Saline’s new Beanstalks Play Cafe combines a playground, a coffeehouse, and a bookstore. A refuge for families looking for something to do with their children, rain or shine, it’s in the sanctuary of the old Methodist church on Ann Arbor Street, a space that most recently housed the Calico Cat Book & Gift Shoppe. Its owner, April Scarlett, wants customers to feel as if they’ve walked right into a fairy tale: a place for kids’ imaginations to roam free.

For years Scarlett dreamed of opening a play cafe where children could pretend, listen to stories, act out their favorite fairy tales, climb, and play—and where their parents could drink great coffee alongside them. “Or parents can climb and slide if they want to,” Scarlett adds. She does it herself whenever she needs a quick stress reliever, climbing to the top of the play structure and going down the thirty-foot-long slide, which has two complete 360-degree turns.

Scarlett is no stranger to ladders and climbing: she worked for AT&T as a cable splitter for sixteen years. The AT&T job didn’t feed her creative energy, though. She’s passionate about the arts, and she’s taking secondary education classes at Washtenaw Community College and online classes too. “I’m learning how to write children’s books,” she says.

She has renovated the building, updating the plumbing and electrical systems and creating magical nooks and crannies. Even on the gloomiest of winter days, the many jewel-colored windows of the late-nineteenth-century church cast a magical glow inside. Kids or parents who climb to the top of the elaborate climbing structure are bathed in rose and violet hues.

The gift shop is packed with storybook-themed items, from wands and crowns to trains and engineers’ hats, as well as children’s books. Beanstalks also offers a toddler area, twice-a-day story times in a cozy sitting-room area, and a snack bar serving fair-trade coffee and healthy snacks. Downstairs, there’s a huge game room and another large open area for party rentals. Admission is $6 for kids ages one to fifteen. Adults and infants get in free, as do kids of other ages who don’t want to climb.

Beanstalks also can host dozens of themed parties. “My specialties are princess parties and Knights of the Round Table parties—anything having to do with fairy tales,” says Scarlett.

Beanstalks Play Cafe, 117 South Ann Arbor Street, Saline, 944–7979. Mon.–Sat. 9 a.m.–8 p.m., Sun. 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Ed’s Bread has been around for a while. Its breads and baked treats are sold at many local grocery stores, restaurants, and cafes, including the Drowsy Parrot and My Favorite Cafe.

Now husband-and-wife owners Thom Byrd and Sandie Niethammer are selling directly to customers, also. “We figured, why not?” says Byrd. “Folks kept knocking on the doors anyway, peeking in because they could smell bread baking, and they wanted to buy a loaf.” So Byrd did a little rearranging at their Saline bakery, moving some of his baking trays toward the back, adding a counter and a cash register, decorating the walls with some antique baking implements, and painting. Now they have a small retail space at the front of the bakery for walk-in purchases. Byrd says he may eventually sell baking supplies, too.

Ed’s Bread, 201 West Michigan, Saline, 429–7007. Sun., Mon., & Wed.–Fri. 8 a.m.–4 p.m. Closed Tues. & Sat.

Like a lot of other local business owners trying to find ways to lure customers in this discouraging economy, the manager of Morrow Steiner Designs, Helen Martin, started brainstorming last year. She and Doreen McGuire, owner of the recently closed Serendipity Studio, have run Saline’s Harvest of the Arts festival as well as the arts and crafts section of the city’s Summerfest. They decided to feature several local artists inside Martin’s shop at the end of the year. “We thought it would just be holiday event,” Martin says, “but we got such good feedback that we decided to make it permanent.” All the gallery items are for sale — fine art, glasswork, photography, jewelry, and more, including wearable art like handbags, woven scarves, and hats.

Morrow Stiener Designs, 106 N. Ann Arbor Street, Saline, 429-2400. Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5p.m.. Closed Sun.

Originally published in the Spring 2008 Community Observer, Ann Arbor, Michigan