Small Business

Computing Source legal evidence business hires 20, makes acquisition

Theresa Webster, a former legal assistant turned litigation graphics expert, is merging her company, Evidence Express, with Computing Source, a full service legal support firm in Southfield. Computing Source's acquisition of Evidence Express in Detroit is the latest in a series of expansions and investments that CEO Mark St. Peter says will serve attorneys and their clients arguing legal cases in "today's visually-intensive world." Computing Source has hired 20 employees this year as part of a plan to provide more and higher-tech visual aids, specialized presentations and forensic and other forms of evidence as well as documents and other communications to attorneys. Merging with Evidence Express's team will add allow Computing Source to offer more services, including 2D and 3D animation to help attorneys successfully tell their stories. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Andrea Trapani, spokesperson and Identity PR and Mark St. Peter, CEO and managing director, Computing Source

Nightclub and private party space comin’ to life at Stayin’ Alive Novi

DJs, bartenders, security staff and servers are being lined up for a new nightclub and private party space that's opening in Novi in an era when dance clubs are borderline novel. Stayin' Alive, billed as a '70s, '80s, '90s and more nightclub and a place "where real people have fun," is scheduled to open in mid-to-late August in the Fountain Walk of Novi, 44325 Twelve Mile Road, on top of the Lucky Strike Entertainment complex. Renovations for Stayin' Alive a la John Travolta and the Bee Gees are turning the space that was formerly occupied by MBarGo into a weekend dance club with one of the biggest disco balls in the USA spinning over a huge lighted dance floor, say the owners and promoters, Vladimir Mirkovich, J. Kyle Hagerty and Brian DJ Godfather Jeffries, all metro Detroiters. They are teaming up with Lucky Strike Entertainment, a national chain of bowling lounges with 21 locations in the U.S. The club wil include a rooftop bar, VIP room and be available for conferences, private parties, bachelorette and divorce parties. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: J. Kyle Hagerty, developer, Stayin' Alive Novi

Yoga + Therapy = Zen business plan in Plymouth

Balance Yoga Therapy, a business that combines the physical and mental effects of yoga with emotional well-being through counseling, is moving into a larger space in downtown Plymouth to keep up with a growing number of clients and services. Owner Patricia Kozlowski, a licensed professional counselor and certified yoga therapist, is a believer in the positive effects of yoga and physical fitness on relationships and mental health. She designed her business around that connection. After 20-plus years as a counselor and six years as a yoga therapist at various studios and fitness facilities and for youth hockey teams and health system employees, she has also seen how yoga therapy can end chronic pain. It was yoga that finally cured her severe back pain following a car accident. Through yoga she began to see the parallels between yoga and physical and mental health. "I started realizing that the things I had learned in medical school I was learning in yoga," she says. After several years of counseling and teaching yoga around Southeast Michigan, she decided to open her own studio and counseling center in February 2012. She still counsels at a separate center in Northville, but was not able to incorporate yoga therapy so she decided to open Balance Yoga Therapy in February 2012. In just over two years she outgrew the 12-mat, 500-square-foot space in downtown Plymouth. On Aug. 1 she moves into a much larger spot with room for 60 yoga mats, a separate pilates studio, and counseling rooms. The interior will be calming, painted in colors of the sea, decorated with Spanish tile and bamboo and come with "revolutionary, state of the art flooring that you can't find within a five-state area from here," Kozlowski says. The new, larger studio opens at 589 South Main Street a few few blocks from the original location at 292 South Main. Kozlowski will celebrate the opening with a day of free yoga on Aug. 10. Go to Balance Therapy Yoga to register. The success of her practice, she says, is "the authenticity of the message I send to people. I genuinely live what I speak…It's absolutely addictive…never yelling..always encouraging, loving them through the process…very physically demanding…And it's so rewarding to work with a family with a child who no longer wants to commit suicide or to get a person through anxiety that's keeping them in bed all day and missing life. I feel so fortunate to meet and work with so many amazing people, and even though the days are long it never feels like work." Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Patricia Kozlowski, owner, Balance Yoga Therapy

FoodTruck Cafe’s trucks under one roof concept takes off

The idea of re-creating faux food trucks inside a cafe is taking off in Berkley, where locals are walking and biking to the newest restaurant based on an off-beat idea. The FoodTruck Cafe, with its three food trucks without wheels, is also drawing destination diners, says Kerry Johnson, who co-owns the business with Jon Glab. Wherever they come from, they're looking for good food, creative food that's fast and in a fun setting, they say. The trucks inside the space at 28557 Woodward Ave., which previously was a Coffee Beanery, serve sandwiches, salads, Mexican, coffee, and smoothies. The Sideshow Sandwich Emporium, Air Stream Espresso and Nacho Ordinary Nacho are the creations of the pair with a background in restaurants and hospitality. Johnson founded the Cupcake Station and Glab owned the Strawberry Moon in Ferndale. They combined sit-down restaurants with the outdoor feel of food trucks by decorating the cafe with picnic tables inside and outside and plastering the main wall with photographs that look like an outdoor scene of Detroit from the early 1900s. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Kerry Johnson, co-owner, FoodTruck Cafe

6 Salon moves, expands in downtown Birmingham

6 Salon opened in downtown Royal Oak 10 years ago with four stylists, a hip and stylish decor and the unorthodox practice of operating from early morning 'til midnight. Within two years 18 stylists were styling in Royal Oak at 306 W. Sixth St., and by the third year a second 6 Salon had opened in downtown Birmingham. As the 10th anniversary approaches, the business, which focuses on hiring for personality, personally trains stylists and functions based on customer demands such as longer hours, is employing a staff of 65 and making another move by opening a much larger salon in downtown Birmingham. The newest 6 Salon opened July 5 at 180 S. Old Woodward, the prominent corner of Old Woodward and Merrill. The 4,400-square-foot space decorated in rich woods and warm colors, a move away from the white, black and stainless steel tableau of its predecessors, replaces a 1,500-square-food shop on West Maple. The new salon has 21 stylists' stations and adds a lash bar to its list of services. "We were completely busting out of the other location," says George Nikollaj, who co-owns the salon with brother Johnny Nikollaj and cousin Tomy Lulgjuraj. "It's unbelievable, the response we've gotten. People stop in and ask if they can see it, have a tour," he says. "We say, 'Of course.' It's great being where people want to come in and get to know us and see what we've done. It's great to be here." Writer: Kim North Shine Source: George Nikollaj, co-owner 6 Salon

Bistro 82 and Sabrage Lounge heating up downtown Royal Oak

The buzz about a two-story restaurant and lounge under renovation in downtown Royal Oak is that it will be the next "it" place to eat and hang out in metro Detroit Bistro 82 and Sabrage will be opening in the space formerly occupied by Spanish tapas restaurant Sangria at the corner of 4th & S. Lafayette. An impressive lineup will staff Bistro 82, which will occupy the bottom floor of the nearly 10,000 square-foot corner spot. Sabrage, which is French for the technique of using a saber to open a champagne bottle, will take over the top floor with a garden terrace, a stage for live music and booth seating along with a white onyx bar for post-dinner drinks. The staff's resumes will bring experience from top restaurants around metro Detroit, Michigan and California under one roof when Bistro 82 and Sabrage open by fall. Besides fresh and often locally-sourced dishes and a wine selection that is expected to rival top-seeded restaurants around the country, owner Aaron F. Belen of AFB Hospitality Group wants the two-story restaurant and lounge's interior design and atmosphere to also be a standout. A large shark tank built into a DJ booth along with a floor-to-ceiling wine cellar, extensive champagne list, private dining room, a specialized sound system designed by Harman Co. and Euro-bistro influenced meals served in courses are part of owner Aaron F. Belen's vision for Bistro 82 and Sabrage. The establishment will seat at least 159 people and 226 in the lounge, make a major investment to Royal Oak and create 75 full- and part-time jobs. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Justin Near, publicist for Aaron F. Belen and Bistro 82/Sabrage/AFB Hospitality Group

Tennis anyone? Lawn tennis club coming to Pontiac

The city of Pontiac's waterworks building and grounds are springing back to life as the future home of a members-only lawn tennis club that's being designed by Cranbrook Academy's architect in residence. Architect and developer Bill Massie is behind the the Wessen Lawn Tennis Club at 235 Wessen Street, also the site of a closed recreation center. The grounds are are being transformed into an English-style layout of 24 grass courts, four hard courts and an Olympic-size swimming pool. The project includes the renovation of the 1929 Waterworks building. The club was inspired by the tennis-loving Massie family's visit about five years ago to the Longwood Cricket Club in Boston, Mass. Massie is the head of the architecture department at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills. Founding memberships to the club, which is exptected to be open mid-2014, are now being accepted at the club's website. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Wessen Lawn Tennis Club

Artist Lounge to be part of Pontiac revival

State grants available for food trucks & farmers markets

Farmers market organizers and food truck operators have a chance to get some green -- $10,000 to $50,000 -- from the state if they can prove their business is unique, innovative and will be successful at making their communities a place with a special vibe and feel. The state and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation wants to promote food entrepreneurship as a means to promote a sense of place in Michigan communities by awarding matching grants through the Farmers Market Grant Program and the Mobile Cuisine Start-Up Program. “Farmers markets and food trucks improve our downtowns and bring vitality and economic growth to our communities,” says MEDC President and CEO Michael A. Finney in a statement announcing the grants. “These grants will support food entrepreneurs and local markets, strengthen communities and create jobs in our state.”   The state will award up to $200,000 in grants to farmers' markets and up to $100,000 to food trucks. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Kathy Fagan, communication specialist at Michigan Deparment of Economic Development