BAY CITY, MI — From a new restaurant opening soon on Midland Street in Bay City to a water park expansion and new jobs in Frankenmuth, here’s some breaking business news from central Michigan you might be missing have:
Saginaw’s nostalgic Bill’s Party Store is sold out, but for now everything is business as usual
Saginaw’s nostalgic Bill’s Party Store is sold out, but it’s still open and operating under the Bill’s name, with the same familiar faces behind the counter, at least for now.
“We’re still here,” said Angela Pinter, whose father, Bill Vlassis, was the longtime owner of the store. “My father is still here every night.”
See also: Bill’s Party Store in Saginaw is for sale after 60 years
The 526-square-foot, no-frills party store at 2422 Mackinaw St., a half-mile from Arthur Hill High School, has been in business for six decades and is considered a Saginaw landmark. Vlassis, looking to retire, sold it late last year.
Read the whole story here.
Michigan’s Best Local Eats: Refreshing, Sparkling “Shimmers” of Sips
Sips, a new coffee shop at SVRC Marketplace in downtown Saginaw, offers coffee and espresso beverages, tea, and refreshing sparkling “shimmers”.
The iced, caffeine-free drink is made with lemonade, soda water, custom flavors, and “popping pearls.”
“They’re quite a lot of fun,” said Heather Shephard, co-manager of Café 476, 6235 Gratiot Road, and now runs Sips, which is also owned. “The popping beads…if you bite into them, they burst.”
Read the whole story here.
Mexican restaurant Sombreros is coming to Bay City’s Midland Street
When Joseph Stricker opened Sombreros Mexican restaurant in Saginaw County four years ago, he knew he wanted to focus on traditional Mexican cuisine, the food he fondly remembers from his childhood days.
“Growing up, I used to wake up in the mornings at my grandfather’s house and watch him cook Mexican food and that was the happiest time of my life,” he said of his late grandfather, Benjamin Martinez. “I still smile when I think about him cooking for the family.”
Stricker said he tries to make his customers smile like that every time they dine at Sombreros.
“A lot of these recipes came from my grandfather,” he says.
Read the whole story here.
More than $1 million in Midland Mall property taxes will be auctioned this month
More than $1 million in past due property taxes are owed on the Midland Mall, which is set to go up for sale in an online auction later this month.
Kohan Retail Investment Group, based in Great Neck, New York, owns the mall and Midland Mall Realty Holdings LLC is the tax-listed owner of the property at 6800 Eastman Ave.
Midland County Treasurer Cathy Lunsford confirmed that more than $1 million in overdue property taxes is owed for the mall: $616,259.34 in 2021 property taxes if paid in April and a property tax of $426,253.89 in property taxes for 2022; However, this number has not yet been definitively established.
Lunsford confirmed that 1% interest will be added each month if unpaid and a 4% administration fee will be added once it is officially handed over to the District Treasurer’s office.
Read the whole story here.
Bavarian Inn’s $80 million water park expansion is expected to create 71 jobs
An $80 million expansion of Frankenmuth’s legendary Bavarian Inn is expected to make the indoor water park and family entertainment center Michigan’s largest and create 71 jobs.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer joined the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to announce funding approval for the Bavarian Inn Lodge expansion project with support from the Michigan Strategic Fund. According to a press release issued by Whitmer’s office this week, the project is expected to generate a total capital investment of $80 million and create 71 jobs, supported by a $750,000 performance-based grant from the Michigan Business Development Program.
“The expansion of the Bavarian Inn Lodge will bring a new water park, create high-paying jobs, and build on the vibrancy and amenities that already exist in downtown Frankenmuth,” Whitmer said in a statement.
Read the whole story here.
20 Black-owned businesses have applied to CMURC’s “Lift ME,” and there’s still time for more
Approximately 20 black-owned businesses in Saginaw County have already applied for Central Michigan University Research Corporation’s Lift ME, a new entrepreneurial program focused on accelerating small black-owned businesses, and there is still time to apply.
“We have approximately 20 applicants to date, so we’re excited to continue recruiting and reviewing these applicants and seeing what we have,” CMURC President and CEO Erin Strang told MLive/The Saginaw about a week after the application opened News.
“We’re going to go through some kind of extensive vetting process and then select a number of entrepreneurs to move forward and we’ll make that announcement on May 4th at the Saginaw Soup event.”
Read the whole story here.
Read more from MLive:
New restaurants, a demolition on State Street and more business news from Mid-Michigan
Bay City’s historic church sells for $65,000 in online auction
Red Eye hosts a “Silent Book Club” for introverts, no discussion required
Downtown Saginaw, the Dawn of a New Day coffeehouse is closing
Saginaw’s new Museum of Black Experiences could open in time for June 16
