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Eastown vacancies

suydam

By suydam
in Grand Rapids

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woz Whistle-Stop

woz

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Also does anyone know what is going on with the spaces above yesterdog and morningstar. It seems like they have been being renovated for years. They would make some nice living or office space. except for the parking issues.
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  • 1 year later...
fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

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Parlor at Cherry Market is open. I was headed toward the place mentioned in a Sunday paper article (in the former Democratic HQ) but found the Parlor first.

Beautiful woodwork. Lovely windows. Very nice Victorian graphics. Several nice wood & wrought iron benches out front, and a couple of hoop bike racks. (During my visit it looked like the TdF fan club; five cyclists and one car.) There's a restroom in the corner (more nice woodwork) and cold water for a refill.

It's pretty inside, with carefully chalked menu items (the Four Friends artist did *not* do these ones) and a white wire cafe set, just like what you'd expect to see in an ice cream parlor. wooden floor. Very spiffed up and clean, like a scene in The Music Man.

The ice cream is a brand I've never heard of. I had the tiramisu flavor, and when the packer accidentally cracked the waffle cone, she started over. That's a single scoop??? Holy moly, they must train these people at Jackson's All-Star Dairy! They aren't busy, and the view across Cherry is interesting.

Just one drawback, and it might be very seasonal: there's no A/C, and the freezers pump out a lot of heat. They desperately need a vent fan high up in the rear wall, or ceiling fans, or a big exhaust fan out the front door, or a side window that opens, or ivy growing on the west wall, or a cold front. Indoors was probably 20 noticeably degrees warmer than outside.

Riding past I noticed the Sweet Connections (?) place, which faces the lovely ICCF gardens. They are next. (From my house, I could crawl to either one with a broken leg.)

How come two scooped ice cream places in two blocks, and nothing DT? What brought me up Cherry was a hankerin' for the Friends' gelato.

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Veloise City

Veloise

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Continuing the Veloise Tour de Ice Cream, I landed at Sweet Connections last night, during the storm.

Wow does that place look different. Last time I was in there was to join the peanut gallery for the televised gubenatorial debates. (Our candidate: "My opponent's health care plan is..." Viewers, in unison: "GET A JOB!!")

Big B&W checkered flooring, very 1950's diner. Loads of shelving units all merched out with a wide variety of gift items: exotic candies ("emergency chocolate," gummi band-aids), photo frames, little picture frames, MSU and U-M junque, tons of impulse items. Jars of candy on the counter. In the back are helium balloons and gift basket things. (Did I mention that ice cream is rather seasonal?) It would be difficult to not find something interesting and unique for a gift.

Nice selection of flavors, including Stroh's. I tried the dulce de leche. The two staff were cleaning up and stacking chairs atop the tables (more 50's diner-flavored things). SC has A/C, and the outdoor seating consists of beige metal patio chairs with mesh seats, lots of 'em. Nice view across Cherry. They welcomed me to sit inside, but since there's no bike rack I opted to stroll the street.

During my inspection of the Lake Drive construction I found the surprise. The columnist who writes Hints from Heloise suggests mitigating ice cream cone-tip drips by loading the peak with a mini marshmallow. I was getting down to the bottom, and things weren't crispy as they should have been...but the chewiness wasn't because it was stale. Probably three little marshmallows tucked away in there. Huh.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Mark Miller Whistle-Stop

Mark Miller

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One of the overarching issues with East town is simply a numbers game. The businesses have left one by one to other resurgent neighborhoods - mostly still within the city. As downtown and particularly Cherry Street have come on so strong, these businesses have left.

There was a time not that long ago, when there was nothing happening downtown or on Cherry Street and East town was the only real urban business district in the city. It was hip and it was urbane. It now has competition and really has not responded all that well. It is unfortunate that there are not more businesses to go around, but this phenomenon has occurred all over at all scales, one city's gain is another's loss. One neighborhood's gain is another's loss. Fortunately this pattern is not what it once was the sucking of the city businesses to the burbs.

But I think at somepoint East town will be alright. This is a short term thing. It has the good bones that businesses are looking for. It's streets are somewhat decent and its building stock is good and it is within walking distance from many neighborhoods, including many in East Grand Rapids. It has the ability to be vibrant and edgy again.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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One of the overarching issues with East town is simply a numbers game. The businesses have left one by one to other resurgent neighborhoods - mostly still within the city. As downtown and particularly Cherry Street have come on so strong, these businesses have left.

There was a time not that long ago, when there was nothing happening downtown or on Cherry Street and East town was the only real urban business district in the city. It was hip and it was urbane. It now has competition and really has not responded all that well. It is unfortunate that there are not more businesses to go around, but this phenomenon has occurred all over at all scales, one city's gain is another's loss. One neighborhood's gain is another's loss. Fortunately this pattern is not what it once was the sucking of the city businesses to the burbs.

But I think at somepoint East town will be alright. This is a short term thing. It has the good bones that businesses are looking for. It's streets are somewhat decent and its building stock is good and it is within walking distance from many neighborhoods, including many in East Grand Rapids. It has the ability to be vibrant and edgy again.

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suydam Hamlet

suydam

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In regards to the "quality" of the actual pavement, whether it is too bumpy, too full of pot holes, ugly, cracked, fissured, etc. ......I really do not care. This is not impacting the public realm from my perspective. The quality of the condition of pavement, if poor, will at least slow down the traffic, if nothing else.
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