New businesses ready for fall

Owners bring several new establishments to storefronts across Grand River Avenue, anticipate rush of students in August

Downtown East Lansing is home to constantly changing businesses and this summer is no different — three new businesses will open along Grand River Avenue before the school year begins. There tends to be a regular amount of businesses that turnover every year downtown, said Tim Dempsey, community development administrator for East Lansing.“If it’s a viable business entity, I think it can be a benefit,” Dempsey said. “We may get a new tenant that people really like and patronize.”

However, Dempsey said businesses need to be careful when deciding to come to East Lansing. Food service especially is very competitive, and he said he recommends businesses closely study the market and really ask themselves what is going to differentiate their business from others.

“A lot of times, people assume that just because they’re across the street from a huge university, they can open their doors and be successful,” he said. “I would argue it’s just the opposite — there’s so many choices (here), especially in food.”

Economics senior Jeffrey Greenman said it seems like the big chains are always the ones that do best in East Lansing, sticking around the longest.

“I like the variety, but I wish that the stores would be consistent and not always change,” he said.

However, Paul O’Connor, manager of Flats Grille, 551 E. Grand River Ave., said he thinks bringing in new businesses is a great thing.

“I wish them the best of luck,” he said. “It’s better than having an empty building, to have customers in there. It just makes the whole block look better, and more people will come to the area to eat.”

E.L.Moe’s Firehouse Grill

Students and East Lansing residents will have another downtown dining option when E.L.Moe’s Firehouse Grill opens this week.

The restaurant, located at 565 E. Grand River Ave., is taking the place of Spartan Gyros, which closed in March.

E.L.Moe’s Firehouse Grill is going to feature sandwiches, wraps, pitas and subs.

“We’ll have the value menu with pitas — (we’re) kind of competing with fast food on that,” said manager Ahmad Elbast.

All the food will be cooked in front of the customers, with nothing prepared in the back, he said.

Other aspects of the restaurant will include a pickup option where after ordering their food, customers can drive to the side of the restaurant and one of the employees will run the food to their car.

“For people who don’t want to get delivery and pay the four or five bucks, they can just wait in the car,” Elbast said.

The building, which many students recognized as the old Taco Bell, has been painted, and Elbast said he has received uniforms from the Meridian Township Police Department to hang on the walls as decorations.

Memo’s

The doner kabob, one of the most successful dishes in Europe, will be coming to East Lansing when Memo’s, 321 E. Grand River Ave., opens on July 21.

“It’s going to be a quick service restaurant, but a European style one that offers … a healthy choice of fast food,” said Nehmet Eroglu, the owner of Memo’s.

The doner kabob is a sandwich dish, made on a Mediterranean kind of fluffy bread with sesame seeds, and filled with either chicken or beef. It then is topped with one of five available sauces and a choice of lettuce, onions, a type of cabbage salad, pickles and cucumbers.

“The difference between all the other kabobs is this is made from lean beef, with almost no fat,” Eroglu said.

Most of the preparations for Memo’s are completed, and Eroglu said the last step before opening is to hire employees.

“We thought East Lansing is going to be our first store to open in the United States,” he said.

“The reason for that is … there is a very diverse student community, and a large group of students, so we thought let’s give it a try here and then move on.”

If successful, Eroglu plans to expand Memo’s throughout Michigan and possibly into Ohio.

Snap Fitness

Snap Fitness, 115 E. Grand River Ave., is a new gym scheduled to open around Aug. 15.

“Once Powerhouse Gym moved, I just knew a lot of people had liked that gym — it was convenient, (within) walking distance and new, and we’re going to bring that back, with a little more added convenience,” said Elizabeth Molinsky, one of the owners of Snap Fitness.

The gym will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“You can access us at any time as long as you have an access card,” Molinsky said. “If you swipe across the door, there’s a magnet reader, and it unlocks the door for you — you can come work out any time.”

For security reasons, there is also a surveillance camera and sensors on the doors to monitor how many people are coming in.

This way, if more than one person walks in on one swipe, the gym owners will instantly know about it, she said.

Another feature of the gym is that there is no contract, and members pay on a month-to-month basis with no cancellation fee, Molinsky said.

Bruegger’s Bagels

Reconstruction on Bruegger’s Bagels, 505 E. Grand River Ave., began Tuesday after an electrical fire temporarily closed the restaurant in April.

“It will be mildly different — it will still be the same Bruegger’s with an oven and kettle, but we’re taking this as an opportunity to update the place,” said Rick McCuistion, market director for Bruegger’s. “We’ll put in a salad station, and we’ll just add things we didn’t have space for.”

The restaurant had been going through the process of getting floor plans approved, a necessary process with any reconstruction, McCuistion said. Bruegger’s is expected to reopen by the end of August, he said.

Already in operation

In addition to the businesses coming to East Lansing, there are three that have recently opened along Grand River Avenue this summer.

Talk-A-Lot Wireless, 611 E. Grand River Ave., the Albert Place Condominiums showroom, 623 E. Grand River Ave., and Sushi & Deli, 547 E. Grand River Ave., are all new to downtown East Lansing.

“The retail side is slow, but we’re absolutely expecting to pick up (when students come),” said Nick Curtis, president of Talk-A-Lot Wireless.

Published on Monday, July 7, 2008