This coming Thursday marks the longest day of the year, which means the official start of summer 2024 is nearly upon us. To mark the occasion, The Ticker called five downtown retail and restaurant leaders to find out how their businesses are weathering staffing and inflation challenges, and what they're most optimistic and trepidatious about for the coming season.

Dave Denison, Amical
Staffing: “Staffing is progressing about the same as it has these past few seasons. Our young people keep returning, more mature and with increased skill levels. It's still difficult to find dedicated culinary talent, along with a dishwasher or two. We hold on to the ones we have, as do all of our industry friends. And the pay scale continues to increase, which may be due to the hospitality segment catching up from suppressed wages over the past decade.”
Inflation: “Everyone is affected by the increased costs of goods, and it's clearly reflected in the menu pricing at Traverse City’s many food service establishments. In the restaurant business, margins are extremely tight, with little room for error. Our product pricing formula hasn't changed much in 30 years, but the increased labor costs continue to be a challenging issue that presents a constantly moving target.”
Optimistic about: “This year, we have seen so many pleasant patrons. People seem to truly want to be here and absorb the natural beauty of our area.”
Trepidatious about: “Just the unknowns and the unpredictable events: weather issues, traffic pattern changes, keeping our people and patrons safe and secure during high-stress situations. Summer is short, and we want everyone to get the most out of their season.”

Peter Makin, Brilliant Books
Staffing: “We’ve managed to get ourselves four excellent booksellers, and we have people who keep applying. So, we don’t have any issue with staffing at all.”
Inflation: “There was a time a year or so ago where we were having to re-price nearly every book that we ordered, because books were going up so quickly. Now, just as inflation is slowing down, we're seeing the price increases in books slowing down. But what we’ve found is that the increased prices of books don’t seem to be putting people off buying, which is good news for us. Hard covers are now up to $35 and people seem to be happy to pay that.”
Optimistic about: “We’re seeing an excellent June, and we’re hoping for similar through July and August. But what we're finding is that the summer doesn't end at the end of August anymore. There are lots of people who come here in September for vacations, and then that segues into fall color in October. And then before you know it, it’s Christmas! There really isn't the same kind of downswing that there used to be 10 years ago.”
Trepidatious about: “It’s the road work – not because of the disruption the roadwork itself might cause, but more the impression that people might get as to how terrible it is. Some people will be reluctant to come into town because they think that it's impossible to get here.”

Liz Lancashire, Fustini’s
Staffing: “We are very fortunate: We have a staff that we keep on consistently, and we have made some great new hires recently.”
Inflation: “Inflation is a subject on every customer’s mind. We see a trend toward less meat-based dishes and many more vegetables, and the assumption is that this shift is due to cost. Luckily, we have an abundance of beautiful produce here in northern Michigan, and delicious oils and vinegars work well for that!”
Optimistic about: “Our staff and the ability to share our product with people from all over. We live in such a gorgeous area, and it’s hard not to be an ambassador for our region.”
Trepidatious about: “The effects of construction on downtown traffic. Locals know how to navigate around it, but we hope visitors will take the time to come downtown and not just choose to skip it and head elsewhere.”

Soon Hagerty, The Good Bowl
Staffing: “We are actually doing well in terms of staffing. We have recently evolved our restaurant to full-service versus counter service, so we are getting our sea legs in terms of training for a more elevated experience. The toughest area is getting seasoned bartenders, given that all the hospitality industry establishments need bartenders. It’s a specific craft that’s not easy to find.”
Inflation: “Ensuring our pricing can support our business without intimidating our guests is always a difficult balance. The reality of running a restaurant is the model is really tough, given the increased costs of food, utilities, labor, rent, and supplies. It’s just so hard to put all of that in a reasonable way on the customers, so we don’t want to look at it that way. Instead, we try to look at every opportunity for efficiency, leaning on talented people who run the business well and cross-utilizing our ingredients in a thoughtful way instead of just increasing our prices.”
Optimistic about: “We’re excited to roll out a new menu, a new service model, elevated cocktails, more welcoming décor, and an enthusiastic team. We can’t control inflation, post-COVID implications, construction, or even how many tourists come to town. We can only control what we offer and how we can be a different experience for our guests and community.”
Trepidatious about: “Our biggest concern is that we set the right expectations post-COVID, where 2022 and even 2023 saw a huge rise in traffic. We feel like we need to adjust to the new normal and level set, so that we’re creating a strong business year-round and catering to our locals and our community – not just to tourists.”

Gary Jonas, The Little Fleet
Staffing: “We are doing well on staffing. We are lucky to have staff that have been with us for many years – including lots of seasonal staff coming back from previous summers – so they are our anchors. Overall, we’re really happy about the staff culture we've created at Little Fleet, and it shows with people wanting to work with us.”
Inflation: “It's tough. We don’t want to pass on all the increases to the customer, even though accounting practices say you should. So, we've taken a smaller profit on some items, increased some prices, and stopped selling some items altogether. But no doubt, everything is more expensive. Our limes for our margaritas, for instance, have doubled in price in the last two years. The cost for live music is much higher, too, but that's important for us to support musicians and provide customers with a great experience.”
Optimistic about: “Locals have come out early and it's great to see those familiar faces. We had a great May. If it keeps up like this, it's going to be a wonderful summer.”
Trepidatious about: “Construction is certainly going to keep people away from downtown a bit this summer.”