For Joan Grohar of Clarkston, driving 25 minutes to get her hair done at Bellagio Hair Studio is well worth it.
“It gives you the feeling of space, even though the square footage is not that large. Even when it’s crowded, you still feel like you’re getting personal attention and you get your spa moment,” Grohar stated. “We lived in Bloomfield for years, so I’m adjusting to driving long distances. This is worth it. That receptionist, when she greats you with that smile, it just makes your day.”
Owner Alissa Johnson
It’s what owner Alissa Johnson strives for in her business: calm, relaxing, welcoming.
“I originally opened the salon with a business partner, but now I’m the sole owner,” she recalled. “There’s a lot in a name, so we’d come up with something and look it up. ‘Bellagio,’ came up and I looked it up right away. It’s a place in Italy that represents ease and relaxation. It was like, ‘Oh! That’s exactly what we want.’”
Now, she’s celebrating the five-year anniversary of opening Bellagio.
The salon offers most hair care services including cuts, hair coloring, keratin and smoothing treatments as well as lash and brow tinting and facial waxing. Customers can also make an appointment for Lash Lift, which is a perm for your lashes.
“Clients sit reclined in a chair with their eyes closed,” explained Johnson. “A collagen patch is placed under the eye. Then, a silicone form goes on the lid and the stylist individually combs your lashes over the form. She puts a solution on and wipes it off. Another solution is put on the lashes, and she wipes it off again. Then she tints them. It’s much better than mascara.”
Another specialized service Bellagio offers is threading. “Threading is more of a technique passed down from generation to generation in Middle Eastern cultures. It removes the brow hair with the follicle intact, so it’s less damaging to your skin,” said Johnson. “Threading is a little more uncomfortable, but it’s a smoother finish and it’s definitely an art form. But it’s a personal preference. Threading takes about 15 to 20 minutes for both brows.”
But Bellagio is more than a place to get beautified. “We really wanted to create a space where people feel connected,” shared Johnson.
After working and managing several salons, Johnson and her business partner tired of the chaos and drama that seemed to be part of the business. That’s why the name “Bellagio” was so important to get right. “Even when it’s very busy, it’s not chaotic. Our demeanors are very calm. We all help each other. It can be busy, but it stays fluid,” she said.
Grohar isn’t the only client who notices the warm, soothing difference at Bellagio.
Annemarie Eichberger of Rochester has been Johnson’s client for more than 20 years. She even brings her daughters to Bellagio to have their hair done. “I’ve known Alissa since she was an assistant in another salon and I’ve followed her. I just like how she does her cuts, colors and her demeanor,” explained Eichberger. “It’s a nice atmosphere. Some of the other salons are really loud and there’s a lot of chaos. This is just calm. Everyone’s very friendly. They greet you at the door.”
In addition to traditional salon services, one item not on the menu is client education, but everyone receives it. Stylist Katie Terranova explained, “We educate ourselves on the brands we carry and the techniques and trends in the industry. We were finding with big, brand name products, they started as smaller companies and were bought out. All these brand names have fallen under these big corporate names and they’ve been reformulated. In our recent education, we were reminded of the importance of good, quality ingredients and a good PH balance that comes with them.”
Terranova said now Bellagio carries products sourced within the United States, such as the Detroit Style Company and even Great Lakes Coffee Company.
With 13 stylists, a manager and two receptionists, the team at Bellagio Hair Studio knows Johnson’s mission and vision. “My main goal for everything I was doing behind the chair was servicing my clients,” Johnson said. “We really wanted to go back to what would be considered an old school style. Where people come in, we know their names, we build relationships with clients. It’s more than just hair that we do. It really is cultivating relationships with people.”
Bellagio Hair Studio
1945 W Maple Rd, Troy, MI 48084
248.288.6700 bellagiohairstudio.com
A lot of crazy things can happen in a car wash. Just ask Bruce Milen or his son Jason Milen, second- and third-generation owners of Jax Kar Wash.
Jason & Bruce Milen, Owners of Jax Kar Wash
While they haven’t witnessed anything like the classic “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episode — in which Larry David and Cheryl Hines get stuck in the malfunctioning car wash after she has just downed a dose of colon cleanser — the Milens have their own hilarious stories to laugh about.
Bruce recalls one woman who came in for full service.
“Our final guy put her in the car. She drove off and, unbeknownst to her, one of our guys was still in the back seat.”
Jason remembers one inebriated man who went through with his convertible top down.
They’ve also encountered bags of marijuana left in cars, interiors reeking of pot odor, the guy who laid a gun down on the counter when he was paying for his service (“the cashier freaked out,” he says), and another who left a loaded gun on the seat of the car (“we had to call the customer to get it out—we won’t touch them,” Jason says).
And then, says Bruce, there was the pet owner whose dog had just pooped on the floor, and she left the pile there for the attendants to deal with.
Just another day at Jax.
Effervescent cashier Rose Thompkins greets customers in Jax’s bustling waiting area in Birmingham with the big windows and the long racks that hold everything from candy bars to car mats. Air fresheners are big sellers. The most popular scent among the 25 or so types Jax sells, according to Thompkins, is Little Tree’s Black Ice.
“Definitely Black Ice,” a customer at the register agrees. “It’s good and neutral.”
Here you can also find cell phone accessories, auto wax, towels and cold drinks. Jason says the front stuff isn’t a big part of the business, it’s just for customer convenience.
Marty Weissman watches the steam and suds through the window, waiting for his Mercedes SUV to emerge from the conveyor blower.
“I’ve been coming here for 10 years,” Weissman says, “and this place ranks better than most for the service and the way you can get in and out quickly.”
Weissman, who lives a few blocks from the car wash, is a member of Jax’s Unlimited Club Plan, for which he pays $35 a month. That gives him up to twice-daily full-service (inside and out) washings and discounts on special services, detailing and merchandise. Today, a radio frequency identification reader (RFID) scanned the FastPass sticker at the bottom of his rear windshield after he entered the car wash, without having to hand someone cash — moving things along even more swiftly.
Somewhere, Jack Milen, who founded Jax in 1953 at the corner of Six Mile and Meyers in Detroit, is smiling at the innovations his son Bruce, 70, and grandson Jason, 48, have implemented since his passing in 2003: The RFID scanner; the super-suds, eco-friendly detergents; the ability to use credit cards for monthly payments (Jax had a Club Plan starting in 1956, but because credit cards had not been invented, customers had to pay a yearly fee up front); and the addition of the exterior-only option, so customers can stay in their cars.
“It’s less expensive and appeals to a whole different market,” says Jason.
Over 65 years, the Jax motto, “always put the customer first,” has served the company well, although there was a short, regrettable period when that wasn’t the case: In 1998, the family sold the business to a national chain, which ignored the customer and tried but failed to take the company public. Bruce bought Jax back in 2001, and it has stayed on track ever since. Bruce and Jason both run it together. Bruce does day-to-day operations. Jason does marketing and is in charge of social media.
Jason remembers working for Bruce every Sunday when he was 8 or 9 years old.
“I’d have to clean all the shelves in the lobby — I got a dollar,” he recalls. Starting at age 14, he learned every aspect of the business and watched it grow. Jax currently boasts eight locations in Oakland County and another, the newest, in Macomb County. Bruce says further expansions are planned.
“I love the business,” Jason says. “I love our great customers and our great team members—some have been here 20 years.” In all, there are 300 full-time team members and 200 more part-timers.
The biggest challenge the Milens face are the bottlenecks: The days when nobody comes in, and then all of a sudden six cars are there at the same time for full service. Jax tries to make the experience 25 minutes or less, but when people have to wait, they get mad and post nasty reviews on social media.
“We’re not perfect, but we try to be,” says Jason. “We have a quality guarantee, so we ask that if somebody didn’t have a perfect experience to tell us about it and let us fix it instead of going away mad and posting a bad review on the Internet.”
He and his staff monitor all of the social media comments, good and bad, and he responds to any complaints within one working day. His attendants provide a checklist to every car to review after service, and he hopes people take a look before they leave.
“We’re in the people business,” he says. “We just happen to wash cars.”
Some Fun Jax Facts
Since 1953, Jax has washed millions of cars. At least.
All that water and dirt that rolls off your car is separated by a system that sends the water to a sewage treatment plant to be neutralized, while the dirt falls into a pit that gets carted away.
The soaps are eco-friendly, designed to break down before the blower hits the car at the end of the cycle.
Despite summer being a big season for car washing, winter is by far Jax’s busiest time because of all the road salt.
A full-service wash takes seven team members: two to vacuum, two to drive, and three to towel dry. When it’s busy, Jax employs up to 20 team members at a time.
The worst cleaning mess is vomit; biohazard suits and goggles have to be worn. That goes for blood, often present when cop cars are brought in.
BIRMINGHAM
34745 Woodward Ave.
Birmingham, MI 48009
248-646-5533
ROYAL OAK
27054 Woodward Ave.
Royal Oak, MI 48067
Phone: (248) 547-3450
TROY
2835 W. Maple Rd.
Troy, MI 48084
248-280-0490
Other locations:
Rochester Hills, Southfield (Telegraph Rd., Southfield Rd.), West Bloomfield, Auburn Hills and Clinton Township
When master plumber Raymond Oatman, owner of A-OK Plumbing, Inc., in Plymouth, received his first letter from the IRS stating that he owed over $150,000 in back taxes, he sought help from three different tax professionals to resolve his problem.
“None of those accountants came up with any solutions, and I was getting letters from the IRS saying they were going to seize my house, my vehicles, my business. My life was on hold. It was collapsed,” Oatman says.
The recession of the early 2000s had challenged the nature of small businesses, including Oatman’s.
“The industry changed,” Oatman says, “and I was losing money.”
“Tax problems can originate in many different forms. It could be a divorce, a bankruptcy, a loss of job, a failed business,” says Mike Franskoviak, certified public accountant, and president and chief executive officer of Franskoviak Tax Solutions in Troy.
“One out of twelve American taxpayers has serious tax problems,” he says, “and that includes anybody who owes the IRS over $20,000, has two or more years of unpaid taxes, is being audited or is facing the threat of property liens or seizures.”
“When Raymond Oatman came to see me, we found an offer in compromise and resolution with the IRS. Raymond owed about $150,000 in back payroll taxes, and we settled it for $8,500. I thought that was a pretty good tax deal.”
Oatman says, “I have never been to an accountant before Franskoviak Tax Solutions who used direct phone contact for ongoing negotiation: true interaction! Then we didn’t have to wait weeks for each letter, etc. I’d been working with those previous three accountants for seven or eight years!”
“By the way,” Oatman adds, “I owed the state $110,000, and Mike settled that for $1,600.”
Oatman has been able to rebuild and expand his business, and it is flourishing.
“I’m paying
my taxes on time and I hope,” he says, chuckling, “to never have to deal with the IRS that way again!”
Franskoviak, who received his graduate degree at Eastern Michigan University and his master’s degree from Colorado State University, and has worked as a tax manager for several firms (including Deloitte Touche in Denver, PricewaterhouseCoopers in Chicago, United Artists Communications in Denver, Volkswagen in Auburn Hills) says, “I was about five years into my CPA business when I noticed how many clients were getting tax notices.”
“It so happens,” he adds, “that I received a flyer for a seminar in Denver teaching CPAs, attorneys and enrolled agents how to best solve tax issues, so I attended.”
“The first day of the seminar,” continues Franskoviak, “I was enthralled and ecstatic to learn more of how to solve clients’ problems – and I made the complete commitment and joined the American Society of Tax Problem Solvers.”
In 1996, he opened Franskoviak Tax Solutions in Troy.
“We are a small, hands-on firm,” Franskoviak explains. “Unlike firms who compete against us, we have no high employee turnover. We have consistency in service and are excellent with communication. “
“The biggest complaint against our competitors is from clients who feel like they are a number or are ignored. We return every phone call within 24 hours.”
In addition to specialty tax services, Franskoviak provides many other accounting and tax services for individuals and businesses, including: preparation of business and personal taxes, tax planning and consultation, tax-favored retirement and financial planning, financial statements for business budgeting and loans, bookkeeping and payroll services.
“For small businesses – those making under five million annually – we are a one-stop shop,” says Franskoviak.
One of the services he is offering to established and new clients is explanation of the impact of the new Tax Law of 2017.
“For small businesses, if you operate a C Corporation, your top tax rate will decrease from 35 to 21 percent. If you run an S Corporation, you are allowed to take a deduction equal to 20 percent of your business net profits from your taxable income,” he says.
“For regular taxpayers, there are changes, too,” he continues. “It’s wise to check your withholdings to make sure they’ve been adjusted properly. On their website, the IRS has a tax withholdings calculator.”
“It’s important for people to see their tax advisor. Or, come to see us,” Franskoviak says. “Let’s not wait until next April, especially people who own a small business. Their changes will be dramatic. Most of the time it will be favorable – but not always.”
Meanwhile, Franskoviak and his staff continue to bring “dramatic and favorable” solutions to their clients who are faced with serious tax problems.
“Sometimes I feel like a social worker,” Franskoviak shares. “People meet with me. We give them hope. We give them a roadmap to the resolution of their problem.”
“And,” he says, “what we always hear after our first consultation is, ‘I feel better already.’”
Kevin Hamilton, general manager of MOD Pizza on Big Beaver Road in Troy, smiles in awe as he stands in the midst of his restaurant’s frenzied, first-day activity.
“Opening this store has been a wonderful, uphill roller coaster,” he says. “This team is amazing. Their personalities bring the MOD experience to life as we serve the freshest, fastest pizzas while also serving the community with employment opportunities and local philanthropy.”
MOD Pizza, with over 330 locations around the United States and Canada, was founded in Seattle in 2008 by Ally and Scott Svenson as they sought out places with healthy, quick and delicious food to eat with their own family of four children.
Having traveled to Italy and enjoyed the thin, crispy, freshly made individual pizzas of the street vendors, the Svensons decided to try the “individual pizza” concept in their hometown of Seattle.
They also wanted to develop a business that would provide special support to its workers and its neighborhood.
Opening at the start of the recession, the Svensons hoped to feed families affordably and to provide jobs for those having trouble finding work, including people with special needs and people rehabilitating from addictions or with past crime records.
“The last thing the world needed was another pizza place,” Ally says on the MOD Pizza website, “but maybe this one could be different…and everyone could get what they wanted, made fresh on demand, for as little as possible with employees paid as much as possible, with opportunities for real growth – and even second chances.”
And, as customers approach the counter to order their pizzas made assembly-line style, they can see and get exactly what they want from a choice of crust sizes, dough type, sauce, cheese and over 30 fresh meat and vegetable toppings, temptingly displayed.
“I’ve just come from a performance I gave at Rochester Schools,” says professional storyteller Barbara Ann Poelman (storiesandplay.com). “I don’t eat carbs, so all these toppings on my pizza are actually like a hot salad, and the crust is my plate.”
“I predict,” Barbara Ann adds, “that one day MOD Pizza will have an almond crust on the menu, for those of us who eat ketogenically.” A ketogenic diet, sometimes referred to as “keto,” is very low in carbs and high in fat, producing ketones (broken-down fatty acids) instead of the glucose that would be produced from the metabolic breakdown of carbohydrates.
Bill Thompson stopped in on his way home from work and looks around at all the balloons and jovial staff members.
“I didn’t realize this was their grand opening today,” he says, waiting for a six-inch pizza to eat in the store and a nine-inch pizza to take home in a specially designed, recyclable box that keeps the pizza straight-from-the-oven fresh for twenty minutes.
“It’s my first time at a MOD Pizza,” he continues, “but it won’t be my last! It’s hard to believe that you can get as much of as many toppings as you like for one, set price. And I don’t think I waited even five minutes!”
The pizzas cook quickly in a large, 800-degree brick oven.
“I like my pizza a little more well-done, so that’s how they cook it for me,” says Maureen Neil, who usually goes to the Rochester Hills store with a daughter and grandkids. “And I love the chance to have very light cheese and lots of greens – or anything I’m in the mood for. The salads are fantastic, too. Made-to-order, and just like I’d do at home.”
The Mod Pizza locations in Troy and Rochester Hills are owned by TEAM Schostak (teamschostak.com). They also own locations in Brighton, Canton, Chesterfield Township, Livonia, Northville, Shelby Township, Southgate and Woodhaven, and they have plans to have 25 Michigan locations within the next five years.
Paul Whitmore, general manager of Livonia’s MOD Pizza for three years and a Schostak team member for seventeen years, helped with the opening of Troy’s MOD Pizza.
“Our best asset is our team of workers,” Whitmore says. “We hire for personality and train for skill. One of our core values is ‘individuality with responsibility.’ And, we empower our staff to go above-and-beyond in their service.”
“I love working here,” says Jen Hayton, who has worked at the Rochester Hills store for almost two years and helped with Troy’s grand opening. “We have the best boss ever! I love the environment and the people. It’s incredibly fun making the food, and it’s like a second family here.”
“We offer the opportunity for workers to truly be themselves – like butterflies out of their cocoons,” says Hamilton. “And our staff really enjoys our giving-back efforts, when we have events and make donations and thousands of meals for the needy and homeless.”
“Every experience here is special in its own way,” Hamilton says. “And so is every pizza!”
Drs. Ruvayn and Sara Rubinstein with their three children
Energy is flowing at the chiropractic office of Drs. Ruvayn and Sara Rubinstein on Crooks Rd., south of Big Beaver, in Troy.
Lively music plays as patients greet one another in the open treatment area accented with orange décor, sleek chiropractic tables and a bright-orange wall of framed photos of happy patients, including children who’ve been successfully treated for ailments ranging from asthma, allergies, ear infections and headaches to immune system – and even ADD — difficulties.
“I don’t like the atmosphere of being in a doctor’s office,” Ruvayn, as he likes his patients to call him, says. “Though we do have private treatment rooms, our open room here is so efficient.”
He adds, “People who may have been nervous can see other patients limp onto the table and then happily get off of it.”
They also see Ruvayn perform a technique or adjustment and then proclaim, “Power’s on!” as he gives the treated patient a pat on the leg (a final check restoring balance) and moves on to the next client.
“And,” adds business partner and wife, Dr. Sara Rubinstein, “patients who see each other here regularly enjoy the social aspect and often become friends.”
Ruvayn and Sara, the practice’s general manager, have known each other their whole lives.
“I was friends with Sara’s brothers,” says Ruvayn. “Her father was a chiropractor and so was mine.”
“Sara and I are a good team,” Ruvayn states.
“The best part,” says Sara, “is getting to watch miracles together.”
“There are actually eleven chiropractors in our immediate families!” Ruvayn exclaims. “There was never anything else I wanted to be…except maybe, like a lot of kids, a baseball player.”
Ruvayn was home-schooled and worked every Friday as a secretary at his father’s office.
“I saw the way patients respond to a drug-free lifestyle. And when I was thirteen, my father taught me how to adjust him, to use his own effective technique.”
“I moved to Israel to school and started adjusting the kids there,” he says, “including preventing a fellow student from needing back surgery.”
The Rubinsteins decided to put their education, philosophy, skills and experience into their own practice as soon as they could.
“We graduated in June of 2014,” says Ruvayn, “and signed the lease here in July.”
Ruvayn did his own marketing and brand development.
“I picked the best brains for my logo, which includes a rendering of an aligned spine, and really got myself out into the community.”
“Ruvayn is an exemplary member of the Troy Chamber,” said Jessica Minnick, director of communications for the Troy Chamber of Commerce. “Not only does he champion new business as a leader for one of our business development groups, but also he educates the surrounding community about health and wellness at the workplace.”
Ruvayn said it was a six-month process to come up with the word “thrive.”
“ ‘Thrive’ is a good word! We have a mission to make sure all men, women and children have the ability to thrive through life – and not just survive,” Ruvayn said.
Sterling Heights resident Garret Urbaniak, a wedding disc jockey for over 23 years, could barely get out of the car and walk to his house due to extreme pain and stiffness present in his lower back after a long night of working at a wedding.
“I had to use a cane to make it,” he says. “A chiropractor I’d been working with gave me adjustments before and after gigs and told me I had arthritis that would never go away, and that I had to live with it.”
“Luckily, I found Ruvayn. After two treatments, everything was great, and I have no trouble doing gigs. I can work 4, 5, 6 weddings with no pain at all!”
“Ruvayn is an amazing, friendly guy – the kind of guy you want to be around,” says Urbaniak. “I’ve referred many friends, and they all are extremely happy with the entire ‘Thrive’ experience.”
The Rubinsteins offer chiropractic care for patients of all ages, including pregnant women and babies.
“Birth can be very traumatic for some infants,” Ruvayn explains, “with forceps, vacuum extraction, rushing the process…and sometimes a doctor, during a C-section, might even pick up a baby by its head, causing subluxations, misalignment.”
“Chiropractic allows the body to function as it was designed to function, from birth. People are going to hurt themselves, but they recover quickly with chiropractic care.”
The Rubinsteins are certified doctors of Worksafe, a free back safety and ergonomic program that reduces workplace injuries.
“I love going out into schools and workplaces to educate about chiropractic,” says Ruvayn. “We have a one-hour program that employees and employers – including General Motors, Weyerhauser, Medilodge and other companies – have really enjoyed.”
The doctors also enjoy educating people through information on their website and YouTube videos.
“True chiropractic is all about prevention,” Ruvayn says. “We are getting many referrals of people who not only want to heal, but who want prevention of pain and injury and maintenance of wellbeing, who always want their ‘power on!’”
Thrive Chiropractic
2133 Crooks Road
Troy, MI 48084
248-574-9355
Angela Marino is already getting calls about her homemade tomato sauce, and it is only April.
“Every time I see someone at a family event,” laughs Marino, who generously makes hundreds of jars of Italian pasta sauce every summer to share with family, “they say, ‘I only have two jars left!’ or, ‘When will you be planting – or picking! – your Telly’s tomatoes?’”
Marino, a Troy resident, has been growing tomato plants from Telly’s Greenhouse on John R., just north of Big Beaver Road, for over twenty years.
“I wouldn’t buy my Roma tomato seedlings from anywhere else!” Marino exclaims. “Telly’s truly cares about every plant and every customer.”
George Papadelis, owner of Telly’s Greenhouse, recounts the start of the business, celebrating its 40th year.
“Our next-door neighbor here on John R.,” he shares, “was a woman who had greenhouses in the ‘50s and ‘60s and grew things for markets. There was a large ditch between our properties that my father offered to fill in but, stubbornly, our neighbor refused.”
“When she passed away, my dad bought her property in 1977 – to fill in the ditch – and he said, ‘Why don’t we fix up one of the greenhouses so you and your brother can grow plants?’”
That spring, George and his brother, Mark, then ages eleven and ten, sowed seeds and grew and sold their plants (Mark Papadelis is the owner of Telly’s Tree and Shrub, a separate, adjacent business).
“We made a thousand dollars,” George says, “and we used the money to travel to Greece.”
George continued to work the business throughout his teens.
“There was no time for spring sports in high school but, if my friends needed money, there was always work for them during our season.”
When George went to college at the University of Michigan, he’d return home to work weekends and vacations at the greenhouse.
“I did well in college and planned to go to medical school. I told myself that, after graduation, I’d take one year off and, with no sports or school, I’d try just working at the greenhouse before starting the medical school process.”
He did just that and decided to remain with the business.
“Being at Telly’s is still a little like being a doctor,” George concedes, explaining, “You have to really know your stuff and know what’s new. You’re always helping people.”
“And,” he chuckles, “you’re always worried: ‘Is it warm enough for them (the plants)? Is it wet – or dry – enough? You and your staff are hard-working and disciplined and committed to the plants and to your customers.”
And, if Telly’s customers tell him about a plant they’d like to have, George makes sure he gets it for them.
“Ever since the start,” says George, “we’ve always offered different plants that customers request, ones more unique and interesting than regular ‘bread-and-butter’ ones – though we offer those, too, of course.”
“We’ve got an ornamental kale here,” he describes, “and it’s not formed as one large head. It’s on a stem with a floret at the top, and it can be in a vase, like a cut flower and looks like a rose. It’s called ‘crane’ and is very striking and beautiful.”
“There are a thousand or so things that we have that you don’t find at just any garden center, and that’s why people shop at Telly’s.”
“I’ve been buying plants from Telly’s for 30 years,” says Troy resident Craig Smith, “and this year, I told him I’d like to grow cucamelons, a tiny, edible vine fruit that tastes like cucumbers with a touch of sourness. Of course, he got me growing them.”
“And George has been providing the most beautiful seasonal flowers and plants for my parish for years, including palms for this year’s Palm Sunday.”
Smith, who is a master gardener and leads gardening activities for children on Saturdays at the Oakland County Farmer’s Market, adds, “George always donates the plants and seeds we use for the kids,” Smith says, adding, “and he’s extremely generous with his time, too.”
“When my home was in the Troy Garden Walk, George came over and helped me prepare by advising unique plants for eye-catching areas of the garden. There’s no other place in this world I would buy from.”
George’s staff is also known for being able to advise customers.
“I’ve got the greatest crew in the world,” George says. “They truly know the flowers and plants, from planting each of thousands of seedlings into their final pots and labeling them in our Shelby Township greenhouse to their care in the stores.”
“Most of our staff have been here for years and have become very knowledgeable about what we sell, including over fifty new garden annuals and perennials, as well as herbs and vegetables, succulents, specialty plants for bonsai and fairy gardens, and so much more.”
“Plus,” he adds, “I’m so fortunate that my mom and dad, Niki and Gust, still get their hands dirty helping out – and my son, Andrew will be joining us, full-time, after he graduates from M.S.U. this spring.”
Along with leading his staff as they organize, label and pot thousands of plants, all with soil that is organic, George provides — and often teaches – events and workshops such as: Succulent Garden Workshop, New Perennials for 2018, Bonsai Workshop, Early-Blooming Hellebores, and Every Garden Deserves a Rose, and he recently taught a Living Wreath workshop.
“All of my employees love plants and people. Yes, all the planning and preparation is a burden to bear. But the intense care for the business, the plants and our customers is what makes Telly’s good.”
For Joan Grohar of Clarkston, driving 25 minutes to get her hair done at Bellagio Hair Studio is well worth it.
Another specialized service Bellagio offers is threading. “Threading is more of a technique passed down from generation to generation in Middle Eastern cultures. It removes the brow hair with the follicle intact, so it’s less damaging to your skin,” said Johnson. “Threading is a little more uncomfortable, but it’s a smoother finish and it’s definitely an art form. But it’s a personal preference. Threading takes about 15 to 20 minutes for both brows.”
Terranova said now Bellagio carries products sourced within the United States, such as the Detroit Style Company and even Great Lakes Coffee Company.
Effervescent cashier Rose Thompkins greets customers in Jax’s bustling waiting area in Birmingham with the big windows and the long racks that hold everything from candy bars to car mats. Air fresheners are big sellers. The most popular scent among the 25 or so types Jax sells, according to Thompkins, is Little Tree’s Black Ice.
Kevin Hamilton, general manager of MOD Pizza on Big Beaver Road in Troy, smiles in awe as he stands in the midst of his restaurant’s frenzied, first-day activity.
“And George has been providing the most beautiful seasonal flowers and plants for my parish for years, including palms for this year’s Palm Sunday.”
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