Northern Lights - Issue 20 - May 2023
BELIEVING IN CADILLAC
by AMY LANE
In an 1890s building along Cadillac’s main street, Ted and Ashley Clark are giving new life to pieces of the area’s history, and to the downtown itself.
In the span of just a few years, they’ve opened the Charming North home décor and furnishings shop mixing old and new, purchased an adjacent men’s and women’s clothing store that had been a staple in the community for decades, created an event space for private parties and gatherings, and, bought the building housing it all.
That purchase, closing in January 2022, marked another development in a downtown seeing business growth and energy.
Ted and Ashley Clark at their home décor and furnishings store, Charming North, in downtown Cadillac.
Moving Up With Charm
“I think that Cadillac is moving upwards,” said co-owner Ashley Clark. “I think we got in at a good time, and I think there’s still opportunity. I would say to anyone looking for a place to open their business, I would not overlook Cadillac. Because I see big things coming here in the next few years.”
Charming North is among businesses helped by Venture North Funding & Development, a Community Development Financial Institution or CDFI that’s engaged in the Cadillac community and that offers loans, mini grants and free consulting services to small businesses there and in a 10-county region of northwest Michigan.
Annie Olds, Venture North business development manager, coach and point person for Wexford and some other counties, sees a promising picture for the downtown bordered by Lake Cadillac.
“I’ve been actively engaged in the Cadillac business community for the past twelve years and it’s impressive to watch what’s been happening in the downtown area,” Olds said. “A decade ago, there were just as many empty downtown spaces as there were occupied and very little about the space was inviting to foot traffic.
Partners, Placemaking, Progress
“Key community partners have been critical to changing the landscape both on the street and the lake sides of the downtown and what they’re doing is working because shops are mostly full and there’s usually another business ready to move in even if another is moving out. Rebuilding a downtown takes time and the community of Cadillac has taken this task very seriously.”
There’s been intention – city-led steps to improve the quality of downtown areas and become more development-friendly throughout Cadillac’s footprint -- as well as interconnection and activity that’s evolved among businesses and others with a stake in the downtown and Cadillac area’s future.
John Wallace, Cadillac community development director, said downtown progress and momentum has been influenced by placemaking efforts like Cadillac Commons, a multi-year project that began in 2014 with the redesign of a primary public parking lot, adjacent to City Park. The city worked with the Michigan Municipal League and others to ultimately create a year-round, attractive destination encompassing a plaza, a renovated Rotary Performing Arts Pavilion, new parking areas and an ice rink and children’s splash pad, a market building for farmers’ markets and other events, and other features drawing residents and visitors.
Most recently, the Commons became home to a new trailhead for the 92-mile White Pine Trail that stretches from near Grand Rapids to Cadillac, and further Commons improvements are under discussion.
“In terms of the impetus for growth, I think a lot of interest in redevelopment was triggered by that,” Wallace said. “Since the expenditure of the $4 million or $5 million that we’ve put into placemaking, we’ve tracked at least $32 million in private downtown investment since that time.”
The historic Cobbs & Mitchell Building in Cadillac, MI.
Cool Places to Live
Among that: Rehabilitation of the long-vacant Cobbs & Mitchell Building – a project that won developer Robb Munger the 2019 Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation for his renovation of the 1907 office building, now tenant-occupied. And, the 2020 construction of the first phase of Cadillac Lofts, a four-story building featuring 42 apartments above 6,000 square feet of commercial/retail space, with large glass storefronts and a shared outdoor patio space.
Occupying a city block where three buildings including a large vacant grocery store once sat, Cadillac Lofts is a two-phase, two-building project led and owned by Michigan Community Capital, a Lansing-based CDFI that facilitates the financing and development of low-income and attainable housing and the redevelopment of brownfield sites. Project partners included the city, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. or MEDC, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, and Huntington National Bank. Venture North was the grant administrator for a Community Development Block Grant to the city of Cadillac.
The building’s residential units were completely leased within 6 months of opening and four of five commercial spaces are currently leased. This summer, soil remediation and site cleanup will be completed to prepare for construction of the second building, bringing 50 apartments and 2,500 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.
In a statement, Eric Kehoe, development manager for Michigan Community Capital, said the CDFI has “heard directly from city leadership and community members that housing is in huge demand, and the proof of that is just how quickly our first building leased up. We’re proud to serve Cadillac and look forward to being part of this vibrant, thriving community for a long time.”
“I’ve been actively engaged in the Cadillac business community for the past twelve years and it’s impressive to watch what’s been happening in the downtown area…rebuilding a downtown takes time and the community of Cadillac has taken this task very seriously.”
— Annie Olds, Venture North business development manager and coach
Readying Redevelopment
As Cadillac Lofts moved forward, the city was on a separate path to welcome other investment, by taking part in the state’s Redevelopment Ready Communities, or RRC, program. The program evaluates communities on their economic development practices and grants certification indicating the community has removed development barriers and streamlined processes to be more competitive and attractive to investors.
Cadillac first learned of the program in November 2014 and in 2017 began to actively engage in the process to achieve certification, focusing on planning, zoning, development review and other areas to meet the program’s best-practice standards.
“The program is aimed at being, as the name suggests, redevelopment ready,” Wallace said. “If somebody comes to your town, are you ready to plug somebody in.”
The MEDC in April 2021 awarded the city certification, recognizing it is proactive and business-friendly and providing the city other benefits including eligibility to access state grant funds and community development incentives, state staff support and assistance in marketing redevelopment sites. Venture North President Laura Galbraith said that for a city of Cadillac team that “has been working for years to attract new investment and economic growth,” it was a significant achievement.
“I applaud them for being one of the first northern Michigan communities to pursue…the designation. It takes a lot of resources to successfully become a ‘certified’ MEDC Redevelopment Ready Community,” she said, adding there are just a half-dozen certified RRCs in Venture North’s region.
The city has taken advantage of the RRC status, applying for and receiving grants through the MEDC’s Match on Main program to help three downtown and one west-side business make improvements to grow and thrive.
Supporting Owl Eye Growth
Aaron Fekete, who with his wife Jinyoung owns Owl Eye Coffee Roasters in downtown Cadillac, said his business sales have more than doubled since last year he made improvements – and added hours – as a result of a Match on Main grant. With the grant money only disbursed on a reimbursement basis, Venture North provided a $30,000 bridge loan that gave Fekete money to work with up-front. And the money helped with much – building out a café space with about 20 seats, a custom-built work space bar, new exterior siding and logo signage, and HVAC improvements.
Jinyoung Fekete serving up lattes at Owl Eye Coffee Roasters.
Once a barista when he was growing up in the Cadillac area, the café was a childhood dream of Fekete, who opened Owl Eye in 2019 initially as a coffee wholesaler with limited hours for the public to buy beans.
Fekete said he and his wife are working twice as much as before and the café is continuing to grow, adding food items and drinks. He’s hiring his first employee and plans to have about four part-time workers by summer. That, he said, may free him up to grow his wholesale business more.
“We’ll hopefully just keep growing for the foreseeable future,” Fekete said. “We’re just trying to do this as smoothly as possible. Everything has been good and steady growth. The grant definitely helped give us a turbo boost, so we can get to this part where we can get some staff in.”
He said he thinks “there’s a good buzz around downtown” and sees positive business activity. “Overall, I wouldn’t have put this business here if I didn’t believe in the potential and where Cadillac is going,” Fekete said.
Acting on Dreams
Down the street is another Match on Main recipient, Charming North. As with Owl Eye, Venture North provided a bridge loan to help the Clarks expand. Venture North’s Olds said while Owl Eye and Charming North are two different businesses, the couples that own them are alike in one regard: “They both acted on a dream and they went for it.
“At some point both couples decided that their collective passions were worth risking the comfort of collecting a paycheck from someone else and now they’re both sharing their talents, stories, products and beautiful spaces with their customers – both meeting very different needs in Cadillac’s downtown community,” Olds said.
The Clarks first met attending Pine River Area High School south of Cadillac, married and moved to southern California when Ted entered the U.S. Marines. When they returned to Michigan, they eventually moved to Cadillac with intentions to start a business, Ashley Clark said.
Ted and Ashley Clark in The North Room, the event space portion of their multi-use building in downtown Cadillac.
Months of trying to find space downtown finally led to their 1897 building home and in April 2019 they opened their retail shop with new, found and hand-crafted home décor, furnishings, gifts and other items. Ted made furniture sold in the store, which also featured local makers and artists. And the vibe spoke to the duo’s love of history and historical pieces, and mixing antiques and vintage pieces with those more current.
They persevered through COVID disruption and other challenges in their first couple years, a “roller coaster” alternately better, worse, harder and more rewarding -- and bringing faster growth – than Ashley Clark said she “ever could have imagined.” Then came the opportunity to buy the neighboring RJ Grants men’s and women’s clothing store, and, the entire building that they fell in love with when they first moved in.
“It was a huge leap of faith. In our minds, we weren’t ready, but we also weren’t ready to pass up the opportunity. We just knew we would have to work our butts off to do it,” Clark said.
The duo created an opening in the wall between the two stores to make it one large store and then renovated additional main-floor space to create The North Room – an event venue with more than 2,000 square feet of open space and a capacity of 99 people, and additional areas with bathroom, prep kitchen and storage.
The space pays homage to its past and to area history, with original wood floors, partially exposed brick wall, tin ceilings, and glass chandeliers that adorned the ballroom of the former downtown Northwood Hotel. “Parts of local history that we get to bring back to life again, and to give new life and new homes to,” Ashley Clark said. “It’s a huge part of what we do, and what we’re passionate about.”
Customized Help for Big Ideas
The North Room has booked gatherings including anniversary, birthday and Christmas parties, business meetings, bridal showers, rehearsal dinners, small wedding receptions and graduation open houses. Venture North’s $25,000 loan covering the Match on Main grant helped pay for store renovation to expose brick walls and install displays, and North Room items like locally built wooden tables, the chandeliers, acoustic panels, kitchen appliances and equipment, a projector, and inventory.
Clark said business coach Olds provided valuable assistance and Venture North stands out as a community-oriented financial institution. “They’re focused on northern Michigan. They care about what happens here, and they care about the growth,” she said.
Galbraith said Venture North has community partners and roots across its region, and staff “that live in your backyard and are available to help you start a business or grow an existing business.” Staff include longtime northwest Michigan residents, she said, helping Venture North understand the needs and potential opportunities of communities it serves. Venture North board members are also closely tied to target market communities and represent most of the counties Venture North serves, although Venture North is currently seeking a board member from Wexford County, Galbraith said.
Venture North’s Olds said that Venture North’s team has collective experience in the region – as small business owners, community leaders, commercial lenders or educators – that positions them “with the ability and agility to meet small business owners where they’re at and customize our programs to fit the needs of each business.”
She added that Venture North cares about “how each small business fits into their respective communities,” and, that the businesses thrive. “We care about their ability to grow, hire people, and most importantly, give back to their communities,” Olds said.
“While we’re often introduced to a business for a particular need they’re facing in a particular moment, it’s our priority to establish lasting relationships with each of our clients because we’re hopeful that they’re going to grow. And as they grow, so do their needs – from borrowing or access to other capital, to resources, to connections, general consulting support, or maybe they just need someone to bounce an idea off of as they’re thinking through something new.
“These are the clients that we love to work with, the ones who embrace chaos and have the magical ability to turn that chaos into something powerful for both their businesses and communities.”
Where Dreams Come True
At Charming North, the Clarks have further dreams – returning decades-vacant upstairs space to public use, perhaps for a variety of small businesses. Said Ted Clark: “There’s so much potential for growth and what the next ten years look like. Every day we discuss and dream about opportunity.”
They’re also grounded at street-level, working with the Cadillac Area Chamber of Commerce, the Cadillac Area Visitors Bureau, the Downtown Development Authority and downtown businesses in efforts to build downtown community. That includes twice-monthly “retail roundup” meetings where new and seasoned downtown businesses can share ideas, information, assistance and networking. And last year, the rebranding of Cadillac’s annual summer sidewalk sale, as Mitchell Street Market.
Finding Progress in Unity
Cadillac chamber President Caitlyn Stark said the rebranding – as well as hosting new shopping promotions during three other seasons throughout the year – “allows all businesses downtown to participate and we welcome in other businesses in our area to host booths/entertainment on these Mitchell Street Market events. This is a way to showcase businesses that Cadillac has to offer, and our beautiful downtown.”
Separately, the chamber also hosts a “downtown dollar” program every year that allows patrons to purchase gift certificates that can be used at over 30 participating downtown businesses, Stark said, helping money go “right back into our local businesses.”
At the Visitors Bureau, which provided graphic design and an over-the-road banner to support the Market as an event, executive director Kathy Morin said the bureau works with all its local partners “to really create a vibrant downtown and a vibrant community overall. We want people to come to the Cadillac area, but we also want to help support reasons for people to come here.”
The bureau created new banners last year for the Cadillac Commons area and is talking with the city about providing banners for the entire stretch of downtown’s main street, which Morin said would help not only with aesthetics but also slow the speed of traffic on what is also a busy four-lane highway through the downtown.
Cadillac was named a Pure Michigan Trail Town in 2022, state recognition that the community “has prioritized trails as a recreational opportunity” and is committed to that being an accessible activity year-round, Morin said.
The recognition “definitely speaks to those users that are looking for that experience,” she said. “But I think overall, it demonstrates quality of life.”
Trails, Corridors, Walkways - Moving Experiences
Adding to that, Cadillac business and community leaders last October dedicated a new trailhead of the White Pine Trail, marking the northern end of the 92-mile trail and another placemaking feature of Cadillac Commons. The trailhead includes a prominent entryway with a clock tower that had been taken down for Cadillac Lofts construction, paved parking, rain gardens, bike repair station and racks, and picnic tables.
The chamber’s Stark said the benefits of a flourishing downtown stretch far. “Flourishing downtowns support the attraction and retention of workforce in a given area,” she said. “In the Cadillac area, a healthy mix and establishment of downtown businesses gives character to a space that brings people and investment together.
“Our community is strong when our core of our geographical landscape is strong.”
She added that the growth of a corridor district on the west side of town – including the commercial areas along M-115 and M-55 bordered by Lake Mitchell and Lake Cadillac – “is core to the growth of our regional townships and villages. It is an evolving space of activity all year-round with new businesses, investment in the local parks and emerging excitement. This space is critical for investment moving forward as this district becomes more and more of a core with our growing population.”
Looking ahead in downtown, the city’s Wallace said sidewalk improvements are a priority, possibly starting this year. And, there’s interest in eventual streetscape redesign to “create a better environment for shopping, so we attract more shoppers and attract more business.” Residential and commercial growth remains a focus, he said, and one new tool that could help the city and others plan and make decisions, downtown and elsewhere, is cell phone data that the Visitors Bureau is obtaining from an outside provider.
“We recently got some of this data, and we shared it with the city, chamber, other interested local partners,” said the bureau’s Morin. The data can show where people are coming from, where they’re going, when they are present in an area like downtown and the length of time they are spending, and other information “that can drive decisions,” she said.
Said Wallace: “We can learn a lot about consumer behavior, based on tracking this data over time. It will help us learn things that can make us better at what we do.”
Coveting Cadillac
Even as officials look to the future, there’s economic resilience today. When the downtown last year lost its longstanding bicycle shop, within a few weeks another – Einstein Cycles – committed to come in, Wallace said. And Downtown Development Authority Chairman Steve Barnes said that while he knows several people who would like to open retail space there’s almost none to be had, amid locations where buildings may be empty but new ownership and plans are pending.
Barnes, co-owner of the Simply Delightful shop and café, is part of that growth. He is now expanding into a second building, the latest in a chain of success that began when he and a partner purchased Simply Delightful in January 2016 with intention more “about keeping a business downtown alive,” Barnes said, than making a lot of money.
They made upgrades to the café, menu changes, and capitalized on a caramel corn recipe they’d purchased with the business, beginning to sell wholesale to a couple store owners they knew in the surrounding areas. “It kind of took off from there,” Barnes said. “And today, 90 percent of our sales are wholesale.”
Simply Delightful distributes hand-dipped chocolates, gourmet popcorn, fudge and other items it produces on-site and also sells in its store. The store focuses on food-related products made by local or Michigan small businesses and also stocks gifts, T-shirts and other items.
Just some of the “delights” offered up at Simply Delightful in downtown Cadillac.
A recent $25,000 Match on Main grant funded the purchase of a freezer and a display cooler for foods like smoked fish, dips and gourmet cheeses, and the grant also helped with equipment to improve wholesale operations and add capacity. That included a bigger chocolate tempering machine, a cooking kettle for caramel and flavored popcorn, and equipment to add kettle corn.
“It enabled us to do some things we may have not been able to do, at least not as quickly,” Barnes said. “It helped not just us, but some other Michigan businesses too, so they have an outlet for selling their stuff. So it was kind of a win-win-win – our business, their businesses and the state as a whole.”
Barnes said he’s seen a corresponding increase in sales, both retail and wholesale, with the latter segment boosted by a new line of savory popcorn flavors.
Going Further Together
He said Simply Delightful is beyond capacity in its current 2,300-square-foot building, thus the purchase of the new location -- an 11,000-square-foot building a few blocks away that had been sitting vacant several years. Barnes said the current building might be converted to become an allergen-free production facility, but no firm decisions have been made.
As the downtown business landscape continues to unfold, Barnes sees optimism and promise.
“I’ve been involved in downtown for seven years now; it really is probably in the last year and a half, maybe two, that I’ve started seeing that communication, the level of interest grow, the business owners working together.
“It was very much a bunch of independent businesses located near each other. And now, instead of just a bunch of independent businesses, it’s almost like a bunch of interconnected businesses. People realizing that by myself I can only go so far…together we can go further.”
And that, he said, bodes well for a vibrant, prosperous downtown, for everything.
“I think we’ve hit the tip of the iceberg,” Barnes said. “We are just scratching the surfaces as far as potential goes.”
Amy Lane is a veteran Michigan business reporter whose background includes work with Crain Communications Inc., Crain’s Detroit Business and serving as Capitol correspondent for nearly 25 years. Now a freelance reporter and journalist, Lane’s work has appeared in many publications including Traverse City Business News.
