Ferndale : Development News

Painting With a Twist, where customers are encouraged to BYOB and pick up a brush to learn from artists how to paint, is expanding, moving into a new space in downtown Ferndale.

The move down the road on 9 Mile will almost double the space for Painting With a Twist Ferndale, which is a franchise of Corks n Canvas.

The new 3,000-square-foot space is being renovated inside the former Dollar Castle on 9 Mile. Dollar Castle closed in October and is being divided for three tenants. Modern Natural Baby is moving is moving into 5,000 square feet of the building, adding to its inventory and building parts of the business it previously didn't have the space to do.

At Painting With A Twist Ferndale, birthday parties are celebrated, charity events are held, and girls' nights out are common, as are outings for artists just wanting to paint.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Chris Hughes, Ferndale Downtown Development Authority

Oakland County is trying to make starting a business or taking it to the next level easier for entrepreneurs by offering free, walk-in business counseling.

The One Stop Shop Business Center at the Oakland County Executive Office building, 2100 Pontiac Lake Road, in Waterford will open May 9 and offer regular walk-in hours after that. The hours for May 9 are 9:30-noon and 1:30-4:30. The business center is on the first floor of Building 41W.

“We usually operate on an appointment-only basis but many entrepreneurs walk into our One Stop Shop with questions on how to get started with their business idea,” says Greg Doyle, supervisor of the One Stop Shop Business Center. “By designating special walk-in days, we hope to reach more entrepreneurs and help them understand their next steps as well as present the resources we can make available to them. Our aim is to get them started quickly in a way that makes the most sense to their unique situation.”

Counselors at the business center can answer specific questions, suggest planning tools and give direction on where to go to solve problems or achieve goals. All sessions are confidential. The counselors have expertise in business development, community planning, financing and market research.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Greg Doyle, supervisor, One Stop Shop Business Center

A plan to turn a busy 27-mile, automobile-loving stretch of Woodward Avenue into a road that's safe and welcoming for all forms of transportation is rolling along with a series of public planning events to begin soon.

The changes -- part of the Complete Streets approach that's happening in cities around Michigan and across the country -- would move Woodward away from a wide-swath of auto-centered roadway to one that's inviting and safe for bicyclists, pedestrians, disabled users, bus riders -- and, if it comes to pass, light rail passengers.

The Woodward Avenue Action Association, WA3, is heading up the effort in partnership with Parsons Brinckerhoff. Working with them are reps and policy makers from 11 Wayne and Oakland county municipalities that have Woodward running through them. The Michigan Department of Transportation, M1 Rail, and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments are also part of the project that's been in the works since August 2011 and has $752,000 in federal funding to work with.

The next step is to host five interactive public events, a design charrette, in several of the Woodward-connected communities. From those meetings could come a master plan that will determine what changes and updates are needed to accommodate public transit, pedestrians, bicyclists and, ideally, economic development.

“We want to create a street that truly works for everyone. Imagine a corridor that accommodates people of all ages and abilities, including pedestrians, bicyclists, seniors, mobility-challenged individuals, transit riders and motorists,” says Jason Fowler, WA3 and Woodward Complete Streets program manager. “By engaging the residents and businesses along the corridor, as well as industry experts in this visioning process, we can develop a wide variety of innovative solutions and create a successful master plan.”

The first meetings, a three-day event, will focus on north Woodward in Detroit from McNichols to 8 Mile and Ferndale and be held at St. James Catholic Church, 241 Pearson Street in Ferndale, April 17-19.

During the meetings in Ferndale, Dan Burden, a walkability expert from the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, will present a walking audit of Woodward and explain what lies ahead for a re-design he says "could be the single largest Complete Streets planning effort ever undertaken in North America.”

Other meetings will be held in Birmingham/Bloomfield Hills, May 20-22; in Bloomfield Township/Pontiac, June 3-5; Pleasant Ridge through Berkley, June 10-12; and in downtown Detroit/Highland Park, June 17-19.

Click on www.transformwoodward.com for exact locations, times and topics to be discussed.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Lori Ella Miller, spokesperson, Woodward Avenue Action Association

Ferndale is showing more love to bicyclists by offering another on-street bike rack, this one on Woodward Avenue, the busiest street in town and a location that state transportation officials see as a model for other cities to follow.

The 12-bike rack will be installed by the end of May on the east side of Woodward, just north of 9 Mile, making it the city's sixth on-street bike rack but its most significant given its location on a major state road.

This same time last year, the city's first on-street rack and a piece of bike-related art were installed, and since then four others have been added to less busy streets. Over the last four years, about 35 bike racks were added to sidewalks around Ferndale.

"Many of our residents prefer the ease of riding their bike to town, enjoying an extra bit of exercise, avoiding traffic jams and reducing their carbon footprint," says Cristina Sheppard Decius, executive director of the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority. "The DDA is committed to doing what it can to make that mantra work.“

The new rack will be protected from 35-mph traffic along Woodward by Michigan Department of Transportation barriers and be bright yellow.

“One on-street bike rack can accommodate the transportation of 12 or more people,” says Sheppard-Decius. “We have an ideal situation for making that kind of trade-off." 

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Cristina Sheppard-Decius, executive director, Ferndale Downtown Development Authority

After spending its infancy as an online business, moving into toddlerhood as a brick and mortar store in Ferndale and then another store, Modern Natural Baby is moving again, this time to a larger space and with bigger plans.

Emily Murray, who started Modern Natural Baby with her husband, John Murray, in August 2009, says the move from Modern Natural Baby's store at 224 W. 9 Mile Road -- it once was on Woodward Avenue -- will let the new store at 200 W. 9 Mile offer more products and bigger ones such as strollers and car seats and high chairs. There wasn't enough room to display such items in the prior location.

At about double the size, the new Modern Natural Baby will not only sell more products but also seek out and sell those that keep with its organic, earth-friendly, socially-responsible business model.

"It'll be nice because we have a ton of gift registries, but before they had to register at other places for the strollers and car seats and larger items. Now they can register for everything here," Murray says.

The new 5,300 sq. ft. store is replacing Dollar Castle and will be the anchor of the 12,000-plus sq. ft. space that will soon be occupied by three tenants. The owner is renovating the building inside and out.

"The owner is putting a ton of money into it," Murray says. "Three businesses will be there instead of one. It's going to be one of the nicest buildings in Ferndale. This is really good for the city."

She expects to move into the new spot a few doors down from the current shop in August and be open later that month or in early September.

Though customers come from across metro Detroit and even from Canada, Murray attributes the success that started with an online business run from a home basement to a retail store to busting at the seams to Ferndale's way with attracting families and fostering progressive attitudes.

"Ferndale is definitely a place where there's a lot of nightlife…We've come from a time where families did kind of leave Ferndale…they're coming back…a lot of my customers are Ferndale customers. It's a great place for us because there are so many families, and it's a green area, it's such a hip area. It's perfect for our business."

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Emily Murray, co-owner, Modern Natural Baby

M-1 Studios has expanded into a studio in Ferndale as its business of video production, editing services and documentary filmmaking continues to grow.

The four-year-old company is hiring employees and adding space to keep up with the growth, says Mike Madigan, director of business operations.

The new space at 362 Hilton Road in Ferndale gives M-1 more studio and production room -- and business opportunities.
Commercials, including iMercials and social media video productions, are expected to be in high demand. In-studio and on-location interviews can be done here, with the use of green screen technology.

The editors, producers, screenwriters and video techs also work on animated productions, voiceovers and narrations, and filming training videos, documentaries. Other services, including DVD covers and labels and VHS to DVD transfers, are available as well.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Mike Madigan, operations manager, M-1 Studios

Mead may be the next frontier in the world of craft -- craft beer, craft food, craft wine -- and Ferndale will soon be home to two meaderies.

The latest, Schramm's Mead, is under construction at 327 W. 9 Mile and will open in May. It's just a couple of miles from B. Nektar Meadery, which opened a production facility and tasting room several weeks ago.

Schramm's is owned by Ken Schramm, a connoisseur of mead and go-to guy in honey wine circles that are buzzing as mead finds its niche.

Schramm authored The Compleat Meadmaker, the Bible for mead-makers, and founded The Mazer Cup international mead competition.

His meads, often fruity or spiced, will be produced and sold at the new store in downtown Ferndale. There will be a tasting room and food menu. Schramm and his family will run the business and hire several employees.

During a presentation before the Ferndale City Council, when Schramm requested a small winery license, he said he and his family are carrying on a family tradition that goes back to ancestors who came here from Germany, fought for the union in the Civil War, and are still in possession of family farms that go back 100 years in their family.

"The Schramm family has a 160-year history of providing food and drink to metro Detroiters," Schramm says, pointing out that his mother came from Ferndale. "We are thrilled at the opportunity to do business in Ferndale."

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Ken Schramm, founder, Schramm's Mead

Since transforming a vanilla, Old Navy store on Woodward Avenue in Ferndale into a colorful cacophony of artistic sights, sounds - and even smells - The Rust Belt Market is making some changes meant to take the business to the next level.

With two years of operation under their belt, Rust Belt founders Chris and Tiffany Best have decided the weekend-only artists' market needs a full-time pursuit.

With their own money, elbow grease provided by themselves, friends and family and $21,000 raised in a Kickstarter campaign they are renovating the market, adding a party and event space that can be used any day of the week. Currently the market is open only on Saturdays and Sundays and an occasional Friday night for special events. The Bests are also updating restrooms and redesigning the building so that artists' booths will be safe and secure.

The remodel of the market at the corner of Woodward and 9 Mile begins after this weekend. The new event space will cover 4,000 square feet of the 15,000 sq. ft. market. The new space will be right in the center of the market and be used as a flex space, the Bests say.

Rust Belt is an art fair, something the Bests love, but more. Artists, crafters and makers at Rust Belt are screened so that the mix is interesting, the quality and creativity high. Artists of all sorts - furniture and food makers, jewelers, seamstresses, painters, potters and many more - sell from booths that often are their own pieces of art, far from the moveable partitions or collapsible tents a la art fairs. A day at the market is musicians performing, coffee roasters roasting, and crafters carving and polishing.

While the market has clearly set itself apart, giving artists a successful retail outlet for their work and generating plenty of fans who appreciate the building itself for the art it is, the market is missing the business aspect that will let it thrive, the Bests say. The event space may be the answer by attracting more paying customers, such as musicians who have asked to use the space to make videos, to the market.

"During the week, it can be rented out for parties, concerts, art showings, workshops, weddings, yoga classes - almost anything, really," the Bests explain in their Kickstarter appeal. "During the weekend it’ll be home to traveling vendors or marquee artists helping to bring people in from the outer suburbs. It will be open for after-hour event opportunities as well. Most importantly, the resident businesses will not have to disassemble their micro-shops or worry about security issues when Rust Belt hosts events. The market that exists today will be the same cool thing it has been every weekend, but more streamlined, smarter, and with a regular draw. It’s a scary prospect, but the only way to maintain the values we've put forward for ourselves and our business, keep prices low for artists, and increase the traffic through the market is to look for different ways to use the space."

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source:  Chris and Tiffany Best, founders and owner/operators, Rust Belt Market

A metro Detroit sushi chain has added a sixth location, this one in Ferndale.

Toyko Sushi opened several weeks ago on Woodward Heights in place of Pete's Place, a closing that brought disappointment to the neighborhood customers and fans.

Tokyo Sushi's latest location is a dine-in or carry-out and also caters. Chef owner, Chris Sayanthone, serves Japanese, Thai and sushi.

While the opening is not in downtown Ferndale, it is one of several businesses locating on the periphery of downtown, including several that are converting light manufacturing facilities into retail businesses.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Chris Hughes, Ferndale Downtown Development Authority

On the heels of B.Nektar Meadery's opening a second location in Ferndale, the honey wine maker that's gone national is adding weekend hours and hiring staff.

The five-year-old mead maker is also adding a spring festival to complement the annual mead meet-up that celebrates its anniversary every August. The festival is April 20, noon to 6 p.m. at the original B. Nektar on Jarvis St.

B. Nektar now sells its meads in about a dozen states and added a second production facility, which also has a tap and tasting room, in January. The new location in a warehouse on Wordsworth St. complements the original facility. The new place will make lower-alcohol, more-carbonated mead while the original location will produce higher-alcohol, non-carbonated varieties and be the site of new product experimentation.

The new hours and production demands call for more staffing, and founder and owner Brad Dahlhofer is interviewing this week, looking to expand a work crew that numbers about 10.

To be interviewing and creating jobs is ironic for Dahlhofer, who started B. Nektar with his wife in 2008 after losing his job.

The initial plan before he was laid off was to fit mead, which he made into his basement, in as a sideline pursuit. With a three-month-old baby at the time, attempting a mead business full-time wasn't happening, he didn't think.

"We didn't think this would be a full-time job," he says. Now B.Nektar is the leading mead producer in Michigan, the state that makes more than any other, he says.

"It was our goal to to do this permanently as a living, but we didn't know when or how exactly. It's the fear of the unknown that keeps people from taking the risk. When I was without a job, the risk of doing wasn't there. I was already on the diving board. I might as well jump."

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Brad Dahlhofer, owner, B. Nektar Meadery, Ferndale

Valentine Vodka, the award-winning spirit that's hand-crafted in Ferndale and sold in 1,500-plus stores in Michigan, Illinois and Tennessee, is now distilling gin, a long and carefully-developed spirit that company founder and head-crafter Rifino Valentine describes "as something I'm so proud of."

Liberator Gin, so named in keeping with the company's support of Detroit (in this case, the city's role in turning out B-24 Liberators), was released last week. It'll land on shelves in Illinois in about a week, Valentine says.

The newest liquor in the lineup can be had in the Valentine Vodka tasting room at 161 Vester St. in Ferndale, or bought in stores. It'll give metro Detroit a ride on the gin wagon that's been moving across the country.

"Gin is kind of a niche product, at least in Michigan right now. On the coasts, New York, San Francisco, and now Chicago, gin is really making a big resurgence. There are gin bars and they're a big deal," says Valentine.

Developing a gin as special as the vodka was a year-plus-long process. Research and development consisted of blind tastings against every sort of store-bought gin, with the tasters being friends and family. Those findings sent Valentine and his colleagues back and forth to the distillery and manufacturing facility in Ferndale, where they fine-tuned the tastes and aromas by tweaking the process over and over until they hit on a profile that set theirs apart.

For the flavor, "What I tried to do with this thing was change that taste that people say is like chewing on pine trees," he says. "The main ingredient in gin is juniper berries, so I wanted a gin that doesn't just smack you in the face with juniper…It has a soft juniper nose and then it just doesn't stop at juniper…It picks up coriander and cardamom, and the real unique thing about this gin…is the nice soft cinnamon finish."

At the tasting room connected to the facility, the gin is already a hit, and it's dispelling some myths -- and bad memories -- about the liquor.

"A lot of people in our tasting room are like, 'No, no, no, I don't like gin'. They they taste it, and they're like, 'Oh my god, I can't believe it,' " Valentine says. "Everybody's got their story about gin, why they don't like it. But there's a big difference between bottom-tier and top-tier gins."

Though the tasting room, which is attached to the manufacturing facility, is packed on weekends, Valentine has no plans to expand. He has to save any extra room to make the liquor, and he's adding new equipment to do that.

Make you want some?

With expectations that the Liberator gin will take off as the five-year-old Valentine Vodka has, Valentine is planning to add another manufacturing facility.

Rifino recently hired a full-time distilling apprentice, and more hires will come within months.

"We're at one of those stages where we're growing so fast I'm trying to be real conscious of managing our growth…At some point relatively soon we're going to expand to another facility that's just dedicated to manufacturing. At that point, for sure, there will be hiring, relatively soon, in the next year or two."

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Rifino Valentine, founder, Valentine Vodka and Liberator Gin

Crowded downtown parking is both a curse and a blessing.

What is a blessing for businesses busy with customers can be a curse to those customers circling, searching for coins or winding up with expired meter tickets. Parking can be also be a deterrent at times for businesses working to keep good employees.

The city of Ferndale and the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority are trying to make the whole process of parking easier with the new Ferndale Park + system. The new system will include multi-space pay stations, rather than individual meters, and will take cash, coins, credit cards or ParkMobile, a pay by phone or online parking service.

The pay stations, called Luke II's, will be solar-powered and cover about 900 spaces in 13 parking lots. The parking design has changed too, into a concentric layout that makes the most convenient spaces available to consumers.

The system is expected to go into service by mid-February, after signage and such is complete. Improvements such as increasing the number of available spaces will be ongoing. Some individual meters will remain.

The concentric system will prioritize parking spaces and set rates according to the users. More affordable parking spaces on the edges of parking lots will cost less (ideal for employees), and closer-in spots will go at new, higher rates. Employees can also buy parking passes.

"Instituting all of the components of Ferndale Park+ is a very big step to improving the parking experience in downtown Ferndale," says Ferndale City Manager April Lynch. "Park+ allows us, as managers of the system, to get more use out of every space we have, while planning for future upgrades and the addition of more spaces."

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Chris Hughes, Ferndale Downtown Development Authority

Treat Dreams, the ice cream shop that found a following in odd ice cream flavors - bacon, mac & cheese, horseradish cream w/ Slows bbq brisket - is more than doubling its square footage in Ferndale, it's introducing a new concept to its make-your-own ice cream concept.

Owner and chief dreamologist, Scott Moloney started Treat Dreams in 2010 and has put together an operation that sells from the store, on food trucks and has a heavy presence on the charity scene. He says the kitchen will double in size and the dining room will triple its space at the 22965 Woodward Avenue shop.

A new floor, fresh paint,shelving, furniture and a walk-in freezer that's three times the size of the old one will go in. In April an outdoor dining area will be added giving customers a place to enjoy their unusual offering... as well as more typical fare like vanilla and top seller salted caramel. Treat Dreams has also added vegan ice cream to its menu.

Moloney expectes renovations to cost at least $50,00 and is turning to customers, supporters, friends and family via social media (a more-and-more common business funding method) to raise nearly a third of that. The Treat Dreams Super-Exciting Expansion Project can be found at the indiegogo fundraising site. It tells his story and offers donors different levels of donations from as low as $2.

A major part of the improvements will include the introduction of Treat Dreams After Dark, where groups can make ice cream after hours in the store.

"We've also got some great ideas for expanding our offerings and continuing to press the envelope on unique desserts," Moloney says. "Think Dessert Cafe with great desserts in a relaxing environment.  We are proud to host works by local artists, and will continue to do so in our new space.  We also hosted our first "pop-up" restaurant this year at The Batata Shop and hope to host many more in the future."

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Scott Moloney, owner, Treat Dreams

After seven successful years in Detroit's Midtown, Canine to Five has expanded to Ferndale, bringing its day care, cageless overnight boarding and play place to another part of metro Detroit.

Canine to Five Ferndale opens Jan. 28 at 2141 Hilton Road with 4,000 square feet of indoor play and sleep area for as many as 60 dogs coming for day care, or space for 40 dogs in overnight, cage-free boarding. Another 1,400 square feet of outdoor space is connected to the indoor area.

More than a business, Canine to Five is a community connection that brings together dog lovers who want to give their dogs a place to socialize.

“Canine to Five has grown to be more than just a daycare facility. We are a community center for dogs that holds play dates, educational seminars and other events. We want to make sure our new Ferndale location is a similar resource for our customers and community,” founder and owner Liz Blondy says.

Canine to Five is planning several special, grand opening events, including an open $5 per dog play date on Valentine's Day. The center will also offer special dog care courses such as animal first aid and other events.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Liz Blondy, owner, Canine to Five Detroit and Ferndale

What started as a home-based pet walking and pet sitting business in 2010 has matured into its own office and boutique in downtown Ferndale.

Pet Care AuPair and its newest venture, the Pet & Paw boutique in Ferndale, really go hand and hand, something owner Kristen Schmitt and her team figured out as they got to know their clients -- the four-footed, two-footed and no-footed.

"More and more clients started asking about pet nutrition. Their pets were getting sick and the more we talked the common denominator was China, foods made and processed there.

She answered by researching and finding more pure, Made In USA foods and treats, many targeted to address very specific problems for all kinds of animals. Her pet care service counts dogs, cats, birds, lizards, snakes, rodents, fish, horses in Oxford and two pot-bellied pigs among the clients.

"There are seriously so many great products out there," she says. "I've aligned myself with these manufacturers because i really believe in their products."

It's those products that Schmitt stocks at Pet & Paw, the boutique in front of the store she opened at 23233 Woodward Avenue about four blocks from 9 Mile. Behind the shop, she runs the pet care service that's grown enough in just two years to require a team of five independent contractors, and one full-time and one part-time employee. Among them is a veterinary technician and an animal behaviorist.

"We always say we're your pet care advocate. If we don't know answers we'll get them. And we never stand in as a substitute for a veterinarian."

It's just that they get to know their animals well -- so much so that employees mourn if pets pass on -- and they have learned through experience how to help with simple problems, namely nutrition-related, and what specific breeds do and don't respond to.

"This has just sort of metamorphosed into a great thing, and we have a really good team in place..I felt confident that we were ready for an office and retail," she says. "And it's been really good so far."


Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Kristen Schmitt, founder Pet Care AuPair and Pet & Paw