Circle of Art to
benefit food rescue program
 Saline Picture Frame Co. is accepting donations
now through May for its third annual Circle of Art Project. Art donations
will be part of a silent auction and party on May 20. All proceeds from
the event go toward Food Gatherers of Ann Arbor, an organization that
supplies more than 50,000 meals to families in need.
After two and a half years in a temporary location, Gazelle
Sports celebrated the completion of a major renovation of its downtown
Kalamazoo location with a Grand Opening event March 1-4, featuring sports
clinics, giveaways and contests. The three-year remodeling project increased
the store’s retail space by 50 percent through expansion into the
building next door. The upper floors of the buildings now house Gazelle
Sports’ corporate offices and seven apartments.
Ideation, Inc., of Ann Arbor, a syndicated catalog
company serving independent gift retailers, has promoted Chris Gallup
to chief financial officer. Gallup has been employed with Ideation for
almost four years as a corporate controller and human resources manager
and brings 22 years of financial experience to the position.
Tom Ungrodt, Ideation president and CEO, said: “Chris
has a strong background in financial management as well as a solid vision
for the future of Ideation and its businesses.”
Laury Hammel, national cofounder of the Business Alliance
for Local Living Economies and author of Growing Local Value: How to
Build Business Partnerships That Strengthen Your Community, will speak
about Healthy Communities at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 7, at Michigan
State University’s Kedzie Hall. For more information, call 517.355.1751
or e-mail Terry Link at link@msu.edu.
Progressive Grocer Magazine selected Walker-based
Meijer for its 2006 “Retailer of the Year” award. The
family-run retailer, a pioneer of the supercenter concept, operates 176
stores in five states.
In a December article on Meijer, entitled “The True
Center of ‘Super,’” the magazine’s editors explained
their choice: “Without question, Meijer’s strongest advantages
are its relationships with customers, its solid reputation for low price
and quality, and the agility—given its size—that comes from
private entrepreneurial ownership.”
In addition, through a new program called Outside the
Mainstream, Meijer will spotlight a different regional musical artist
or band each month. Meijer buys 1,000 CDs directly from the artist, distributes
them to its supercenters in five states with a consumer-friendly list
price of $7.49 and features the artist in weekly ad circulars hitting
seven million households.
Florida-based Konover South LLC, which bought Livonia
Mall four years ago, now plans smaller-scale upgrades rather than
the full makeover it once considered for the 43-year-old property at Seven-Mile
Road and Middlebelt. The company is pitching two plans that include fewer
anchors, an open-air concept and manicured walking paths. It hopes to
begin work early next year.
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