Focus On: Bad Habit
In 2021, Bonnie Brown tried a unique milkshake-style dessert during a business trip in Las Vegas. Her first thought was “Wow, these are amazing,” quickly followed by “This is the business opportunity I have been looking for.”
Focus On: Arts Marketplace of Studio Park
The Arts Marketplace at Studio Park in downtown Grand Rapids is off to an amazing start. On Small Business Saturday...
Focus On: Elevated
Stepping inside Elevated, customers are instantly greeted by the warm glow of hanging fairy lights, ornate wall decorations, lush plants, treasures filling every nook and relics from days past.
Rainbow Resources
If you could illuminate your home with cascading fragments of prismatic light, why wouldn’t you? Stained glass windows aren’t just for cathedrals anymore! Glasswork adds a classic flair to interior design and becomes a conversation piece, but most importantly, it is a novel home element that cannot be replicated. A great deal of craftsmanship went into the ornate details of old houses, and perhaps it’s time we brought that practice back.
Focus On West MI: Ability Weavers
When Beryl and Eric Bartkus’s autistic daughter, Erin, was getting close to aging out of her public school program, they wanted to help her find purpose in her life.
Focus On: Biddy Murphy
In 2004, a gainfully employed engineer with two small children decided to do something surprising. Ward Gahan quit his steady job and opened a retail shop called Biddy Murphy in South Haven, selling authentic Irish goods and gifts.
Focus On: Eso Studio
You know that old saying, “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure”? The dynamic trio behind Eso Studio in Grand Rapids takes that saying to a whole new level.
Focus On: Fortino’s General Store
When Fortino’s General Store, located in the middle of Grand Haven’s main shopping district, went on the market in late 2014, the city held its collective breath. People worried about what might become of this beloved institution that had thrived for 103 years and three generations in the same family.
Focus On: Full Circle Creations
After a year and a half of intense planning, hard work, and the selection of beautiful, handcrafted items by local artisans to stock the shelves, Full Circle Creations in Zeeland was ready to open its doors.
Focus On: Wax Poetic Candle Bar
Bromley-Sung began researching candle bars and found that the concept was having success around the country. Based on the success of these ventures elsewhere, she decided to launch her own candle bar and found a studio right next to her home. Initially, she launched a line of candles that she’d made and then added in candlemaking classes. I