Downtown Traverse City will soon have expanded convenience store options on both its eastern and western ends, with a new market opening in the former 7/11 space across from Northwestern Michigan College and West Side Beverage undergoing a $1.1 million expansion on West Front Street.

Angela Dhami will open her new Super 7 convenience store at 128 Munson Avenue Saturday (December 14). Dhami, who also owns Gas & Shop in Kingsley and Deeps Corner Store in Northport, says the market will sell coffee and cappuccinos, a full range of sodas and snacks, and other typical convenience store fare, along with beer and wine in the coming weeks. Dhami says Super 7 will also offer an array of fresh Indian food in the near future, with the market selling vegetarian samosas to start and expanding from there.

Wintertime hours for the new store will be 7am-10pm, seven days a week. Dhami says the prime location of the former 7/11 space – located steps from the college, Traverse City Central High School, and the Grand Traverse County Civic Center, with a high-traffic corridor in front and a residential complex in back – convinced her to pull the trigger on a third store. “It’s a hot location,” she says. “There were a bunch of people who wanted this (spot)…I consider myself lucky to get this place. There’s a need for a convenience store in this area.”

On the other side of downtown, West Side Beverage owner Tom Gretzmacher is embarking on a $1.1 million expansion of his store at 912 West Front Street. Work is already underway on the project, which will double the store’s square footage from 1,200 square feet to more than 2,400 square feet. Gretzmacher says the move will allow him to expand his inventory, as well as add a new deli and pizza counter. The reconfigured space will offer additional parking and both front and rear store access.

“I’ve owned the store for eight years now, and every year we’ve been growing substantially,” says Gretzmacher. “I did some improvements on the inside, but the outside has looked the same since the mid-fifties. I’ve enjoyed being a part of Slabtown, and I wanted to provide them with an updated facility. I had considered opening a second store somewhere else, but I didn’t think I had maximized West Side to the fullest yet.”

The renovations will require Gretzmacher to close the store after the new year for two months, with a targeted reopening date of early March. As part of the expansion, Gretzmacher is also building two 1,500 square-foot residential condominiums over the store. The owner says he and his family will live in one unit and rent out the other. Construction on the condos is anticipated to be finished by May.

In other retail/restaurant news…
Home-brew supply store and “nanobrewery” UBrew is moving from Cass Road in Garfield Township to downtown Traverse City. Owners Chuck Green and Aaron Spangler are relocating to the former Sorellina building at 120 South Park Street. The business will continue to sell home-brewing supplies, as well as offer a seating area for on-site beer consumption. City commissioners approved the license for the new location by a 5-2 vote earlier this month, with Commissioners Roger Putman and Brian McGillivary opposed on the basis of past opposition to adding any more drinking establishments downtown. Other commissioners, however, noted the Park Street location previously had a bar when Sorellina was there, adding that since UBrew is already in business, the move isn’t adding a new establishment to the local market but simply shuffling locations.

Around the corner in Sorellina’s new home at 250 Front Street, Miller Snowden Development Group is undertaking a $1.1 million renovation of its four-story building that includes the restaurant and Chase Bank. Partner Adam Miller tells The Ticker the firm is renovating the entire third and fourth floors to accommodate an expansion of Hagerty, which will occupy those two floors along with the second floor under the redesign. “Chase has consolidated their employees to their space on the first floor, and they are also doing some improvements and renovations to their space as part of that move,” Miller says. Construction is underway and expected to be finished in the first quarter of 2020.

Also downtown, bridal boutique One Oak Bride is closing its doors at 121 East Front Street (Suite 300) in Front Row Centre. Co-owners Renee Sovis and Annie Zimmerman, who opened the store in late 2016, posted on Facebook that they are shutting down effective December 30. The company is offering sample-sale deals on its remaining inventory this month.

Two other businesses have also closed their doors in Grand Traverse County. National outdoor retailer Gander Outdoors has gone out of business in Buffalo Ridge Center on US-31, with signage already torn down from the building's exterior and the property vacated. “It is with great regret that we announce the closing of Gander Outdoors of Traverse City,” the company posted in a sign left on the front door. “We have enjoyed serving our customers in the community and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by the closure of the store.” A previous Gander Mountain location in the same space closed due to bankruptcy proceedings, with the business reopening as Gander Outdoors in early 2018.

In Kingsley, husband-and-wife duo Sid Castillo and Raquel Silva have closed their Taco Castle restaurant at 413 West Main Street. The taqueria had been open since April 1. The couple announced they will reopen next year as a food truck, with their planned location to be announced at a future date.

Other ethnic eateries are also on the move. After announcing plans in October to open at the Grand Traverse Mall, chef Dhal Hossain and Golam Rabbani launched their new Taste of India restaurant this week in the mall’s food court. The duo plans to serve up classic Indian dishes including curry, paneer, vindaloo, chicken tikka masala, biriyani, aloo gobi, and side dishes like naan and basmati rice. Meanwhile, the owners of Nepalese Have Another food truck have sold the truck and launched a new catering company called West Bay Catering. The business still specializes in Nepalese food, but has expanded to a variety of other offerings and can be found at frequent pop-up nights, such as at Silver Spruce Brewing Company this weekend.

In Leelanau County, Pleva’s Meats is closing its doors at 8974 South Kasson Street in Cedar. Tom and Connie Pleva, who have owned the business for 18 years, posted on Facebook that the location will close effective February 1. “As many of you may have noticed, the building has been listed for sale and our current landlord has asked us to vacate the building to make room for other impending tenants,” the owners wrote. “We thank you to those who have supported us over our past 18 years of ownership. Although our future is unclear, we hope to still serve you again someday.”

Finally, the historic Town Club bar and restaurant has reopened after nearly a year of construction work at 133 River Street in Elk Rapids. Planned renovations led to complications that prompted management to instead tear down the building and rebuild from the ground up. Following a late November reopening, the Town Club has posted updates on its new menu and amenities – such as 10 draft taps and a bar jukebox and photo booth – and lined up holiday events, including an Ugly Christmas Sweater party on December 17.