MANISTEE COUNTY — Readers were interested in new businesses opening in the area, but 2022 was a year when a number of local institutions said goodbye.
Several companies close to or over 100 years old have closed or changed hands in 2022. These include Wahr Hardware (108), Linke Lumber (95), Communicraft (127) and Somsel Lumber (102).
Sara and Rick Linke, the former owners of Linke Lumber; Don Wahr, former owner of Wahr Hardware and Dave Somsel of Somsel Lumber have all announced their retirement in 2022. Linke Lumber and Wahr Hardware have closed while Somsel Lumber has been sold to Marl-based company Homestead Timbers.
La Riviera, a Mexican restaurant in Manistee, also closed in 2022 after four years in business. Although management announced the reopening of the restaurant, the decision to close was met with sadness and encouragement by many restaurant patrons.
Other businesses that closed in 2022 include newcomers to the Manistee area such as Manistee Hobbies, Lake Town Art Manistee – both of which opened in 2021 – Da J Wok and Taqueria Diablo which had opened in February.
New companies
While some business owners have chosen to close shop in 2022, other entrepreneurs have decided to open their businesses in the Manistee area.
Patricia Shick (left) and her assistant, Elizabeth Carroll, work at the counter at P&L Sammich Barista. Shick launched Manistee’s new downtown sandwich shop in March.
Scott Fraley / News DefenderIn March, Patricia Shick, who also owns Nana’s Cleaning Company, launched her second Manistee-based business. Called P&L Sammich Barista, Shick said the restaurant was opened with locals in mind.
“I’ve always thought that businesses never cater to locals, they always cater to tourists,” Shick said in March. “That’s why I wanted to keep my prices (affordable), because who will support you when the tourists are gone?”
AKT Peerless Environmental Services, an environmental consultancy, announced the opening of a new site in Manistee in March.
The Manistee site joined other AKT branches in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Farmington, Saginaw and the San Francisco Bay Area.
AKT provides “environmental, economic development, construction and sustainability services” to private and public sector clients nationwide, according to its website.
Photographer Kaitlyn Griffin (pictured here) launched her Manistee-based business in April.
Courtesy Photo/Kaitlyn GriffinKaitlyn Griffin, a Manistee-based photographer, got candid with the News Advocate about her start-up photography business in August.
“Photography has always been one of my favorite art forms for so many reasons,” Griffin said. “Most important has to be the storytelling that can be created with it – and there are so many ways to tell that story.”
Griffin launched her business, Kaitlyn Griffin Photography in April.
Wellnested, a new home decor boutique in downtown Manistee, opened in 2022.
Scott Fraley / News DefenderWhile Teresa Kieffer of Manistee registered her home decor business, Wellnested, in 2019, it wasn’t until 2022 that she opened her storefront, located at 429 River St.
“I had dreamed of opening a brick-and-mortar storefront for years,” Kieffer said in June. “What started as a creative outlet for me has led me to this new chapter.”
Wellnested is a home and lifestyle store specializing in professional interior styling, home decor, furniture and specialty gifts.
Luke Kooy, 18, opened his sports card store, Up North Collectors Sports Cards & More, on July 1. The store is located at 237 River St.
Submitted Photo/Luke KooyIn just over a month, Luke Kooy went from graduating from Manistee High School to opening his own card and collectibles shop on River Street.
The entrepreneur had already developed a strong online presence among card collectors, with a YouTube channel with over 19,000 subscribers and an eBay store that had sold over 12,000 items.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Kooy said in June. “The opportunity came up recently, so I decided to go for it.”
Ted Fricano is the owner of Fricano’s Manistee River, located at 440 River St.
Jeff Zide / News DefenderAfter a year and a half of work, Ted Fricano opened his River Street restaurant in July.
Fricano owns a chain of pizza places named after him along with others in Muskegon and Grand Haven.
Fricano told the News Advocate before his restaurant opened what he thinks sets his restaurant apart from others.
“Well, it has a 75-year history for one thing. They’re very uniform (the pizzas) – all thin crust, all 12 inches. It’s simplicity,” he said.
Suzanne and John Long hold a certificate from the Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce when they opened their accounting firm, Salt City CPA in July.
Scott Fraley / News DefenderJohn and Suzanne Long — a husband-and-wife accounting team from Southern Michigan — opened their accounting firm, Salt City CPA, in July.
Opening their own accounting firm has been a goal of the Longs for more than a decade.
“It’s fun for us. It’s something we’ve always wanted to do,” Suzanne Long had said. we were talking about starting our own practice.”
Jamieson Hanna opened Third Life Brewing in Manistee in early November.
Michelle Fedder / news lawyerIn November, Jamieson Hanna opened Third Life Brewing inside the Iron Works building at 254 River St. in Manistee.
Originally from Detroit, Hanna moved to Manistee to work as a brewer.
“Third Life Brewing has been kind of a dream for me for years now,” he said. “I started brewing at home many moons ago and every home brewer’s dream is to open their own place.”
Hanna said he was the sole investor in the brewing company and currently acts as a brewer, bartender and janitor.
Adrean Mangiardi directs a production.
Submitted Photo/Adrean MangiardiMangiardi Films LLC, a nearly 20-year-old video production company, relocated from Southeast Michigan and found a new home in Manistee in 2022.
Filmmaker Adrean Mangiardi works on professional and personal video projects and counts major companies like Google and Microsoft among his clients.
“If you need video content, we can make it happen,” he told the News Advocate in December.