. The thing is that the founders of the Cheesecake Factory restaurants are originally from Detroit. You'd think they'd have more or a commitment to the city they originally came from. Oh well, here's the article:Cheesecake Factory bound for Somerset
October 3, 2003
BY SYLVIA RECTOR
FREE PRESS FOOD WRITER
The popular Cheesecake Factory restaurant chain, launched 25 years ago in Los Angeles by ex-Detroiters Oscar and Evelyn Overton, plans to open its first Michigan location in the Somerset Collection in Troy next summer, a company official says.
In an interview Wednesday on Mitch Albom's WJR-AM (760) radio program, Howard Gordon, Cheesecake Factory vice president for business development and marketing, joked that calls from Albom's listeners prompted the decision. Albom had complained on the show a day earlier that metro Detroit had no Cheesecake Factory, even though its founders came from Michigan and there are 66 nationwide.
"I don't know what happened," Gordon told Albom, "but the lines were on fire, and bingo, we decided it was time to have a restaurant in Michigan." The opening is planned for June 2004, he said.
The restaurant chain, one of the nation's most popular casual-dining companies, is known for its large portions, moderate prices and diverse menu.
Its 250-plus offerings range from appetizers and pizzas to salads, burgers, pasta, steaks, specialty items and over-the-top desserts, including its signature cheesecakes. Its restaurants make virtually everything except desserts on the premises and use fresh ingredients; desserts come from its production bakery facilities.
Somerset general manager James Westcott issued a statement Thursday saying the restaurant is one "that all retail developments would like to have" and that Somerset officials have had many discussions with the chain. But, he added, "Nothing is signed or definitive at this time."
Gordon told Albom that he wasn't sure whether the restaurant would be in the northern or southern section of the shopping complex. But several Somerset business owners contacted Thursday said that the most likely site is the mall's south section, near the end anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue.
The average Cheesecake Factory seats 380 and occupies 12,000 square feet, Gordon says; many are built on two floors. A restaurant of that size also would likely require an exterior entrance.
It's unclear how the restaurant would affect the locations of current tenants. One in that area, Sharper Image, will soon move across the hall into what is now Williams-Sonoma, after the kitchen emporium moves upstairs into what used to be Barney's.
The cheesecake that started the company was created by Evelyn Overton and sold in a small shop she opened in Detroit in the late 1940s. In 1971 the Overtons moved to California and began baking commercially. In 1978, their son, David, opened the first Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Beverly Hills.
. The chain is just getting started in Michigan.
