Several new eateries, food purveyors, and retailers are again opening in the area, while other businesses are announcing closures.

Cheese and Mead
Tina Zinn is opening The Cheese Lady Traverse City at 600 W. Front (across from Mahoney’s at Front and Maple). Plans are to be open by late September.

It will be the third franchise location of the specialty cheese shop, first started by Kathleen Fagan Riegler in Muskegon nearly a decade ago. There are also locations in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids.

Zinn was working with her niece (who owns the Grand Rapids franchise), enjoying the cheese world after a 27-year career with Steelcase when The Cheese Lady founders set their sights on Traverse City. She jumped at the opportunity.

The shop will be staffed with cheesemongers offering in-depth knowledge of the more than 100 cheeses, stories about their makers and able to match cheese to particular tastes.

Cheese will be offered for tasting and purchase fresh off the wheel, says Zinn, adding that she’s excited to join TC’s growing community of cheese enthusiasts. The Cheese Lady is the second specialty cheese shop to open here in less than two years – Manny’s Specialty Cheese opened on the city’s east side in May 2013.

Also coming soon to the corner of Front and Maple, directly north of The Cheese Lady, is Acoustic Taproom, a tasting room for Acoustic Draft Mead and cider.

Georgina’s Move
Renovations continue at the former Phil’s On Front downtown as Georgina’s owner Anthony Craig prepares to move his 350 square-foot Latin-Asian fusion restaurant down the street. The new 2,500 square-foot space will offer an expanded menu (including take-out) and 80 seats. The new location will also offer alcohol, pending final approval from the Michigan Liquor Control Commission.

New Lake Leelanau Winery
Dave and Faye Mathia opened boutique winery Aurora Cellars on July 3 on E. Horn Road in Lake Leelanau – at the site of the former Circa Estate Winery, which closed in early 2013.

Taylor and Sam Simpson, siblings and part of the family-owned Good Harbor Vineyards, are assisting the Mathias with the operation; Sam is the winemaker. The winery is producing sparkling, red and white wines with fruit from its own 20-acre vineyard as well as other Leelanau Peninsula vineyards. Ten employees have been hired.

Dave Mathia is the former owner of the CenterPointe building, which The Ticker first reported sold to Steven Busch.. 

Wedding Shop Closing
After 10 years in business, To Have & To Hold Bridal Boutique & Formal Wear at 516 E. Front St. in TC is closing. The store is currently for sale and is holding a retirement/going out of business sale now through early September to sell off all inventory. 

Elixir Looking For New Owner
Elixir Café and Restoratives, which opened in March at 517 S. Union in downtown TC, is for sale after closing in mid-June. The sale is due to a “personal crisis.” The café is co-owned by George Hamzik and Jena Hullman.

CoolStuffExpress Shutting Down Storefront
CoolStuffExpress at 126 S, Union St is closing by the end of the month, according to operations manager Connie Manwaring. The gift shop first opened in July 2012 after having an online store since 1999. The online shop will continue to operate, Manwaring says.

Also recently closed is G’s Pizzeria at 1500 U.S. 31 in Traverse City.

Coming Soon …
Admist the flurry of commercial activity in Northport more is on the way:

The Old Depot on Bay St. was recently remodeled and there are plans for it to open as a wine and cigar store. And, the old Northport Tribune building on Nagonaba is now Tribune Ice Cream and Eatery and will serve both breakfast and lunch.