Numerous restaurant and retail changes are underway in downtown Traverse City, with new retail store Hello Friends Boutique and new restaurant Sisters opening this spring, Relish closing its doors, Glik’s expanding, and Crêpes and Co. moving. The Ticker has the details on those and other local businesses on the move, including a new Thai restaurant opening in Kid’s Creek Marketplace and Fife Lake Inn coming under new ownership.

Downtown TC
Following the recent closure of Zips Harley-Davidson downtown, Traverse City natives Heather and Eddie Nickerson are set to take over the space at 330 East Front Street with their new store Hello Friends Boutique (pictured). The couple are targeting an early May opening for the brick-and-mortar shop, capitalizing on a business that started as a small online retailer in 2020 and has since amassed over 10,000 followers who regularly tune in for live shopping events. Those events will still continue on social media, Heather says, but customers will now have the option to pick up their orders at the downtown store in addition to shopping in person.

Hello Friends Boutique is a size-inclusive retailer offering women’s clothing from small to 3XL, plus shoes, accessories, jewelry, gourmet snacks, gifts, and more. Heather says the goal is for all customers – some of whom may not find their size options at traditional retailers – to feel “beautiful and comfortable coming in and trying on clothes.” The Nickersons have “always loved the downtown area” and started looking in earnest for a space the last few years, she says. The duo is in the process now of remodeling the Front Street space, which has enough room for them to offer all the brands they’ve traditionally carried plus new product lines.

On the other end of Front Street, Lil Bo owner-operator Jenni Scott – in partnership with several family members who helped her purchase and open Lil Bo in 2021 – is launching a second restaurant in April next door. The family purchased the former Front Street Liquor store at 542 West Front Street last year, in part to help expand Lil Bo’s kitchen – and will also soon offer a new breakfast and lunch spot called Sisters. The eatery will have “classic brunch items” like eggs benedict and chicken and waffles, plus pick two/three options for lunch and a full bar, according to Scott. “We’ll be featuring a lot of new twists on mimosas and Bloody Marys, including flights and a Dole Whip mimosa,” she says.

Lil Bo will maintain its same daily hours of 11am-12am, while Sisters will operate daily from 8am-2pm. Its closure during evenings will allow Scott to host private parties and events in the space during those hours, plus expand the company’s catering offerings. In addition to indoor seating for 75, Scott is hoping to offer outdoor bistro seating this summer at Sisters. “There aren’t a ton of breakfast places here, and the ones we have are always so busy that we wanted to help fill a void,” Scott says. 

Around the corner in the Warehouse District, Relish owner Tracey Lark has announced she’s closing her clothing store after 13 years in business. Lark is selling all merchandise at 50 percent off and will be open seven days a week through the end of April. She hints a new adventure is in store, saying her business will be “rebranded to something new” once Relish comes to an end. Lark declined to clarify whether she’ll be reopening in Warehouse MRKT under a different name or moving to a new location, saying only that there’s an “exciting next chapter” she’ll be announcing soon.

Retailer Glik’s has converted its store at 206 East Front Street into an exclusive women’s boutique and expanded across the street to add a second store – a new men’s shop at 223 East Front Street (the former Sea Bags space). Around the corner, Crêpes and Co. has vacated its location in the MiddleCoast Brewing Company. Owner Vanessa Grasset says she was recently given notice after seven years in the spot – but was able to jump on the former Park Street Café space at 113 Park Street. Crêpes and Co. is now open in the space and serving customers Wednesday-Sunday 8am-2pm. Meanwhile, MiddleCoast has announced the launch of new breakfast spot Groove Spoon, open daily from 8am-2pm serving breakfast burritos, skillets, waffles, and more.

Other restaurant and retail news...
Thai Kitchen owner Garry Thao has opened a new sister restaurant in Traverse City. Thai A GoGo recently opened its doors in Kids Creek Marketplace on US-31 next to Little Caesars (the former Biggby Coffee space). The restaurant offers traditional staples including noodle dishes, curries, sweet-and-sour chicken, fried rice, Pad Thai, Thai teas, and more. Thao says the expansion will help the restaurant group serve the west side of Traverse City, with both in-person dining and takeout available. Posted hours are 11am-8pm.

Fife Lake Inn is under new ownership on State Street in Fife Lake. New owner Cassie Saunders, a Fife Lake native who took over the business February 28, spent the last decade as a GM for a restaurant group managing multiple locations and says it was “time to do my own thing.” She reopened the Fife Lake Inn this past weekend with a remodeled interior and revamped menu. Customer favorites like pizzas are still on the menu, along with a daily fish fry, sandwiches, soups and salads, entrees, prime rib on the weekends, and a new cocktail list. “We have many plans for updating the deck for outdoor seating for this coming season,” Saunders adds. Current hours are Thursday-Monday 11:30am-9pm (closed Tuesday-Wednesday), expanding to seven days a week April 1.

Several area businesses are getting updates, with Trattoria Stella temporarily closed March 18-April 8 for a kitchen renovation in Building 50. Reflect Bistro inside Cambria Hotel & Suites posted that “exciting improvements” to the property’s hotel and restaurant will be underway the next few weeks, while Hotel Indigo – which temporarily opened its rooftop this past weekend to take advantage of warmer temps – said the property is now “in the midst of a total reimagination of our rooftop space, with an exciting grand opening planned for mid-May.”

Finally – multiple local businesses have closed their doors, including KFC on East Front Street, Big Lots in the Cherryland Center, Cast Iron Kitchen in Kingsley, and the Spring Lighthouse Bed & Breakfast in Elk Rapids. Joann Fabrics is shuttering all of its Michigan stores amid a bankruptcy filing, including its Traverse City location on Munson Avenue. Macy’s – which The Ticker  previously announced is vacating the Grand Traverse Mall – is holding final closing sales as it prepares to end operations before the end of the month.

Photo credit: Hello Friends Boutique