changed her career path. “I decided I didn’t like (taking care of) people,” she laughs. “I like animals way better.”

After college, she moved back home and immediately started training as a groomer for the now-defunct Aussie Pet Mobile. “The girl who trained me back in 2009 is now my grooming manager, Crystal Goldsmith,” says Budaj-Chatfield, whose employees number 15 to 20 during most months. “I love my employees—everybody is family here.”

While there are many challenges as a small business owner, Budaj-Chatfield says the joys outweigh the perils: “It’s always a fast-paced job, we’re not sitting behind a desk, rotting away. It’s a physical job, so we’re always up and moving.”

She says her favorite part of the job is that she gets to play with dogs all day, despite the janitorial duties that go along with it. “We’re constantly cleaning floors, doing laundry.”

Plus, she adds, “It’s great to build relationships with our customers and recognize them when they come in. The customers really appreciate that.”

Prices for professional grooming vary due to the dog type, coat and condition, from about $35 to $150 for double-coated breeds.

2713 W. Webster
Royal Oak, MI 48073
248.584.3647
scrubbersdogwash.com
jfklsadjfklsjdklfjs

sdjfksdjfklsad

fasdjklfjsad

fj

asjdf

ksjdaf

kjsdk

fjsa

dkjf

sadjfjf

ksadj

[et_bloom_inline optin_id=”optin_5″]

LATEST ROYAL OAK POSTS

Ciot in Troy Readies State-of-the-Art Warehouse/Showroom for Nature’s Masterpieces – and Much More

Ciot in Troy Readies State-of-the-Art Warehouse/Showroom for Nature’s Masterpieces – and Much More

by | Oct 17, 2018 | Detroit Ciot, LBN Community Series, Troy

Ciot in Troy Readies State-of-the-Art Warehouse/Showroom for Nature’s Masterpieces – and Much More
17
OCTOBER 2018
BY HONEY MURRAY
LBN Community Series
Troy
Jeff Glasener, Vice President of Detroit Ciot in Troy, grins, rubs his eyes, and quickly straightens his sport coat — a tweed that blends some of the same colors as the majestic slabs of stone that surround him.
“We closed a very important deal early this morning, and I just received the contract. Luckily,” he chuckles, “our lawyer will help with those 50 pages!”

Ciot, the stone, tile, and specialty design company begun in Montreal 68 years ago, is celebrating the tenth anniversary of Troy’s Detroit Ciot, its first showroom in the United States, and they’ve been so successful here that they are constructing – and have almost completed – a 55,000 square-foot warehouse and showroom, dedicated only to slabs (man-made, or of stone, glass, composites).

JEFF GLASENER

VICE PRESIDENT OF DETROIT CIOT IN TROY

“Though we offer an endless variety of tile for builders and homeowners,” says Glasener, “our focus area is primarily stone and slabs. Our current, 10,000 square-foot slab gallery is beautiful and holds 1000 slabs. We also have inventory in four other buildings. Our new warehouse will house 10,000 slabs.”

“In states like Florida or California,” Glasener explains, “slabs can typically remain outdoors. Some suppliers store them in Quonset huts or other dingy structures. But in Michigan’s freeze-thaw environment, the material needs to be protected. And our new warehouse-and-showroom is definitely state-of-the-art!”

The outside walls will be clad in slabs and glass.

“It’s designed with a whole new standard of displaying and showcasing the slabs,” says Glasener.

These exotic natural and manufactured slabs are used by over 200 local fabricators to offer designers, builders, and homeowners the precise material to personalize and beautify anything from a countertop, wall, furnishing, floor, or door frame to a corporate lobby, exterior structure, or even to create a work of art.

“We love our fabricators.” Glasener says. “The projects they complete with our products and designs are amazing!”

Glasener also loves the business of stone, which he has been in since he was sixteen.

“My dad, who owned a Chicago ad agency and had several factory owners as clients, always got me summer jobs at those factories when I was a teenager,” he explains. “One day, after I’d been crawling around inside a boiler, cleaning it out, my dad had me run an errand for him to a tile and stone company.”

“We’re not a typical tile or slab company,” says Spielmann. “Ciot is a fashion-forward, trendsetting powerhouse. We sell exquisite hard surfaces instead of fabric and cloth.”
“When that owner saw me in the state I was in,” he continues, “he said, ‘Hey! How would you like a different job? You can start here tomorrow!’  So, I did. After two weeks I was on the floor selling stone and, eventually, was president of a national stone company for 25 years. Now I am here, and it is great to be working at Ciot during such growth.”

Company-wide, Ciot imports over 2500 containers of stone and slab per year – and each container’s area is 5000 square feet.

The stone is gathered from more than 30 countries. Several times a year, owner and architect Benny Spielmann travels to Spain, Brazil, Israel, Italy, India or Africa and works with his team of stone buyers, who help make mining and purchase decisions.

“Our buyers not only need to be geologists, but they have to understand design and trends. They also help maintain our great relationships with quarries around the world,” Spielmann says. “We hand-select the quartz, granite, marble – and even semiprecious pieces of tiger eye, jasper, amethyst – and often buy it in the shape of large blocks. It’s like jewelry in large scale!”

[metaslider id=”43772″]
The blocks are sent to specialty processing facilities to be cut and polished into slabs.

“We’re not a typical tile or slab company,” says Spielmann. “Ciot is a fashion-forward, trendsetting powerhouse. We sell exquisite hard surfaces instead of fabric and cloth.”

And now those exquisite, hard surfaces – many of them brilliantly jewel-like – will soon have a new, light-filled, multi-million-dollar, elegant space of their own, at Detroit Ciot in Troy.

Ciot Detroit
1080 Coolidge Hwy.
Troy, MI  48084
248-288-8888
ciot.com
jfklsadjfklsjdklfjs

sdjfksdjfklsad

fasdjklfjsad

fj

asjdf

ksjdaf

kjsdk

fjsa

dkjf

sadjfjf

ksadj

[et_bloom_inline optin_id=”optin_5″]

LATEST TROY POSTS

Greek Islands Coney Restaurant in Birmingham: 24 Years of Food, Families, and “Opa!”

Greek Islands Coney Restaurant in Birmingham: 24 Years of Food, Families, and “Opa!”

by | Oct 11, 2018 | Birmingham, Greek Islands, LBN Community Series

Greek Islands Coney Restaurant in Birmingham: 24 years of food, families, and “Opa!”

11

OCTOBER 2018

BY HONEY MURRAY

LBN Community Series
Birmingham

“Opa!” exclaims John Kotsogiannis as he stops by a booth to greet a long-time customer with a warm handshake and a clap on the back. “Where’s your daughter? Still in New York?”

As the two men chat for a moment, John nods his head and smiles at other lunch patrons who are picking up or ordering carry-outs or looking at menus, seated in his restaurant’s newly renovated booths and tables.

“We’ve been in Birmingham for 24 years,” says John. “I’ve seen families grow up here.”

JOHN KOTSOGIANNIS

OWNER OF GREEK ISLANDS CONEY RESTAURANT
IN BIRMINGHAM

Kelli and Mark Stebbins and their four children are one of those families.

“Mark and I walked here today from our home in Bloomfield Township, three miles away,” says Kelli. “We’ve been customers for 20 years! I’d ride my bike and meet Mark here when I was pregnant with our first child.”

“It was so cozy,” she continues. “We’d talk about what our child might be like while we ate what are still our favorites today: a hamburger for me and a gyro for Mark – though we’d often come for breakfast, too!”

“Yes, and with the kids, breakfast always included Mickey Mouse pancakes, which was exotic for them,” Mark chuckles.

“Part of the reason we come,” Mark says, “is the people: John and his fantastic staff. John always has a really positive outlook and a big smile.”

“And,” grins Kelli, “he always let us take four suckers!”

“If kids want to go to a place – even for the suckers,” John laughs, “the parents will follow. It’s about good, fresh food but, also, all about the nice experience.”

“I had a customer yesterday who was in from Miami,” John shares. “He said, ‘We have upscale restaurants, European places, fine dining – but nothing comfortable like this, with good atmosphere, food, and price.’ We just like to treat people the way we like to be treated while serving food we enjoy eating, ourselves.”

“All of our Greek dishes are made from scratch,” states John. “People especially love our homemade spinach pie and our lentil or chicken lemon-rice soup.”

“A lot of people now like to get home quickly after a long day and then eat at home,” Bill says. “So carry-outs—especially salads — are a very large part of our business.”

“And we sell a lot of chicken here. We have a lady who works cleaning chickens all day and then marinating them for 24 hours.”

Their most popular menu item is their Greek Islands Special Salad, with grilled chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, beets, cucumbers, feta cheese, and Greek dressing – which they make themselves and sell in bottles, along with their homemade Ranch dressing.

“We have customers who come from New York and Chicago and buy three, four, five bottles of our dressing,” John says.

Manager Bill Gikas, who grew up with John in Thiva, Greece, adds, “The dressings have no preservatives. And we have low-cal versions, too.”

“All the area schools – the students, parents, teachers — come here to get salads for meetings and to take home, and for catering their all-night parties and other events.”

“A lot of people now like to get home quickly after a long day and then eat at home,” Bill says. “So carry-outs—especially salads — are a very large part of our business.”

“People love that our foods are so fresh. We get produce and other deliveries five times per week,” shares John. “Nothing in our walk-ins is older than two days.”

“And now, our décor is fresh, too,” he continues. “My wife, Mary, chose the colors, the materials: everything! We were closed for eleven days and completed the work, including brand-new bathrooms.”

“I wanted to give Greek Islands a more modern feel, up-to-date and elegant,” explains Mary. “I’m not a designer by trade, so it took me a while…I had a vision and, after lots of tile and paint samples, we got it to work!”

[metaslider id=”43614″]

John’s whole family is involved in the business, along with his original partner, George Stefanakis, and his kitchen manager and newest partner, Ali Zacellari.

“My daughter Marisa, who studied graphic design and product packaging at Michigan State, created our menu,” John says. “And daughter Ana, a true family leader and a nurse anesthetist, keeps us all healthy and in line,” John laughs. “She’s always calling to say ‘Add more salads to the menu!’ And ‘Did you exercise today?’”

“I’ve worked a lot of jobs,” John relates, “starting at American and Lafayette Coney Islands as a teen. I treat people, staff and customers, the way I’d like to be treated. Most of my staff has been with me for years. We do the right thing, always, and we have done so for 24 years.”

“I’d like to be around for another 50,” he jokes. “Well, maybe 25….”

Greek Islands
Coney Restaurant
221 Hamilton Row
Birmingham, MI 48009
248.646.1222
www.greekislandsconey.com/birmingham/

jfklsadjfklsjdklfjs

sdjfksdjfklsad

fasdjklfjsad

fj

asjdf

ksjdaf

kjsdk

fjsa

dkjf

sadjfjf

ksadj

[et_bloom_inline optin_id=”optin_6″]

LATEST BIRMINGHAM POSTS