New Hockey Retail Center, Café Opening; More Retail/Restaurant News

A new 5,000 square-foot hockey and lacrosse retail center is opening in Traverse City, Leelanau Peninsula’s oldest winery is closing after 42 years, a new Cuban-centric breakfast and lunch café is coming to downtown TC – plus other businesses are on the move in The Ticker’s latest look at retail and restaurant news.

Perfect Edge Hockey-Lacrosse
A new hockey and lacrosse retail center opening in the Cherryland Center will offer the region’s only RapidShot Hockey Training System – described as “batting cages for hockey” – as well as a unique custom-fit skate molding machine that’s attracted NHL players from across the country to the company’s downstate store.

Owner Marc O’Keefe is playing a grand opening for Perfect Edge Hockey-Lacrosse the weekend of July 21-23. The 5,000 square-foot store, located in the former Malisa’s Hallmark space near Sears in the Cherryland Center, will offer equipment, apparel, service, and training systems for hockey and lacrosse. Perfect Edge will feature a “state-of-the-art skate sharpening machine” and a dedicated wing of the store for Under Armour lifestyle and performance apparel, according to O’Keefe, who has operated a Perfect Edge store in Howell for 12 years.

“We saw a desperate need for a hockey and lacrosse store up in Traverse City, especially on the training side,” says O’Keefe. “There’s a very large market there with adult and youth hockey….and with the schools having lacrosse now, they don’t have anywhere to buy equipment. We saw there was a missing piece there.”

Perfect Edge’s RapidShot training system – the only system if its kind within three hours of Traverse City, O’Keefe says – allows players to practice their hockey shots. The machine automatically passes and collects pucks and measures accuracy, shot speed and reaction time. Perfect Edge will also offer a synthetic ice skating treadmill for ice skating training, as well as a custom-fit skate molding machine. “We’re the only store in the U.S. I know of that has this machine,” says O’Keefe. “We get many NHL players that visit us, because even NHL teams don’t have this machine.”

Perfect Edge will operate seven days a week: Monday-Friday 10am-8pm, Saturday 10am-5pm and Sunday 10am-4pm. The company will host a grand opening sale July 21-23 with special discounts and free use of the RapidShot system.

Boskydel Vineyard
Leelanau Peninsula’s oldest winery has announced it will close its doors in January, ending 42 years in business in the region.

Boskydel Vineyard owners Jim and Andy Rink posted a letter to customers last week stating that “after 42 years, we feel that we have fulfilled our original purpose, and it’s time to pursue other interests.” The Rinks plan to cease winery and tasting room operations at 7501 East Otto Road in Lake Leelanau effective January 1. The company is offering 40 percent off all case purchases starting this month as part of its closing sale.

Jim Rink tells The Ticker the decision to close Boskydel – which was constructed by his father, Bernie Rink, in 1975 – “was made thoughtfully and carefully by the entire family” and that “a lot of variables that went into the decision-making process.”

“Certainly, the industry is very competitive right now,” he says. “Ours is a very labor-intensive business and the cost of materials is always rising.” While Rink says Boskydel enjoyed “loyal customers” and recent increasing sales, at age 60 he is nearing retirement age and ready to explore other options.

Traverse Bay Café
Following the quiet closure of Neapolitan pizzeria Piccolo Forno at 810 East Front Street earlier this summer, two partners are preparing to launch a new Cuban-centric breakfast and lunch café in the space later this month.

André Villoch and Andy Weaver are targeting a July 17 opening of Traverse Bay Café. In addition to serving traditional breakfast items like pancakes and eggs and lunch staples like salads, sandwiches and soups, the duo plan to highlight Villoch’s heritage with several Cuban offerings.

“We plan to have the best Cuban sandwich in Traverse City,” Villoch says. “We’ll have Cuban bread, which we’ll use for our French Toast, and we’ll serve Cuban coffee. I’m very particular about my Cuban coffee, so it'll be high-quality."

Traverse Bay Café will also offer espresso, cappuccinos and other coffee drinks. The 900 square-foot dining room will accommodate just under 50 seats.

Streeters
A new piano gastropub is set to open this fall in Streeters at 1169 South Garfield Avenue – one of several improvements to the property that could eventually also include the construction of a new hotel.

Owner Doug Street is planning a September opening of Louie Louie, a new addition to the entertainment complex that will offer Friday and Saturday piano nights and a Sunday piano brunch. The pub will be open Tuesday-Sunday. While Streeters will continue to host concerts and national acts, Street says he’s transitioning the overall focus of the facility. “In the past Streeters was known as a nightlife place, and now it’s more of an event center,” he says. “We’re looking to continue that (with the gastropub).”

Street also hopes to eventually construct a hotel on the property, though he indicates that is a long-term plan. “The hotel is an ambition,” he says. “We’re zoned for it, but we’re looking for the right operator. We also have to work with the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration). We are doing our due diligence now, so those things are in motion.”

In other news…
Central Lake’s Mammoth Distilling has opened its new Traverse City outpost in the Warehouse District behind The Workshop Brewing Company. The company, which is sharing a space with Fresh Coast Chocolate Company, has a tasting room license and can serve samples of all of its spirits, as well as offer non-alcoholic mocktails and food bites from its kitchen. Mammoth Distilling is in the process of acquiring a manufacturer’s license, which will allow the company to serve a full cocktail menu this fall.

Neighborhood delicatessen/café Raduno is set to open its doors Monday (July 10) at 545 East Eighth Street. Butcher and charcuterie specialist Andrea Deibler is opening the café with former 9 Bean Rows chef Paul Carlson and former Bella Fortuna North chef Janene Silverman. The business will offer house-made pasta, charcuterie, and vegetable-focused sides, as well as deli sandwiches and salads for dine-in or take-out.

Manny’s Specialty Cheese has relocated from 1132 East Eighth Street in Traverse City to 5046 West Bayshore Drive (Unit 1A) in Suttons Bay. The new location within the “The Big Wine Tasting Barn at West Bayshore Village” near M-22 and Hilltop Road will allow the cheese shop to showcase its wares among multiple vineyards and tasting rooms, according to owners.

Finally, Jimmy John’s has opened its second Traverse City location. The national sandwich chain – which operates a store at 1217 East Front Street – now offers a second shop at 1294 South Airport Road next to Family Video. The video rental store has reduced its footprint to make way for the new 1,185 square-foot Jimmy John’s space.