Small Business

New Shine On Yoga does downward dog in downtown Ferndale

After years of teaching yoga in studios around metro Detroit and seeing what inspired and motivated people, Linda Marchione has brought her experiences together in her own studio, Shine On Yoga in downtown Ferndale. What she wants most out of Shine On is to offer comfort and community - on top of physical strength and peace of mind. "I've designed it to be inviting so that everyone who comes in knows they're welcome to stay. I want it to feel like my home, like my living room," she says. "It's not designed to make people feel like you come in, take your class and leave, with nowhere to sit or spend time, talking to people, getting to know people," she says. "We're not a factory. We're not a huge money making machine. We're a small local business and and I want everyone to know who walks through the door that we'd like them to stay and have tea." Shine On opened June 3 at 22751 Woodward Avenue, the southwest corner with 9 Mile, in the heart of downtown Ferndale. A grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting is set for 4:30 p.m. July 19, and there will be live music, refreshments and demonstrations. Marchione's Shine On Studio has also been selected by yoga and running wear maker, Lululemon, to be it's local studio of the month in July and September. Shine On will lead free Sunday morning yoga sessions each Sunday of the month an hour before the stores open. Shine On will lead yoga at the Somerset in July and in downtown Birmingham in September. Shine On will also regularly coordinate volunteer days at Gleaner's Community Food Bank, where Marchione is a volunteer coordinator. "Our teachers do an awful lot of community work. We focus on practicing kindness not just toward ourselves but others" she says, "The body is meant to serve. Yogis teach you to get strong yourself and then give it away." Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Linda Marchione, owner, Shine On Yoga

Organic nail polish co. sprouts in metro Detroit

Cindis Naturals is a new nail polish company started by families from Grosse Pointe and Clarkston. The business plan is twofold: to develop a polish without harmful chemicals and to give nail professionals a product that their clients can only get from them. The polish, which has been in salons in metro Detroit salons for about two months and will soon be sold in six locations of Windsor Beauty Supply, grew out of a relationship between husband and wife John and Melodie Scherer of Grosse Pointe Farms and brother and sister Cindy and Rick Lieder from Clarkston. Cindy Lieder, a longtime manicurist who decided she wanted to create a safer artificial nail, one without chemicals linked to pulmonary, neurological and gynecological side effects, started her company CindiNails in 2005. In the meantime, the Scherers, veterans of the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, saw an opportunity to sell nail polish exclusively to nail professionals who had lost their go-to brands, OPI and Esse, after they became available to all consumers, not just professionals. In doing research and interviews the Scherers also heard that manicurists wanted a product that was more organic, less chemical, John Scherer says. The Scherers had been successful in nail polish in the 1990s but left the business when stores became too difficult to work with. It was a call from an industry consultant in California several months ago, telling them about a void in polishes sold only to nail pros that got the ball rolling on forming a new product. During the research and development process they learned about the Liebers' low-chemical system for artificial nails and the top coats and base coats that came with it. The Scherers decided to approach them about their new polish formula that could be made minus five dangerous chemicals, including formaldehyde and toluene, and with an organic not synthetic plasticizer (hardener). They asked if the Lieders wanted to combine products. They did and the foursome formed Colors Cindi Nails Naturals LLC. "We had our polish colors. The thing we didn't have was our top coat or base coat," says John Scherer. "We thought we would find someone doing it in California, and it turned out we found someone doing it right here in Clarkston, Michigan. We wanted it to buy it in gallon cans from them initially, but they wanted to buy colors and it was perfect. It was a marriage made in heaven." New salons and independent nail professionals are ordering Cindis Naturals every week, he says, salons in Grosse Pointe, West Bloomfield, St. Clair Shores. While the business side is looking promising what's been most rewarding, he adds, is how the product has helped nail professionals not only avoid smelly, potentially harmful fumes but also boost their bottom line. The polishes are sold in full size bottles for manicures and pedicures and come with a Skinny Mini that can be sold to clients for touch-ups, etc. and in a bottle size that won't dry up before it's used up. It gives consumers a way to keep their nails fresh and the nail pro a small source of income. "It's working like a charm," he says. "The pros are happy. Their clients are happy. A safer product is out there. It's working out just beautifully." Writer: Kim North Shine Source: John Scherer, co-founder Cindis Naturals

Coupon Wallet helps biz coupons transition to digital

A new start-up at the Macomb-OU INCubator aims to help businesses make the leap from paper to digital when it comes to the savings they offier. Coupon Wallet is developing a software platform that help small businesses create digital coupons, helping them reach a larger audience. The technology includes managed marketing services and point-of-sale integration. "It's meant to help brands transition out of the paper world and into the digital world," says Christopher Papa, chief marketing officer & partner of Coupon Wallet. The Sterling Heights-based company was spun out of PocketCents Network, which has been advertising online for several years. The Coupon Wallet will focus on enhancing creating digital coupon but also aggregating information that will help users make more constructive business decisions. Coupon Wallet was launched last fall and has grown to team of five employees and three interns. It recently tok up residence at the Macomb-OU INCubator to help help grow the business and leverage the business accelerators numerous assets. "The rent is very cheap and everything is included," Papa says. "There is also being surrounded by professionals." Source: Christopher Papa, chief marketing officer & partner of Coupon Wallet Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Soccer and lacrosse complex expanding in Pontiac

A regional soccer and lacrosse complex that includes the largest indoor soccer site in North America is expanding, adding indoor and outdoor fields on a piece of property in Pontiac that was once a General Motors Corp. workplace. Ultimate Soccer Arenas will build on 14.6 acres along Centerpoint Parkway behind and next to the Ultimate Soccer Arenas complex on East South Boulevard an roll fields for lacrosse, a traditionally East Coast sport that's taken off in metro Detroit and Michigan. The expansion will add nearly 70,000 square feet and a fourth field and seating to the indoor facility, making it the largest non-professional sports facility in the world, says George Derderian, co-owner of Ultimate Soccer Arenas along with Tom Korpela. Ultimate Soccer Arenas opened in 2007 and moves about 1 million people through in a year and about 20,000 people use it at a time 10 or more times a year. In addition to youth soccer and lacrosse events, the facility is the site of high school and collegiate soccer and lacrosse, high school and college graduations, after-school education and various community and cultural activities. It also is the home field of the Michigan Bucks, a minor league amateur soccer team, and the Detroit Mechanics pro disc team. Construction will begin this summer and be completed in time for the fall sports season. About 100 construction jobs will be created and 20 full-time jobs. The outdoor portion of the former automotive-industry property, which has been cleaned up and developed by RACER Trust, will be turned into a synthetic turf fields for lacrosse and soccer and enough bleacher seating for 2,500 spectators and 600 parking spaces. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: George Derderian, co-owner, Ultimate Soccer Arenas

New Farmington bookstore wants to offer all things steampunk

Berkley’s FoodTruck Cafe bringing food carts indoors

The FoodTruck Cafe is giving customers of rolling restaurants a place to sit down and eat indoors or out. The cafe is opening June 24 in Berkley with three food trucks re-created inside the cafe: the Sideshow Sandwich Emporium, Nacho Ordinary Nacho and Airstream Espresso. The cafe is taking shape inside a closed Coffee Beanery at 28557 Woodward Ave. FoodTruck Cafe will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and serve breakfast, including Airstream Espresso Illy coffee. Lunch and dinner feature the conundrum bacon sandwich with its applewood smoked bacon, avocado, tater tots, tomatoes, onion and mayo from Sideshow Sandwich, or Nacho Ordinary Nacho's barbecue pork nachos with pulled pork, Bermuda onions, Monterey Jack cheese, cole slaw and a dollop of crema de Sriracha sauce. The founder, Kerry Johnson, wants "to bring street food indoors." There will also be outdoor seating, and the vibe inside and out will be casual with picnic tables and twinkly lights. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Kerry Johnson, owner, FoodTruck Cafe

Stone Works opens on Grosse Pointe Woods’ Mack Ave.

Stone Works is bringing interior design and masonry work for indoors and outdoors to a storefront in Grosse Pointe Woods. The store can serve as showroom and planning site for home and commercial projects. Stone Works is scheduled to open mid-June on Mack Avenue in place of a closed Verizon store. "We've had very vibrant activity along Mack Avenue," says the city's building department director, Gene Tutage. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Gene Tutag, director, Grosse Pointe Woods building department

Coffee and juice bar moves into downtown Northville

A man with a name that's pretty close to perfect for his line of work is opening a coffeehouse and smoothie bar in downtown Northville. Johnny Coffey is the man behind Northville Roast, which opened last month at 133 W. Main, Suite 222, on the downtown square. He is hoping to make a success of the storefront that's been home to other coffee shops by mixing it up with fresh-roasted beans and adding twists such as bringing in musicians and serving smoothies and fresh juices. Northville Roast celebrated the opening at Northville's Memorial Day parade and, as Coffey says, "We are so excited to be re-launching your much anticipated hometown coffee shop." Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Johnny Coffey, owner, Northville Roast

Royal Oak’s Monty’s Beef Co. is where the healthier beef is

A beef from the Piedmonte region of Italy and prized there and in the U.S. for its quality is being sold from a new market in Royal Oak. Monty's Beef Co. opened June 1 at 324 E. Fourth St. in downtown Royal Oak  and specializes in Piedmontese beef from a herd of cattle imported from Italy and raised humanely by a rancher in mid-Michigan. It is sold at the store, online and by phone to customers -- whether for home use or by restaurants -- looking for cattle raised organically, fed well, not pumped with chemicals and known for producing meat that's as flavorful as prime, aged beef but with less cholesterol and fat. The owners Jon and Rachel Leemis spent many months researching the beef industry, looking for purer, higher quality beef. Their Monty's Beef Co. will sell directly or through orders that can be picked up in the store or delivered. Monty's has a Steak of the Month Club and gift packages as well as its regular menu of choice cuts. In Italy, the Piedmonte breed of cattle graze in the Alps. The beef has been eaten there for centuries and is said to be tastier and healthier and considered superior to North American cattle breeds. It can be found occasionally on menus in the U.S., but the owners of Monty's Beef Co. hope to make Piedmonte beef a menu staple. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Rachel Leemis, owner, Monty's Beef Co.