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 near or over 100-year-old businesses closed or changed hands in 2022. They 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 all announced their retirement in 2022. Linke Lumber and Wahr Hardware closed while Somsel Lumber was sold to Marne-based company, Homestead Timbers.
La Riviera, a Mexican restaurant in Manistee, also closed its doors in 2022 after four years in business. Though it was announced by management that the restaurant will reopen, the decision to close was met with sadness and encouragement from many of the restaurant’s customers.
Other businesses that closed in 2022 include relative 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 businesses
While some business owners chose to close up shop in 2022, other entrepreneurs decided to open their businesses in the Manistee area.
Patricia Shick (left) and her assistant, Elizabeth Carroll work the counter at P&L Sammich Barista. Shick launched the new downtown Manistee sandwich shop in March.
Scott Fraley/News AdvocateIn 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 felt that businesses never cater to the locals, they always cater to the 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 consulting company, announced the opening of a new location in Manistee in March.
The Manistee location joined other AKT branches in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Farmington, Saginaw and the San Francisco Bay area.
AKT offers “environmental, economic development, construction and sustainability services” to private and public sector clients nationwide, according to its website.
Photographer Kaitlyn Griffin (pictured here) began her Manistee-based business in April.
Courtesy photo/Kaitlyn GriffinKaitlyn Griffin, a shutterbug based in Manistee, was candid with the News Advocate about her startup photography business in August.
“Photography has always been one of my favorite art forms for many reasons,” Griffin said. “The biggest has to be the storytelling that can be created with it — and there are so many ways that story can be told.”
Griffin launched her business, Kaitlyn Griffin Photography in April.
Wellnested, a new home décor shop in downtown Manistee, opened for business in 2022.
Scott Fraley/News AdvocateWhile Teresa Kieffer of Manistee had registered her home decor business, Wellnested, in 2019, it wasn’t until 2022 for her to open her storefront, located at 429 River St.
“I’ve dreamed of opening a brick and mortar storefront for years,” Kieffer said in June. “What started out as a creative outlet for me has brought me to this new chapter.”
Wellnested is a home and lifestyle store that specializes in professional interior styling, home decor, furniture and specialty gifts.
Luke Kooy, 18, opened his sports card shop, Up North Collectors Sports Cards & More, July 1. The store is located at 237 River St.
Submitted photo/Luke KooyIn just over a month, Luke Kooy went from receiving his Manistee High School diploma to opening his own card and collectibles shop on River Street.
The entrepreneur had already developed a strong online presence among card collectors, boasting a YouTube channel with over 19,000 subscribers and an eBay store which had sold in excess of 12,000 items.
“It’s been something that I’ve always kind of wanted to do,” Kooy said in June. “The opportunity presented itself 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 AdvocateAfter a year and a half of work, Ted Fricano opened his River Street restaurant in July.
Fricano owns a chain of pizza restaurants bearing his name with others in Muskegon and Grand Haven.
Fricano told the News Advocate before his restaurant opened what he believes 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-inch. It’s simplicity,” he said.
Suzanne and John Long hold a certificate from the Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce at the grand opening of their accounting firm, Salt City CPA in July.
Scott Fraley/News AdvocateJohn 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 well over a decade.
“This is fun for us. This is something we’ve always wanted to do,” Suzanne Long had said. “We talked about starting our own accounting practice pretty much since we met — about 15 years ago we were talking about doing our own practice.”
Jamieson Hanna opened Third Life Brewing in Manistee in early November.
Michelle Fedder/News AdvocateIn 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 something kind of a pipe dream for me for years now,” he said. “I originally started homebrewing many moons ago and every home brewer’s dream is to open their own place.”
Hanna said he is the brewing company’s sole investor, and currently acts as its brewer, bartender and janitor.
Adrean Mangiardi provides direction for a production.
Submitted photo/Adrean MangiardiMangiardi Films LLC, a nearly 20-year-old video production business, moved from southeast Michigan and found a new home in Manistee in 2022.
Filmmaker Adrean Mangiardi works on professional and personal video projects, and has counted major companies like Google and Microsoft among his clients.
“If it’s video content you need, we can make it happen,” he told the News Advocate in December.
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