Small Business

Steady growth is recipe for success for PublicCity PR

By Newsroom

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September 12, 2013

Slow and steady doesn’t win the race for Jason Brown, but steady growth is the preferred way he wants to grow his business, PublicCity PR. The Southfield-based company has recorded double-digit revenue gains in the last year, allowing it to hire one person. It now has a staff of four employees and the occasional intern. “It has been steady growth,” Brown says. “It’s up 15-20 percent. It’s been great.” Brown started PublicCity PR five years ago in October. The veteran journalist and Michigan State University graduate has grown the business from his kitchen table to big enough for its own office last year. The firm has mainly worked with small businesses from Metro Detroit, taking on more clients through word-of-mouth referrals. However, PublicCity PR is starting to grow outside of that norm. For instance, Dan Clark (Nitro from American Gladiators) reached out to PublicCity PR earlier this summer to promote his Gladiator Rock n’ Run in Metro Detroit earlier this summer. “This random guy in California does his own research and finds us,” Brown says. “There are dozens of PR companies in Metro Detroit and he chose us.” Source: Jason Brown, principal of PublicCity PR Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

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Innovative Learning Group leverages diverse client base for growth

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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September 12, 2013

Innovative Learning Group has added 12 new clients over the last year, but the value in that news comes from when you take a deep look at the list of customers. The new customers include the likes of the United Way for Southeastern Michigan and Ford. The business consultancy’s client list spans a number of different industries, ranging from IT to medical devices to healthcare to pharmaceutical. “We have always had quite a mix,” says Lisa Toenniges, CEO of Innovative Learning Group. “It’s great from a diversification standpoint. It’s also interesting for our consultants. It’s also nice to share things across industries and it’s not a competitive problem.” That growth has allowed Innovative Learning Group to hire one person over the last year, a business development executive. It now employs 13 people. The 10-year-old company, which is based in downtown Royal Oak, has been doing more work in mobile strategic projects, such as how best to streamline mobile apps into the everyday work routine of a sales professional. “How does it integrate into the way they do their jobs?” Toenniges says. Source: Lisa Toenniges, CEO of Innovative Learning Group Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Ferndale-based Valentine Vodka steps into more out-of-state markets

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Arts & Culture

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August 22, 2013

Valentine Distilling Co. in Ferndale is now distributing to stores in New York and preparing to go into Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Connecticut while a Detroit Red Wing has come on board as brand manager. Rifino Valentine, owner and operator of the business, says Eddie Mio, former Red Wing, assistant GM for the Phoenix Coyotes and a part of hockey great Wayne Gretzky's Gretzky Estates Winery, will use his experience to guide Valentine through growth that's been on a steep incline since opening in 2009. With the three new states and the District of Columbia as new markets, Valentine's product line, which includes Liberator Gin and Woodward Whiskey, will be sold now in seven states. Connecticut will come online in September and Maryland and D.C. will follow in October, he says. The distillery, which also has a tasting room on Vester Street in Ferndale, brought in a new still earlier this week to keep up with production, Valentine says. Valentine Vodka has won national and international awards since the first bottle was filled four years ago. The tasting room opened in 2011 and nearly 2,000 stores in several states stores now sell the vodka made in small batches in downtown Ferndale. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Rifino Valentine, founder, Valentine Vodka

Birmingham eatery Luxe Bar & Grill adds Grosse Pointe Farms location

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Arts & Culture

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August 22, 2013

Luxe Bar & Grill in Birmingham has opened a new restaurant in Grosse Pointe Farms, bringing its neighborhood bar meets upscale feel to the east side. Luxe, known for its burgers and favorites like onion rings and Luxe garlic wings, moved into the space that was formerly Lucy's, once a local go-to until it was sold and quality declined. The newest Luxe moves into the toniest of the Grosse Pointes, down the street from the former Detroit Free Press Restaurant of the Year, The Hill Seafood & Chop House, and the prior Hour Detroit Restaurant of the Year, Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe. According to Grosse Pointe Chamber of Commerce President Jennifer Boettcher, Luxe describes itself like this: "Luxe Bar & Grill is the neighborhood spot that serves quality food, drink and atmosphere - without pretense. At every crossroad, quality and taste are the priority. We believe the character of a bar is its patrons and we welcome all seeking good company and friendly conversation to enjoy our charmed local bar." Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Jennifer Palms Boettcher, president/executive director, Grosse Pointe Chamber of Commerce

Ferndale-based Chazzano Coffee filling cups in four states

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Arts & Culture

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August 15, 2013

When Frank Lanzkron-Tamarazo started Chazzano Coffee in 2009, roasting beans from a hole-in-the-wall office in Farmington Hills and then moving as he grew into a larger light industrial park, he expected to land maybe 20 wholesale accounts. He's far exceeded that number, reaching 170 wholesale outlets for the coffee he roasts himself and distributes only in small batches to keep it fresh, but he's built a business that is 70-percent retail based. He sells in Michigan and three other states. "It's amazing. I had about three accounts before we opened the cafe coffee roastery in Ferndale. Those accounts led to more and more, and right now the 170 whole accounts…restaurants, cafes, speciality markets like Whole Foods, Randazzo's, Plum Market, Holiday Market," Lanzkron-Tamarazo says. Dozens of offices order his coffee, as do coffee club members who receive deliveries of special roasts on the 1st and 15th of each month. During the last year, the former synagogue cantor's coffee began filling the cups in Illinois, Iowa and Kentucky, and unexpectedly the roastery in a not so attractive part of Ferndale drew more customers than it had room for. So within a year Chazzano will be moving into a much larger space, likely in Ferndale, with a bigger cafe and roasting area, more parking and more space for retail. "We're kind of special because I roast all the coffee fresh to order when I get the order," he says. "We call each of our 170 wholesale accounts each week. We keep the orders small so that the coffee doesn't get a chance to lose its freshness." Any coffee around more than 2 - 2 1/2 weeks old is ground and donated to a homeless shelter. His wife, Lisa, made a delivery of fresh roasted beans and a brewing part to a Bowling Green, Ohio cafe yesterday. "My whole goal in the beginning was getting better coffee when you go out. I can't stand going to an awesome restaurant, where the food is fantastic and the service is great and the coffee is lousy. It makes no sense. "Once they start serving my coffee, then they become retail customers…then at home, then at a favorite restaurant, then to the office," he says. As grateful as he is for the growth and business expansion he knows he wants to limit it. "We're really a boutique roastery. We're different than any other roaster around. We're always going to make sure we're small enough so that there's quality." Source: Frank Lanzkron-Tamarazo, owner, Chazzano Coffee Roasters Writer: Kim North-Shine

Citizen Yoga in downtown Royal Oak blends yoga with good citizenship

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Arts & Culture

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August 15, 2013

The opening of Citizen Yoga in downtown Royal Oak is so much more than an entrepreneurial endeavor for owner Kacee Must. From a 3,000-square-foot space at 500 S. Washington, an unusually large and prominent spot for a yoga studio, Must wants to tie together a near-lifetime of experience in yoga and the knowledge gained studying philosophy in India for three years with her love for entrepreneurial artists, fashion and, most profoundly, the memory of a sister lost to suicide five years ago. Citizen Yoga will open Sunday and for the first two weeks all yoga is free -- part of Must's push to attract beginners and also to be a good citizen. Citizen Yoga will be body alignment-based so that instructors can gently guide students through poses. "We view taking care of yourself as being easy on yourself…learning how to move into discomfort to ease in to the breath and use your own mental coping skills," says Must, 29, and a Cranbrook Academy and Northwestern University graduate who was introduced to yoga by her mom at age 12, "before yoga was hip or cool, before most people knew what yoga was." Her yoga experience through the years, locally and around the world has shaped the approach her studio will take. "I saw this untapped not just yoga market, but also cohesive community here in Royal Oak that I believe would want to hear the message and learn the proper way to use yoga to take care of yourself physically and spiritually, " she says. "You can't even compare us to somebody else. We're offering something that our community has moved so far away from," she says. "I really promote authenticity and ethics and being very encouraging to my teachers and students." If visitors during the first two weeks care to make a donation it will go to the charity Born and Raised in Detroit, which is run by Must's friends and offers fun, happy events and programs to enrich the lives of Detroiters. Charity and a personal philosophy of good citizenship is also behind Citizen Yoga. Philosophically, Must, who spent three years in India studying philosophy, wants to explore her yearning for community togetherness by "promoting how we can all be better citizens in every aspect of our lives," she says. The studio will also honor Must's sister, Miya. She committed suicide in 2007 and since then her family has strived to help others by working in suicide prevention and support of women living with bipolar disorder. "I want to do a lot of suicide prevention, awareness type stuff," Must says. "Without her and that memory of her and that drive of hers, I don't know if I could have done this. I was really afraid to do this on my own. Being an entrepreneur in its essence is all about self-belief, and I feel like she's been here with me pushing me to believe in myself." Also in her sister's honor, Citizen Yoga will offer Yoga Medics, a medically designed yoga program. Her sister and a friend ran a Yoga Medics in their Colorado yoga studio. Must has received a $50,000 grant to use Yoga Medics to give yoga rehabilitation therapy to veterans. There will also be two massage rooms at Citizen Yoga. Spa Mariana from Birmingham will run the massage therapy. It's her wanting to build a community that has her inviting in other metro Detroit entrepreneurs like the spa to share the space, which is next door to the Fifth Avenue apartments. It underwent an 18-month renovation of re-used materials -- the old jewelry store floor is the ceiling -- rustic woods, and brick mixed with touches of industrial. Jewelry by Leah Rose Damour, organic nail polish by AKAYStyle and a Jesse Fenton's I Use Yoga clothing line will go into the retail space at Citizen Yoga. "From an owner perspective," she says, "my theory is the more you collaborate and the more you work together, the more you're going to actually succeed." Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Kacee Must, owner, Citizen Yoga

Michigan Dog Trainer ready to tame pooches from new Plymouth digs

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Community Development

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August 8, 2013

Michael Burkey, a former K9 police officer, federal officer, social worker and canine expert, has opened a dog training center in downtown Plymouth. Burkey, who also is an expert witness in court cases involving dogs, has hired five trainers and a customer service rep into a 7,000 square-foot space at 1031 Cherry St. to staff Michigan Dog Trainer. Inside MDT's building are two large training rooms and "Michigan's only 20 1/2-inch long Nose Work wall," says Burkey. He is also a competitive handler and volunteer behaviorist for the Humane Society of Huron Valley, the location of his first training center. The Nose Work wall is fitted with 13 scent detection tubes for training police dogs and and such to sniff for narcotics, explosives and other illegal substances. Birch oil is also one of the scents and is used to train dogs in the sport of nose work, a sport that will soon be sanctioned by the American Kennel Club, Burkey says. The space, a former photography studio, also has a professional white photo wall for dog pictures and videos and four offices. MDT opened July 20 and held a grand opening celebration with dogs and people on Aug. 1. It might be the only business able to claim a blind Dachshund, which performed a Nose Work demo, as part of the festivities. Burkey says he'll use Kellogg Park and nearby "dog friendly" stores as well as Maybury Park and Proud Lake Recreational Area as an extension of the training center. While the dogs are the focus, “many times," he says, "it is also the people that need help in understanding the dog and its behavior. Families are often split on how best to train the dog and that’s where my social work background becomes very helpful. I am very effective at helping families work together for the best interest of their dog, as well as adjusting my teaching style for the individual client for optimum learning.” Michigan Dog Trainer will offer two or four-week K9 camps, training day camps, private and group classes that include Puppy Socialization, Basic Manners, Remote Manners, Circus Class, Canine Good Citizen and Feisty Fido. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Dog Behaviorist and President Michigan Dog Training LLC

In hocus-pocus move, ABC Magic Shop reappears in new Mt. Clemens space

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Arts & Culture

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August 8, 2013

The magicians, princesses and super heroes in residence at the ABC Magic Shop in Mount Clemens are moving into a bigger home and building on a reputation of entertaining and enchanting children -- and adults -- across metro Detroit. ABC Magic Shop's new store at 69 N. Walnut Street is twice the size of the old one, giving it more space to cater to the metro Detroit magic community with its larger collection of magic supplies that make it "one of the largest in the Midwest," says Dave Schneider, who co-owns the business with wife Terri. ABC Magic Shop hosts a magic convention each year. The retailer also rents costumed characters, moonwalks and other activities and entertainment for family parties and corporate events. It stocks science toys, gag gifts, puppets and other fun stuff. On Aug. 10 the Schneiders and staff magicians Marc Arthur, Ryan Nemeth, and Charlie Laube, who also hold other jobs for the business, will host a grand opening party with "tons of free events all afternoon," Schneider says. The party is one time, but ABC's usual magic classes -- one at noon for beginners and one at 3 for advanced magicians, will continue every Saturday. Writer Kim North Shine Source: Dave and Terri Schneider, owners, ABC Magic Shop

The Co-Working Space Roundup

By Kim North Shine

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General

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August 1, 2013

Co-working spaces are hardly breaking news in metro Detroit. What's exciting, however, is how they've grown in scope, services, size and availability over the last few years. Submitted for your approval: a roundup of the region's more interesting shared work spaces.

Detroit Sandwich Co. to open take-out shop in Farmington Hills

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Arts & Culture

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August 1, 2013

Mark Friday - great name, huh? - has a family history in the restaurant business and a love for Detroit. That has brought him to the place of opening the Detroit Sandwich Co. next week in Farmington Hills. The Detroit Sandwich Co. at 29801 W. 9 Mile Road will add to the takeout options for the Farmington-Farmington Hills area with a menu that includes a turkey chipotle sandwich, chicken sliders, pasta and meatballs, a signature meatball sandwich, lobster ravioli and a chicken bacon salad. "I'm always tempted to add more things, things I love, but we don't want to do too much. We want to put out quality food. If you do too much it can bring down quality," Friday says. The Italian side of the menu comes from Friday's Italian heritage - he's part Italian and African-American with a 100 percent Italian grandmother. He and his wife have been dreaming of restaurant ownership for a while. They looked into a Subway franchise, but "it's like being a manager while you raise the money. There's no creative freedom." "My wife and I have prayed on it and it kept growing and growing," Friday says. He almost signed a deal for his business to be located in a spot near downtown Farmington. It would have required a loan and a major renovation. When the deal fell through, he happened to spot the perfect space down the road, no loan required, minimal renovations and with a feel that matched his vision. "It's a really good space for us to start and learn and grow and open up locations," says Friday, who is training four employees this week in preparation for opening day. Initially the Detroit Sandwich Co. will be take-out only and then add delivery, he says. The cozy spot with a 20 by 19-foot kitchen, an 8 by 9-foot walk-in kitchen and a 14 by 9-foot counter has fresh colors of paint on the walls. It will have digital menus on TVs and and be decorated with vinyl wall coverings showing downtown Detroit's skyline. "I used to live in Detroit. I love the city. I go downtown when I can," says Friday, who sees the city and the burbs as one Detroit. "I chose the name because I want to support the city even though i can't open up in the city yet." Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Mark Friday, owner, Detroit Sandwich Co.