Golden brothers receive Lyle DeYoung Award

Craig and Bill Golden, of Golden Shoes in Traverse City, received the Lyle DeYoung Downtown Achievement Award at the annual meeting of the Downtown Traverse City Association in June.

The Goldens were recognized for their work on community projects, including the annual “Boots for Kids” drive in which area businesses donate boots, coats, hats and other necessities to local schoolchildren.

Last year the store received MRA’s Michigan Retailer of the Year award in the small business category.

Howard Tapper of Tapper’s Diamonds & Fine Jewelry in West Bloomfield completed Harvard University’s Owners, Presidents and Managers course after three intensive week-long sessions for the past three springs.

“It’s a very rigorous program” said Tapper. “Networking with owners and CEOs from all over the world—that has been one of the most valuable things.”

Swift Printing in Grand Rapids has purchased and installed an iGen3 90 Digital Production Press, from Xerox Corporation—the first installation of the high-end printing press in the world, according to owner Walt Gutowski. Xerox will have a team of specialists on-site at Swift for approximately four weeks managing the installation and providing one-on-one training to Swift’s pressroom team.

Gutowski says Swift has been reviewing digital technology for several years. The three predominant reasons for the choice are its superior print quality, speed and larger paper platform.

Allen and Patty Esch are the new owners of The Cabinet Shop in Mecosta. Patty worked in the shop when former owners Mark and Cathy Baumann offered Patty and her husband, who has a custom woodworking business, the opportunity to buy it.

Becoming business owners was a long-time goal for the couple. Eventually they would like to combine Allen’s custom woodworking business with The Cabinet Shop.

The editors of ShermansTravel, a publisher of travel sales and destination information, selected Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as one of its “Top Ten Summer Destinations” in their spring publication, ranking it alongside the Isle of Capri, the Greek Islands, London and other notable worldwide destinations. The editors noted its rich natural resources and described it as a perfect place for fishing, canoeing and camping under the summer sun.

Sweet Madness Candies—a new business that offers candy plates to be broken as part of a wedding tradition, to express madness or just for fun—held an open house at Trifles Confectionary in White Lake. A portion of the sales during the open house went to United Cerebral Palsy of Metro Detroit and Huron Valley Education Foundation.

The plates, manufactured by Fabiano’s Homemade Candies in Lansing, come in many flavors and colors and are available both wholesale and retail.

Several new shops are reviving East Lansing’s downtown. American Apparel Inc., a Los Angeles chain that is known for selling clothing made by workers it claims are treated better than other garment-shop employees, is among the most prominent. Smaller stores, such as the Lansing-based gift shop Mad Eagle Creations, have opened as well.

Saper Galleries in East Lansing held a major exhibition of Pablo Picasso original graphics (including etchings, lithographs and linocuts) and ceramics. The exhibition ran from early May until early July—extended one week due to popularity.

“In my 28 years in business we have never had this kind of foot traffic,” said owner Roy Saper, who said they stopped trying to track the number of visitors. “At least 90 percent of the visitors had never been to the gallery before, clearly demonstrating the benefit of the exhibition in terms of bringing in new people.”

Keans, Etc., an offshoot of Kean’s variety store in Mason, has opened in Lansing’s Eastwood Towne Center. The new location is smaller but will retain the Kean’s flavor, said owner Teresa Wren. The location in the center court of the upscale “lifestyle center” was a major factor in choosing to open the second store, according to Wren.

The Daniel Lynch Sales Company has appointed six new sales coordinators: Tim Finnigan, Ron Sizemore, Douglas Dowell, Lee Nordgren, Harold Brown and Kent Bolt. All have extensive experience in the furniture industry and backgrounds in marketing and management.

Their primary responsibility will be to facilitate and implement a well-tested sales-event campaign, developed by the Daniel Lynch Sales Company, specifically for upper-market retail furniture stores.

Faris Furniture and Jewelers in Flint will shut its doors in mid-summer. The owners, brothers Phil, Ray and Joe Faris, have decided to retire after 51 years in business. Failing health and advancing age motivated the decision. The store opened in 1955 with jewelry and small appliances, adding furniture when it moved to a larger location across the street in 1961.

Second Harvest Gleaners Food Bank of West Michgan is putting out a call to the community for funds to purchase (or donations of) good-quality vehicles to replace its current fleet, which includes single- and double-axle tractors, dry and refrigerated trailers and cargo vans.

Gleaners’ staff needs the fleet to carry out its mission of routing food industry surpluses and useable discards throughout a 30,000-square-mile service area to organizations in West Michigan that feed hungry people.

Sears Holding Corp. has closed its nine Michigan hardware stores—eight in the Detroit area and one in Fenton. The company is trying to find jobs for the displaced workers at other Sears or Kmart stores in the area. Six metro Detroit Sears stores will be expanded to add more hardware items, according to a company spokesperson.