University of Michigan and Ann Arbor community members are mourning the news that local breakfast staple Angelo’s will close its doors at the end of this year. The restaurant, owned by husband-wife duo Steve and Jennifer Vangelatos, first opened in 1956 under the management of Steve Vangelatos’s father, Angelo. Since then, the business has not only expanded to include an in-house bakery and Angelo’s on the Side, an adjacent location exclusively for takeout and coffee, but has also grown into a beloved classic for students, alumni and Ann Arbor residents alike. 

Rising LSA junior Rachel Cohn, a frequent Angelo’s customer, said she was saddened to hear the news of its closing because it is her and her friends’ go-to breakfast spot.

“Me and my friends, that was our one brunch spot that we always went to,” Cohn said. “(Angelo’s) just meant a lot to us, so it’s a little bittersweet.”

For homesick college students, a family-run diner like Angelo’s can be just what they need. Cohn said she believes Angelo’s is a favorite among U-M students in part because it feels like a homemade breakfast.

“The vibes of (Angelo’s) are very wholesome and I think some of the other brunch spots in Ann Arbor just have very different vibes and feel,” Cohn said. “Angelo’s feels more like I’m getting a homemade breakfast at my house with my friends.”

Rising LSA junior Madison Brown said she believes it is this comforting energy that makes Angelo’s stand out among Ann Arbor’s many restaurants.

“(Angelo’s) is your quintessential college diner, and I don’t think there is really something similar on campus,” Brown said. “It has this charm about it that doesn’t really have to do with flashy decor or a more modern or millennial style. It is its own little thing.”

Angelo’s is set to close in December following a $4.5 million purchase by the University of Michigan of 1100 Catherine Street, which includes the restaurant, as well as two residential apartments. The University plans to use this land to expand the Michigan Medicine campus. 

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Steve Vangelatos said he made the decision to sell the property to the University because of a promise he made to his wife when they got married. 

“I’ve been working seven days a week for 43 years,” Vangelatos said. “I promised my wife when we got married that if she allowed me to work as much as I needed to work to make this place successful that someday I would stop working. And there was nobody that wanted to take the restaurant over and so that resulted in selling the property.”

Helping Vangelatos run this brunch spot is a team of dedicated staff. Amy Marzka, long time Angelo’s employee, told The Daily the staff is sad to see the restaurant close but recognizes how much Vangelatos dedicated to its operation.

“Everyone is sad to see the place go,” Marzka said. “But we’re happy for the owner because he has worked so hard.”

At the University’s Board of Regents meeting on May 18, Geoffrey Chatas, U-M executive vice president and chief financial officer, said the purchase made sense as the University already owns the surrounding land and could give the Vangelatos family time to close the business.

“The University has been presented with an opportunity to purchase property from the Vangelatos family who, for decades, have been running Angelo’s, a beloved icon in Ann Arbor,” Chatas said. “When the family approached the University about the possibility of selling (the property), they explained that they want to close the business on their own terms … The property makes sense for the University to acquire since it will further the University’s options for development in the Catherine Street area.” 

The sale is set to close no later than March 31, 2024 to give Vangelatos time to close Angelo’s and vacate the property. Vangelatos said the restaurant will likely close on December 23 — like they do every year — but this time, come January, they will not reopen their doors.

“I feel like it’s going to be like we usually do every other year,” Vangelatos said. “We’ve closed on December 23 (for) the holidays and we usually would reopen either January 1 or January 2. It’ll be just like that this year, except we’re not going to reopen in January.”

Vangelatos said he would consider the possibility of reopening Angelo’s in a new location if he was able to find someone else to run it.

“I would definitely consider doing that if it was somebody that I knew would be willing to put the work in and I thought could maybe be successful,” Vangelatos said. “It’s possible, (but) it won’t be somewhere that I will be running or that I want to be really involved in.”

At the regents meeting, University President Santa Ono recognized how much the U-M community would miss Angelo’s.

“I must say that thousands of Wolverines will miss that wonderful place for brunch and for other meals,” Ono said.

Although Angelo’s has fans throughout Ann Arbor, it holds a special place in the hearts of many U-M students. Vangelatos said he is grateful for all that the University and its students have done for him, but it is time for him to end this chapter of his career.

“I really appreciate the University of Michigan and the students and, I mean, they’re a big part of our success here and then the whole town of Ann Arbor really,” Vangelatos said. “I was very fortunate to be in this position … (but now I want to focus on) spending time with my wife and my family.”

Summer News Editor Rebecca Lewis can be reached at rebeccl@umich.edu. Summer Managing News Editor Mary Corey can be reached at mcorey@umich.edu.

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About 60 finance industry scholars and professionals gathered in the Tauber Colloquium of the Ross School of Business Friday afternoon for the Future of Fintech conference. The conference focused on the possible roles of financial technology and artificial intelligence in the future of the finance and banking industries. Organized by the University of Michigan Center on Finance, Law & Policy and the Michigan Ross Fintech Initiative, the event consisted of the presentation of four recent research papers and panel discussions on the papers’ findings and real-world implications.

In the opening remarks, Tom Buchmueller, senior associate dean for Faculty and Research at the Business School, welcomed attendees to the conference and highlighted the importance of bringing experts together for these kinds of discussions.

“As a leading public institution, the University of Michigan has an important role to play in bringing together researchers, policymakers and leaders of industry to talk about important societal issues,” Buchmueller said. “It’s this type of interdisciplinary project that makes the University of Michigan very unique and special.”

Researchers then presented on the topics of consumer protection, open banking, artificial intelligence and financial inclusion. At the request of event organizers to preserve research integrity, The Michigan Daily will not be quoting these panel discussions. 

The first paper, presented by Ansgar Walther, associate professor of finance at Imperial College London, focused on the potential impacts of machine learning on credit markets. Following a panel discussion, the second paper was then presented by Greg Buchak, assistant professor of finance at Stanford University, on the practice of open banking, or sharing financial information with third parties. The third paper, presented by Isil Erel, professor of finance at The Ohio State University, provided strategies to reduce disparities in access to financial services for marginalized communities. The final paper of the conference, presented by Wei Jiang, professor of finance at Emory University, focused on how companies can change their reporting of financial data in response to the rise of artificial intelligence. 

In his remarks at the event, Buchmueller highlighted the potential of these new technologies while also warning attendees about their possible consequences. Buchmueller said that although advancements in financial technology can spur progress in the banking industry, they may also result in discrimination against marginalized groups because of algorithmic bias.

“I think there’s lots of reasons to see the promise of these new technologies, both for financial inclusion and to create products that create consumer value at the same time,” Buchmueller said. “Obviously, we need to be alert to possible unintended consequences especially as it relates to diversity and inclusion.”

Nadya Malenko, director of the Michigan Ross Fintech Initiative, said the conference was intended to highlight topics that are often overshadowed. 

“We asked ourselves what conversations are not happening enough … and we realized that cryptocurrency was dominating the media coverage in a way that prevented any other important financial technologies from being discussed,” Malenko said. “These technologies have important policy consequences.”

Jeremy Kress, co-director of the Center on Finance, Law & Policy, led the planning of the conference and thanked the event team and their partners in his remarks for organizing Friday’s event. 

“I want to say thank you to the Ford School staff who are volunteering today downstairs at the registration table to make sure that everybody finds where they’re going,” Kress said. “I also want to say thank you to Law School staff who have been incredibly helpful throughout this whole process.”

Summer News Editor Mary Corey can be reached at mcorey@umich.edu.

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Venue by 4M, located just off of East Stadium Boulevard, has been creating a buzz since its opening last summer. The space offers 25,000 square feet of customizable event space that can accommodate about 600 guests. Boasting five restaurants, a full bar, spaces for large and small events, coworking space, an outdoor patio area and a market for groceries, Venue by 4M is an accessible multi-purpose gathering place.

Rachel Ufer, a communications consultant for 4M, spoke with The Michigan Daily about owner Margaret Poscher and her wife, Heidi. As Michigan natives who had spent many years in California and already owned several rental spaces in the area, Ufer said both Margaret and Heidi Poscher wanted to bring something unique to Ann Arbor.

“They were big believers in what’s called a 15-minute neighborhood,” Ufer said. “It’s a very European way of thinking. The idea that you should walk to everything that you need in life. (Ann Arbor) has these great places to stay, coworking spaces, shared Teslas, a shuttle that goes around (town), but there (was) something missing.” 

Before Venue by 4M opened, the space was previously occupied by a Kroger and then a Lucky’s Market. After the COVID-19 pandemic left the space empty, Poscher decided to acquire the lease and implement a massive renovation for her business.

“I had been living in California, coming back and forth to Ann Arbor to visit family and take care of real estate, and it grew to a point where it became clear that we should be living in Ann Arbor,” Poscher said. “(We moved) right at the beginning of the pandemic. It just made sense to kind of create some vibrancy in that neighborhood, bring food into the neighborhood, a place to gather.”

The business houses five restaurants under one roof, all run by Thad Gillies, a self-taught Ann Arbor chef. The restaurants include Venue Brasserie, Mesa Taqueria, Pizza Forum, Pasta Forum and Bar19. The space also houses a market and cafe where consumers can purchase coffee, pastries, wine, beer or groceries.Before coming to Ann Arbor Gillies told The Daily he previously worked with Zingerman’s and trained at several fine dining restaurants in New York City, including Union Square Cafe and Lespinasse. After his previous businesses were affected by the pandemic, Gillies said he decided to become involved with Venue by 4M when he overheard Margaret Poscher’s idea at a restaurant in town.

“I had two restaurants downtown — a fine dining restaurant and a fast-casual Asian restaurant — but COVID shut me down so hard and so fast,” Gillies said. “The original concept for the restaurant was to have five individual ghost restaurants until I got involved. Instead of doing five individual restaurants, I pitched my idea to create five different environments, different fields of restaurants.”

Venue by 4M is also set to open its new outdoor patio prior to the summer. In an interview with The Daily, Margaret Poscher said spacious patio offers a relaxing and casual atmosphere with a truck offering cocktails and fire pits.

“The patio is, I think, pretty amazing,” Poscher said. “I think it’s just gonna be so much fun in the spring, fall and the summer. The space is so inviting, it’s open, a light welcoming space.”

Daily Staff Reporter Emma Spring can be reached at sprinemm@umich.edu. Daily News Contributor Grace Lim can be reached at gracelim@umich.edu.

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For the past two years, the Ann Arbor-based nonprofit Live Zero Waste has been on a mission to promote sustainability through its returnable container program for zero-waste takeout. The program allows customers to order carry-out from participating restaurants in reusable containers instead of disposable packaging. After use, customers can return the containers to participating businesses where the containers are then cleaned and reused.

Founded in 2015 by brother-sister duo and U-M alums Samuel and Lydia McMullen, Live Zero Waste provides information and resources to those interested in adopting a zero-waste lifestyle. After Ann Arbor’s Office of Sustainability and Innovations developed a plan for a pilot program, Live Zero Waste started running the reusable container program in February 2021. The returnable containers program also contributes to Ann Arbor’s A2ZERO​​ plan to reach community-wide carbon neutrality by 2030.

Samuel McMullen told The Michigan Daily he believes the reusable container program has mostly been successful in reducing waste and promoting sustainability.

“I think this is a really exciting project,” McMullen said. “I think for a lot of people … this will be the beginning of a conversation and the start of a road to larger discussions (about sustainability).”

A recent study conducted by U-M researchers found that if even a small percentage of customers make extra car trips to return their reusable containers, the program could contribute more greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere than single-use containers. Because Ann Arbor is a walkable city, with 15% of employees walking to work on a daily basis, Samuel McMullen said he still believes the program may function well without creating additional emissions. 

“(We have) a handful of restaurants that are super committed, and a handful of customers that are super committed to doing (the returnable containers program), which is great,” McMullen said. “It’s a really good start and … it’s proof of concept for certain things.”

Businesses currently participating in the program include Zingerman’s Deli, Ginger Deli, El Harissa and Cinnaholic. Samuel McMullen said the returnable container program offers consumers a tangible way to reduce their carbon footprint.

“One of the places we see a lot of waste come up is in food packaging, and typically takeout packaging,” McMullen said. “The program started at a handful of restaurants and continues to operate at a handful of restaurants with no fee for the service to the restaurants (and) no fee to the consumers.”

Live Zero Waste recently partnered with the Environmental Consulting Organization at the University of Michigan, which has been helping with marketing and outreach efforts. LSA sophomore Gavin Lichtenberg, a project manager at ECO-UM, told The Daily he was excited to work with Live Zero Waste because it aligns with his organization’s mission.

“Generally, we work with sustainably-oriented organizations whose pillars surround sustainability and we work to improve their operations,” Lichtenberg said. “In that same vein, we work with different organizations who are looking to transition into more sustainable practices.”

Yusef Houamed, manager and co-founder of El Harissa, told The Daily he was excited to participate in the program, especially as  the restaurant continues to bounce back from primarily serving takeout during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“During the pandemic, we, — and most other restaurants — had to double down on our most wasteful practices,” Houamed said. “We pivoted to exclusively takeout until just recently, and so the amount of containers and single-use plastics we were using skyrocketed … So it was just kind of serendipitous that (Live Zero Waste) reached out to us; I jumped at the opportunity. Now, for the past two years, we’ve been working on making this a real thing, a citywide thing.”

Evelyn Patrell-Fazio, head of business management and sustainable development at Ginger Deli, told The Daily she believes Ann Arbor is an ideal site to pilot the program.

“We had a lot of belief that (the program) could be used really effectively, especially in Ann Arbor, just because the community is so primed and ready for this type of circular economy program,” Patrell-Fazio said. “Especially since we have such a large and very vibrant local food movement in Ann Arbor.”

Patrell-Fazio said she has noticed that while customers seem excited about the idea of the program getting people to participate can be difficult.

“We have a lot of interest, but I think where it’s hard is a lot of the people who are interested in learning more about it, it’s not necessarily a given that they’re going to then use the program,” Patrell-Fazio said. “That’s kind of the disconnect that I think we’re struggling with the most right now.”

Doug Moeller, owner of the Ann Arbor location of Cinnaholic, told The Daily their customers are not as interested in trying out the program as he had originally hoped.

“It’s a mixed reaction,” Moeller said. “I think people are (excited) once you explain it to them, but initially, if you don’t explain it to them, they are worried about ‘What if I lose it? Do I really have to bring it back?’ They’re worried about that stuff, but once you explain how a (the) program works, they’re interested.”

According to Jennifer Santi, marketing and communications director at Zingerman’s Deli, the Deli has had a similar experience as the other businesses participating in the program. While some customers have started using the program, Santi told The Daily raising community awareness about the program has been challenging.

“Customers do really like the program, and we’ve used it in a couple of different ways in our business,” Santi said. “Where we’ve struggled is to try to get people to choose the program without our asking or to raise awareness in the community in general so that more people are using the program across a variety of businesses.”

Despite these challenges, Samuel McMullen said Live Zero Waste remains hopeful about the future of their returnable container program. In the next few months, he said the program is set to expand to its next stage, which will be focused on collecting community input.

“We’re on a three-year timeline with the (returnable container) project right now,” McMullen said. “In the next couple of months, we’re going to be doing public engagement and figuring out … what people are thinking about all these ideas that we’ve had in a vacuum.”

Daily Staff Reporters Mary Corey and Emma Spring can be reached at mcorey@umich.edu and sprinemm@umich.edu. 

The post Ann Arbor businesses implement returnable takeout container program appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

In April 1993, a brand new tea and coffee business called Sweetwaters Coffee and Tea opened in a 100-year-old building at the corner of South Ashley and West Washington streets. The business was founded by Lisa Bee and Wei Bee, both then-recent University of Michigan graduates and children of Chinese immigrants who had spent their childhoods working in restaurants to support their family. 

The original cafe is still a hotspot for coffee lovers as it celebrates its 30th birthday in 2023, though Sweetwaters has since expanded to 38 different locations across the U.S. — seven of which are in Ann Arbor.

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Lisa Bee said entering the tea and coffee business after graduation seemed like both a natural next step and a leap of faith for her at the time. She said the idea was inspired by the emerging coffee scene in Ann Arbor in the early ’90s and her and her husbands’ shared love of coffee as college students.

“My husband and I both love food and drink businesses,” Lisa Bee said. “You meet a lot of people and there is always something new. But being in our early 20s, a full-scale restaurant would be very expensive. We went to the coffee houses that were starting to pop up at that time, and we thought, ‘Wow! This is kind of like doing a restaurant, but not as intense,’ and we thought it would be a lot of fun for us to do.”

For Lisa Bee, Sweetwaters has always been a source of pride. Three decades later, college students and townies alike have come to recognize the iconic red Sweetwaters logo at a glance, which features two ancient Chinese ancient characters meaning “sweet” and “water.”

Though the menu has changed over time and hundreds of baristas have come and gone, Sweetwaters’ staff, owners and customers can all attest to the sense of community the cafe has continuously facilitated since the day it was founded 30 years ago.

A local business inspired by global flavors

Austin Green, a barista who works the morning shift at Sweetwaters and serves as a firefighter in Livingston County, told The Daily he first encountered Sweetwaters when he visited the cafe in the Michigan Union at the University of Michigan and ordered a mocha. He said when he first applied for a job as a Sweetwaters barista, he was unsure about the variety of products sold at the business. Instead, he said it shattered his expectations with the wide selection of beverages and working there broadened his knowledge about international coffee and tea culture.

“There’s a very big learning curve here,” Green said. “I first thought (the drinks were) mainly Chinese or Japanese, but I learned that we even have teas that originated in Greece, because a lot of (instructions on packages and jars) just tell you where it’s from and where it originated. It is also pretty cool to see the story behind them.”

Lisa Bee said when she first started the business, both she and her husband were most familiar with Chinese tea beverages. As the couple traveled and immersed themselves in different cultures, however, Lisa Bee said they wanted Sweetwaters’ tea and coffee menu to reflect the refreshments being enjoyed in cafes all around the world. 

“When we first started, we had the idea that we could bring in a lot of products that we personally and culturally know about,” Lisa Bee said. “Today, you see French Vietnamese coffee, milk tea and things that are not at a typical Italian-based coffee house. Many other cultures have tea and coffee, and we adapt operationally to bring them to our guests.”

Brian Kung, the manager of the Sweetwaters located on Plymouth and Green roads, told The Daily his life has had a similar life trajectory as that of the Bee family. Kung, who is a second generation Taiwanese immigrant, said he was involved with the Taiwanese business community in Metro Detroit for several years before starting at Sweetwaters. Through the Taiwanese community, Kung said he started following the Michigan Lion Dance team, a group of middle and high school students in the Metro Detroit area who perform the traditional Asian dance in a custom lion costume. The team performed at Sweetwaters’ annual Lunar New Year celebration, with Kung being the one to initially connect the dance team with the cafe — and the rest was history.

Kung told The Daily that he has continued to lean on his cultural community as he has navigated the challenges of managing a business.

“We fight a lot of battles as business owners, like just keeping the lights on,” Kung said. “Sometimes it feels like you are against the world. But if you have friends and family or just people who have been through what you’re going through, you know that you aren’t doing it alone. It’s good to have that support.”

A sweet space for community

When Lisa Bee and Wei Bee first founded Sweetwaters, they said they didn’t initially envision it as a place to get “sweet” beverages. As a matter of fact, many traditional Chinese teas, like dragon pearl jasmine, are naturally floral-tasting and can potentially be bitter.

For community members like City Councilmember Linh Song, D-Ward 2, the brand name has always suggested that Sweetwaters provides a ‘sweet’ escape from the hustle and bustle of downtown Ann Arbor. Song, who was born in a Vietnamese refugee family, told The Daily she first befriended Lisa Bee in the late ’90s when Song was working for one of her relatives at a since-closed Asian bakery called Eastern Accents. Song said she became closer with Lisa Bee when Song founded Mam Non, a nonprofit helping adopted Asian children build community and connect with their cultural roots through a mentorship program. Song said Sweetwaters provided the children and their mentors an inviting and intimate space to connect with one another. 

“At Sweetwaters, girls would meet with their mentors for tea and cookies,” Song said. “(Sweetwaters) has been really essential because it is important for the adoption community to have a space other than public spaces like libraries, where (Lisa Bee), the owner, would always come out to welcome our groups who felt they were kind of on the edge of the community.”

Song said she has also visited a number of Sweetwaters locations in Metro Detroit, an area in which the Asian community has been growing Asian over the past several years. Whenever she visits any of the locations she said she can taste Lisa Bee’s commitment to her family and her culture in every sip of her tea.

“It is a family operation,” Song said. “It is so hard to have a multi-generational family business like that which is also dedicated to our community. They are good examples of what community leaders could be like.” 

In the meantime, back at the original location on the corner of South Ashley and West Washington streets, another community has been taking shape. A board game club, founded by Ann Arbor resident Victor Volkman in 2018, brings together community members from all over southeast Michigan to socialize and play board games at Sweetwaters every other Friday evening. In an email to The Daily, Volkman said the group is appreciative that Sweetwaters is willing to host them week after week.

“We started Ann Arbor board game nights in 2018 after the Friday club we used to attend at Livonia closed down,” Volkman wrote. “The (Sweetwaters) management was extremely receptive to our approach and permitted us to use their nicely-sized sideroom … the only condition they ever imposed was that each person buy a drink, which is extremely reasonable because they do rent the space for catered events at fairly high rates.”

Volkman wrote that the group aimed to provide a low-stress social atmosphere for people in the area from all different walks of life. 

“Because of the transient nature of Ann Arbor’s population, I predicted it would be a rough start,” Volkman wrote. “But I was wrong, as people were starving for community and good gaming fun. … We have members on fixed disability income, equally important are the many international people that are looking for something other than hanging out in a bar with loud music and actually interacting with people.”

Moving past 30

Unlike 30 years ago, Sweetwaters is now a national brand spanning 12 states from North Dakota to New Jersey. It has even released a line of Sweetwaters-branded merchandise, including mugs and T-shirts.

With every new cafe, Lisa Bee said she continues to learn new lessons about her business and the world around her. At some southern locations, Lisa Bee said they have started selling Sweetwaters’ take on traditional southern sweet-tea.

“It is really interesting to get that perspective from people from down South,” Lisa Bee said. “It is really interesting to see the perspectives around the country, and they definitely have an influence on our brand.”

Daily Staff Reporter Chen Lyu can be reached at lyuch@umich.edu.

The post Sweetwaters turns 30, celebrating a legacy of community and coffee appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

Women are at the forefront of a new wave in entrepreneurship, with one survey finding that nearly half of all new businesses in the United States in 2021 were founded by women. Despite this growth, women continue to face barriers to entry and growth while women business owners remain underrepresented at large. To celebrate Women’s History Month, The Michigan Daily’s business beat spent March sitting down with five female business owners based in Ann Arbor to discuss their stories and experiences.

Phillis Engelbert – Detroit Street Filling Station / The Lunch Room / North Star Lounge

You may not know her name, but there’s a good chance you’ve wined and dined at one of the three prominent Ann Arbor establishments run by Phillis Engelbert: Kerrytown staple Detroit Street Filling Station, the recently-opened North Star Lounge and The Lunch Room Bakery & Cafe in Huron Towers. With a focus on locally-sourced produce and community organizing, Engelbert’s restaurants provide an assortment of eclectic vegan fare for their patrons.

Read more from our interview with Phillis Engelbert.

Ji Hye Kim – Miss Kim

Nestled in the heart of Kerrytown, Miss Kim, an award-winning restaurant operated by Ji Hye Kim, serves traditional Korean cuisine with a contemporary twist. Kim opened the restaurant in 2016 as a part of Zingerman’s Community of Businesses through their Path to Partnership program, which allows anyone, regardless of previous business experience, to apply to either join an existing Zingerman’s business as a partner or, in Kim’s case, start their own. 

Read more from our interview with Ji Hye Kim.

Jessie Lipkowitz – aUM Yoga / Polarity

Jessie Lipkowitz has a journey full of twists and turns that led her to become the owner of aUM Yoga and Polarity, a yoga and pole studio located on South University Avenue in Ann Arbor. 

Read more from our interview with Jessie Lipkowitz.

Eve Aronoff Fernandez – Frita Batidos

Floor-to-ceiling glass panels and a stark white interior beckon Main Street passersby into the Cuban-inspired burger and “batido” joint, Frita Batidos, owned by Eve Aronoff Fernandez. The indoor picnic tables, reminiscent of a cozy backyard gathering, are often completely filled with patrons indulging in Cuban comfort food, including the signature frita burgers and batidos milkshakes the restaurant is named after.

Read more from our interview with Eve Aronoff Fernandez.

Diana Marsh – Thistle & Bess

Whether you are shopping for classy gold jewelry, sparkly cocktail-themed Christmas ornaments or realistic food-shaped candles, owner Diana Marsh promises that you don’t have to look any further than Thistle & Bess, a funky store full of surprises. Located on Ann Arbor’s 4th Avenue on the outskirts of the Kerrytown District, Thistle & Bess opened a physical location in 2015 after making its mark as an online antique jewelry store.

Read more from our interview with Diana Marsh.

The post Celebrating Women’s History Month with Ann Arbor businesses, from yoga to tteokbokki appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

In honor of Women’s History Month, The Michigan Daily’s business beat spent the month speaking with women business owners throughout Ann Arbor about their journey, their connection to the community and their legacy. Read the other stories here.

You may not know her name, but there’s a good chance you’ve wined and dined at one of the three prominent Ann Arbor establishments run by Phillis Engelbert: Kerrytown staple Detroit Street Filling Station, the recently-opened North Star Lounge and The Lunch Room Bakery & Cafe in Huron Towers. With a focus on locally-sourced produce and community organizing, Engelbert’s restaurants provide an assortment of eclectic vegan fare for their patrons.

After getting a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in Biology in 1985 and a master’s degree in Natural Resources in 1987, Engelbert did nonprofit work for several years. Then in 2010, Engelbert made her foray into the culinary industry when she started cooking vegan cuisine for local dinner parties.

“I decided to take a break from all the different things I had been doing, and I just stopped working and called it my period of creative self-unemployment,” Engelbert said. “I started cooking with a friend who lives next door and is vegan. We threw a bunch of dinner parties for our friends and did some pop-up meals.”

Engelbert went on to open something a little more permanent in 2011 — a food cart called The Lunch Room alongside her then-business partner Joel Panozzo. They quickly upgraded The Lunch Room to a brick-and-mortar location in Kerrytown in 2013. 

Engelbert now operates three restaurants across the city, with the most recent addition being the North Star Lounge music venue which opened in September. The North Star Lounge opened in October right next to the Detroit Street Filling Station, Engelbert’s second Ann Arbor business. All of her work has come from her passion for good food and sharing flavorful vegan cuisine with her community, Engelbert told The Daily. 

“It wasn’t a desire to be a business owner; it wasn’t even a desire to be a restaurateur,” Engelbert said. “It was just led by food, putting one foot in front of the other and just sort of following the open doors.”

For Engelbert, serving an entirely plant-based menu is about upholding her commitment to pacifism.

“When I went vegan, in around 2007, it was just because it felt better,” Engelbert said. “It felt like a good way to eat and because it seemed like a way to sort of exercise my nonviolent principles. So to me, part of nonviolence means not killing and eating animals. And I’m lactose intolerant, so the dairy part was easy.”

Engelbert’s commitment to social and environmental responsibility extends to her community-based work with her employees. She’s worked to establish partnerships with a number of local organizations to support initiatives such as food justice, civil liberties and human rights.

“Having a business for me has been a lot like running a nonprofit,” Engelbert said. “It’s set up a little bit differently, but it’s really like this business is like a big community organization with (around) 50 employees or 52 employees … The idea is to have a community where everybody’s contributions are valued and where there’s fruitful dialogue and opportunities for people to express themselves.” 

When it comes to being a woman in business, Engelbert said she’s never really felt as though her gender has set her back, but she acknowledges that many other women entrepreneurs continue to to experience a variety of challenges. Engelbert said the biggest learning curve for her was picking up the practical and financial skills that she hadn’t been taught growing up.

“I’ve never really thought that there were things I couldn’t do because I was a girl or woman,” Engelbert said. “A lot of boys are raised learning certain useful skills from their fathers in terms of fixing things or building things … I certainly wasn’t raised with any of those skills … That is one thing where I just had to dive in.”

Engelbert encourages aspiring business owners to think carefully about their reasons for starting a business and to be mindful of the impact they will have on their employees and community.

“The biggest challenge I think for most people when they get into business that they don’t really think about is the fact that you will become an employer,” Engelbert said. “It means you’re responsible for the livelihoods of whoever works for you. It means that your decisions will be heavily scrutinized and it means you have a responsibility to try to do the best by your people that you can.”

Engelbert offered her support to any aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly marginalized groups such as women and people of Color, who are interested in starting their own businesses.

“I am very free with my time and advice,” Engelbert said. “So if somebody out there, women in particular — I especially have been working with women of Color who are interested in starting something — I’m very happy to answer any questions.”

Daily News Editor Irena Li can be reached at irenayli@umich.edu.

The post Women in business: Phillis Engelbert – Detroit Street Filling Station, The Lunch Room and North Star Lounge appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

In honor of Women’s History Month, The Michigan Daily’s business beat spent the month speaking with women business owners throughout Ann Arbor about their journey, their connection to the community and their legacy. Read the other stories here.

Nestled in the heart of Kerrytown, Miss Kim, an award-winning restaurant operated by Ji Hye Kim, serves traditional Korean cuisine with a contemporary twist. Kim opened the restaurant in 2016 as a part of Zingerman’s Community of Businesses through their Path to Partnership program, which allows anyone, regardless of previous business experience, to apply to either join an existing Zingerman’s business as a partner or, in Kim’s case, start their own. 

Miss Kim is a unique Korean restaurant in more ways than one. For instance, the sliding pay scale business model means that customers can choose what to pay for 17 of the restaurant’s most popular dishes, with price options ranging from free to 1.5 times the regular price of the dishes. The restaurant was also recently involved in Ann Arbor’s 2023 Restaurant Week, and offers a variety of popular Korean dishes from kimchi to tteokbokki

In her time as a business owner, Kim said she has had to learn how to command respect in an industry where women and people of Color are underrepresented.

“There were times where the cooks would be hired and (it) would be extra challenging because they’re straight male — sometimes straight, white male — cooks and they’re used to working in male-dominated kitchens,” Kim said. “They don’t want to listen to female chefs. But at the end of the day, it is my kitchen and my business and if they cannot respect women or a woman boss. So that’s another positive thing about owning a business of your own — you can create an environment that you yourself want to be in.”

Across the country about 60% of restaurants close within a year after they first open, making it clear that starting a new restaurant is no easy task. Kim said Zingerman’s Path to Partnership program helped provide her with the resources she needed as a new business owner. Kim started working for Zingerman’s in 2007, after she decided to leave her previous office job and make the leap into the food industry.  So when she wanted to open a restaurant of her own, she said Zingerman’s helped her navigate all of the challenges that came with that decision.

“Being a small business owner is also challenging because sometimes the resources are not available to you, it’s not really easy or cheap to have your own HR department or legal advice or accounting help,” Kim said. “I am lucky because I can get (that sort of) help through Zingerman’s network. If I were not part of Zingerman’s network, those things would be very challenging.”

But even with the support of Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, Kim has still faced challenges. The loneliness and isolation that accompany being a small business owner can take a toll on entrepreneurs, she said, so creating a community of women chefs was key to her personal success.

“You can often feel like you’re isolated because you’re running your own business, but you can remedy that by being a part of a community,” Kim said. “For me, it’s being a part of Zingerman’s and connecting with other chefs, especially women of Color chefs, in this area of Southeast Michigan, but also all over the country and sharing our common challenges together. That always helps.”

When asked if she had any advice for fellow women entrepreneurs, Kim told The Daily what she tells all of the female staff at Miss Kim: to challenge every expectation people may have for women in the kitchen.

“You cannot behave like patriarchy expects you to,” Kim said. “Don’t take no for an answer. Work with the team. Be strong and speak up and don’t be afraid of leaving (an) environment if that’s not the right environment for you. I think the short way to describe it is, you don’t have to follow what society has set up as an expectation for women.” 

Daily Staff Reporter Mary Corey can be reached at mcorey@umich.edu.

The post Women in business: Ji Hye Kim – Miss Kim appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

In honor of Women’s History Month, The Michigan Daily’s business beat spent the month speaking with women business owners throughout Ann Arbor about their journey, their connection to the community and their legacy. Read the other stories here.

Jessie Lipkowitz has a journey full of twists and turns that led her to become the owner of aUM Yoga and Polarity, a yoga and pole studio located on South University Avenue in Ann Arbor. 

Born in Las Vegas, Lipkowitz has called Ann Arbor home for over a decade, after graduating from the University of Michigan in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in Classical Art and Archeology. She went on to get her master’s degree the next year in Heritage and Museum Management at Cambridge University with aspirations of pursuing a joint J.D. and Ph.D. program in the future and a career in illicit art trade and property law. But before she went back to school, she wanted to work and looking for a job in 2012 amidst a national recession was no easy feat, Lipkowitz told The Daily.

“I put up something crazy, like 600 job applications, and got somewhere around like a 3% response rate,” Lipkowitz said. “Life just pushed me in a slightly different direction.”

While she was looking to make a career change, Lipkowitz happened to befriend U-M Engineering professor Jasprit Singh who ran a local yoga studio, The Rope Yoga Collective. Not long after attending her first yoga class at Singh’s studio, Lipkowitz enrolled in a course to become a yoga teacher and rediscovered her passion for movement and exercise, which she said goes back to her time as a competitive dancer in her youth. 

“I (went) to a yoga class on lunch break one day, it was hot and sweaty and I got kicked in the face — I absolutely hated it,” Lipkowitz said. “Fast forward two weeks later, I was enrolled in their yoga teacher training program. I was getting my hair done on North University (Avenue) and I heard the words ‘I want to open up a yoga studio’ come out of my mouth.”  

Less than a week later, Lipkowitz had signed a one-year lease for an 800-square-foot basement space next to the Panera Bread on North University Avenue and opened her first studio, aUM Yoga in 2013. But that space wasn’t big enough for long, Lipkowitz said. In 2017, she moved her studio to where it stands today on South University Avenue.

That same year, she opened a sister business to aUM Yoga in the same building, a pole studio named Polarity. The COVID-19 pandemic forced Lipkowitz to temporarily shift both businesses online, but the studios were able to reopen in May 2021. Today, the studios continue to offer traditional yoga classes as well as longer retreats and events as well as training courses for new pole and yoga instructors. 

In part, Lipkowitz said she credits the women in her family for her success as an entrepreneur. 

“My mom was very actively involved in my sisters and my life and really pushed us to be the best versions of ourselves,” Lipkowitz said.

Lipkowitz also said she wanted her businesses to create a safe space and sense of community for women throughout the Ann Arbor area. Having survived an abusive relationship, Lipkowitz said having a place to destress with other women through yoga was an important part of her personal healing process.

“One of the catalysts behind opening the studio, originally, (was) I found myself in a pretty abusive relationship,” Lipkowitz said. “One of the main motivating factors was to create a community for not only myself but also provide a safe space and having a space where women can come and feel seen and return to (themselves) on their mat. Finding that flow state is just so important and there will be days where I’m like, ‘what’s wrong?’ and the answer is always (that) I haven’t made it to my mat today.” 

Lipkowitz said yoga has been a transformative practice for her and she hopes it has been for the other people who step into her studio as well. 

“Yoga saved my life,” Lipkowitz said. “In no way am I saying that yoga is a cure, but it is definitely a tool and a tool I’m very passionate about sharing.”  

In her time as a business owner, Lipkowitz said she’s learned that it doesn’t help to obsess over perfection, as failure can be a valuable source of growth.

“We can really obsess over things being perfect and that was a lesson for me as a business owner, it didn’t have to be perfect but I had to try (or) it’s wasted energy,” Lipkowitz said. “Running a business and success is never linear … and the ways in which I’ve failed have provided me with more education than I could have ever learned otherwise.” 

Daily Staff Reporter Emma Spring can be reached at sprinemm@umich.edu.

The post Women in business: Jessie Lipkowitz – aUM Yoga and Polarity appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

In honor of Women’s History Month, The Michigan Daily’s business beat spent the month speaking with women business owners throughout Ann Arbor about their journey, their connection to the community and their legacy. Read the other stories here.

Floor-to-ceiling glass panels and a stark white interior beckon Main Street passersby into the Cuban-inspired burger and “batido” joint, Frita Batidos, owned by Eve Aronoff Fernandez. The indoor picnic tables, reminiscent of a cozy backyard gathering, are often completely filled with patrons indulging in Cuban comfort food, including the signature frita burgers and batidos milkshakes the restaurant is named after.

Aronoff Fernandez opened Frita Batidos in Ann Arbor in 2010, and a secondary location in Detroit nine years later. But before she crafted the best burger in the city, Aronoff learned about cooking from her Jewish mother in New York. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Aronoff Fernandez said her passion for cooking stems from a long line of Jewish mothers who instilled the importance of nurturing through food in her.

Aronoff Fernandez’s roots are firmly planted in her Jewish heritage. The daughter of two native New Yorkers, her accent is a blend of sharp, New York lingo with the warmth of the Midwestern dialect. Aronoff Fernandez nostalgically recalled spending time immersed in Miami Cuban culture as a child and enjoying sumptuous family feasts.

“My grandma used to travel from Miami with ice packs and coolers full of stuffed cabbage and brisket,” Aronoff Fernandez said. “My mom just made food that was very simple, real and amazing, even if it was just homemade spaghetti that started out with a recipe and ended up with something very different. Other times, we (would) drive from Michigan to New York (and) even if we arrived at midnight, we (would) always have this huge spread on the table.” 

The women in Aronoff Fernandez’s family did more than teach her how to follow a recipe, she said. She told The Daily that her mother and grandmothers gave her the grit, intuition and passion needed to succeed in the male-dominated restaurant industry as a female chef.

“(There was) a lot of warmth and conviviality and my grandmothers and mom were some of my role models that influenced my own culinary philosophy,” Aronoff Fernandez said. “It’s super important to create a community and keep things very personal and caring no matter how busy or how much we’re growing … (my) focus (is) on taking care of people … I don’t know if (those are) feminine or nurturing qualities, but they influenced me nonetheless.”  

Aronoff Fernandez drew inspiration not only from her female relatives but also from her global experiences, having explored spice markets in Israel as a kid, studied comparative literature in Boston and attended the acclaimed culinary school Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.

Armed with a diverse set of culinary influences and experiences, Aronoff Fernandez returned to Michigan and opened her first restaurant, eve, in 2003. Located in Kerrytown and later moving to The Bell Tower Hotel, the menu featured American food with a variety of international influences.

Over the next few years, Aronoff Fernandez was invited to a James Beard Foundation event in New York, wrote her first cookbook, “Eve: Contemporary Cuisine Methode Traditionnelle” and appeared as a contestant on cooking show Top Chef. Throughout her journey, Aronoff Fernandez said her family remained her constant support system, with her mother occasionally lending a hand in her restaurant kitchen. 

“(My mom) used to come in and spend the day making seasonal jam for us during the growing season,” Aronoff Fernandez said. “(We used it) throughout the year in everything from our desserts to appetizers to our Jamtini (our martini infused with homemade Damson plum jam).” 

Despite its success, Aronoff Fernandez closed eve at the beginning of 2011 after becoming injured while volunteering in Honduras.

“I had more issues as a business person with men always thinking they had more experience and knew better and interrupting and talking over you,” Aronoff Fernandez said. “Those were challenges that were very eye opening because I hadn’t encountered that for most of my adult life. You really have to love doing it. I think it’s so worth it if you love it because it is so challenging.” 

But by that point, Aronoff Fernandez had already opened Frita Batidos in Ann Arbor. After coming a long way on her culinary journey Aronoff Fernandez shared some advice with The Daily that she hopes to pass on to aspiring business women and chefs throughout Ann Arbor and around the country. 

“Being open-minded and listening to others (has served me well), but (also) listen to your intuition and what feels right to you because people may not always understand or appreciate what you are envisioning at every step along the way,” Aronoff Fernandez said. “If it really feels right, then it probably makes sense for you, and there’s a good chance they will appreciate it later.” 

Daily Staff Reporter Emma Spring can be reached at sprinemm@umich.edu.

The post Women in business: Eve Aronoff Fernandez – Frita Batidos appeared first on The Michigan Daily.