What we know about Lansing area restaurants, retailers who opened or closed in March
LANSING — Greater Lansing lost and gained several new retail businesses and restaurants this month.
East Lansing lost cupcake bakery GiGi's Cupcakes but gained Yemeni coffee shop Haraz Coffee House and soda and candy shop Rocket Fizz. At the same time, long-time Okemos restaurant Old Chicago Pizza + Taproom closed its doors after two decades in business there. Then the Lansing Mall gained a new option in its food court with the opening of The Carter's.
Here's a look at what opened and what closed around the area in the last month.
Openings
The Carter's
Where: Lansing Mall food court, 5330 W Saginaw Hwy., Delta Township
The details: Soul food restaurant The Carter's opened on March 16. Couple Kameron and Eldred Carter got their start selling dishes at the annual Michigan Chicken Wing Festival, held at Adado Riverfront Park. Their menu includes chicken wings, rib tips, greens, mac and cheese, chicken, baked spaghetti, and cornbread. Staff make their own barbecue sauces. Find them on Facebook at "The Carter's."
Sparrow Bloom, Lansing
Where: 505 E. Shiawassee St., Lansing
The details: Specialty flower shop Sparrow Bloom took up temporary residence in a 578-square-foot building off North Cedar Street last August. Owners Kait Bibb and Becca Barnell welcomed customers into their store's permanent home in Lansing's Stadium District earlier this month, celebrating "a grand reopening" in the new approximately 1,600-square-foot storefront on March 14. Learn more at www.sparrowbloom.com.
Haraz Coffee House, East Lansing
Where: 501 E Grand River Ave., East Lansing
The details: Dearborn-based coffee house chain Haraz Coffee House debuted its newest location near Michigan State University's campus on March 18. Staff at the 2,400-square-foot building, previously home to Campus Corner, a retail store that carried MSU clothing and gifts, serves Yemeni coffee drinks, pastries and desserts. The menu includes Adeni, a drink that contains both tea and coffee, along with creations unique to the franchise, such as a pistachio latte and a Haraz latte, made with organic coffee and honey. Learn more at www.harazcoffeehouse.com .
Rocket Fizz, East Lansing
Where: 217 E. Grand River Ave., East Lansing
The details: Soda pop and candy shop Rocket Fizz, a California-based retail franchise, moved from its storefront in the Eastwood Towne Center to East Lansing. The Eastwood Towne Center location closed in December after five years there. The new East Grand River Avenue space was opened in February and staff celebrated with a grand opening earlier this month. Learn more on Facebook at "Rocket Fizz Lansing, MI."
Closings
GiGi's Cupcakes, East Lansing
Where: 1020 Trowbridge Road, East Lansing
The details: Gigi’s Cupcakes closed its doors on March 9, eight years after location owner Gina Farhat first opened the bakery. In a Facebook post customers were urged to continue supporting local businesses. "It is much more than a tagline when we say, 'Shop small,' or 'Support local business,'" it said. "Doing so is often not very convenient, but well worth it. So yes, make the trip, regardless of the orange cones and detours, stand patiently in lines, promote local businesses on social media and before reacting to their prices, take the time to think about their costs and their shrinking margins; they are doing their very best to stay open… for you!"
Old Chicago Pizza, Okemos
Where: 1938 W. Grand River Ave., Okemos
The details: Ed Ouellette, president of Biddergy.com. a Kalamazoo-based online auction company, confirmed the impending closure of Old Chicago Pizza + Taproom a few days before the doors closed on March 16. The company auctioned off the restaurant's contents this month. The chain occupied the building near the corner of West Grand River Avenue and Marsh Road for at least two decades. The closure came less than a week after an Old Chicago Pizza + Taproom location in Southgate closed its doors on March 3. SPB Hospitality, a multi-brand affiliate of Fortress Investment Group, took over operations and management of the chain in June 2020 after the original owners went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Way too Cheap, Charlotte
Where: 107 and 109 E. Lawrence Ave., Charlotte
The details: Matt Milcher and father-in-law Ron Holifield bought the four-story, 18,320-square-foot building in the 100 block of East Lawrence Avenue in 2019. The family turned the former opera house in the city's downtown, previously home to Christensen’s, a furniture store for 52 years, into Way Too Cheap, a resale store. According to a post on the business's Facebook page, the store closed and the building was sold earlier this month. "We live in Hastings and running and operating a business on a daily basis living 35 minutes away, having 4 children in school just isn’t doable anymore. So we made the difficult decision to sell the building," it said. The store moved its business online under the name Steals n Deals. Property records show RAC Uptown, LLC bought the property from Milcher and Holifield on March 5 for $190,000.
READ MORE:
That's still for sale? A look at five Lansing-area commercial properties awaiting development
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Contact Reporter Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on X @GrecoatLSJ .
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing area restaurants, retailers who opened or closed in March: What we know
