In a market that's witnessed the addition of several new competitors, three downtown Traverse City establishments are reinventing themselves in the hopes of retaining customers – and attracting new ones.

In January, long-time hospitality consultant Tonya Cook purchased sports bar and restaurant State Street Grille on State Street, adding to a portfolio that also includes The Soggy Dollar in Northport. Cook is overseeing an estimated $50,000-$60,000 renovation of the facility, including new flooring, lighting and tabletops; remodeled bathrooms; the installation of $10,000 in LED, high-definition TVs (ranging from 50”-80”); and a makeover of the bar's outdoor patio, which will soon feature a live music stage and new paint, signage and design.

To complete the transition, Cook is overhauling the bar's food and beverage menu, adding several new entrees and enlisting Maxbauers Meat Market to provide fresh meat to the kitchen. Shooting for a mid-May official grand opening, the bar will also feature an “express lunch” menu for downtown workers, live music and trivia nights, and a monthly Celebrity Bartender Series featuring a local guest personality mixing cocktails, with profits benefiting a charity of their choice. (The first event, featuring Holly Hack of EXIT Realty in partnership with Disabled American Veterans, takes place tonight/Tuesday from 5:30-8:30pm.)

“The building was in dire need of updating, and we needed to change the atmosphere to match the experience we wanted to offer,” says Cook. The owner also wanted a new name to go with the new look. Cook decided on The Yard: a moniker that reflects the bar's sports theme as well as Cook's desire for the destination to be “an accessible place downtown for locals that feels comfortable and welcoming...like hanging out in your back yard.”

Kilkenny's Irish Pub – on West Front Street below North Peak – also recently overhauled its look and menu. General Managing Partner Mike Lloyd says its old Irish wooden walls have been replaced with lime-green, lit-bottle walls. Also the back bar has been replaced, six new TVs added, and a new craft cocktail menu introduced (Blue Tractor on Union Street, also managed by Lloyd, similarly invested in recent interior upgrades.)

“We wanted to brighten (Kilkenny's) up and make it more modern and new,” says Lloyd. “After five years of fun, it needed some work. It's important to invest back in the businesses and not let them get stale.”

“Modern” and “new” are important keywords for West Bay Beach Resort (the longtime Holiday Inn) on Grandview Parkway as well. The resort underwent a $4.5 million remodel last year, and will soon be introducing two all-new food and beverage venues. View at West Bay Beach Resort will be an "upscale entertainment lounge" to replace the former Shimmers nightclub; Day Club at West Bay Beach Resort, an indoor-outdoor club featuring a new coffee bar serving Starbucks products, will occupy the space previously held by Wingers Sports Bar. Both venues are expected to open before summer.

“All of our food venues will follow a healthier farm-to-table concept,” says Jacqui Herman, food and beverage marketing manager for the resort. “We're putting a classy, contemporary twist on our menus."

The representatives for all three downtown establishments acknowledge the importance of staying relevant in TC's competitive market, with Herman noting that, because of the resort's target demographic of 20-30somethings, “it's extremely important for us to stay on top of trends.”

Cook is comfortable with The Yard's position as a mid-priced sports pub given downtown's stratified roster of “dive bars and high-end dining businesses,” but affirms “it's really important as a bar owner to be in touch with your patrons.”

“You have to offer something new and exciting at a competitive price,” agrees Lloyd. “You have to give people a reason to come out. It can't be something they can just get at home or anywhere else in TC.”