Last month, we shared the announcement of a hiatus for Bitty & Beau’s Coffee, the S. Main outpost of the North Carolina company whose mission includes providing employment for people with disabilities. Cofounder Amy Wright emailed employees on Oct. 15 that “we will be moving everything out of the shop to make room for the renovations, so don’t be surprised if you see things changing quickly around here.”
But on November 4, after “For Lease” signs appeared on the empty storefront and CBS Detroit reported from the scene, Wright’s next email confirmed that the closure is permanent.
The chain’s sole Michigan store opened in 2022 as a franchise. Following an exodus of supervisory staff and the franchisee the next year, it reopened under corporate control with a new manager, whose voluntary departure ultimately precipitated the closure.
In an email to the Observer, Wright explains the move as a function of both business strategy and family priorities. She and her husband have four children, three with disabilities, so “family responsibilities are our top priority. Balancing these responsibilities with our roles in the business is central to every decision we make.”
Her closing message to employees offers encouraging words and letters of recommendation and mentioned discussions with “a potential operator who is interested in opening a Bitty & Beau’s Coffee location in a nearby city.”
The double-decker “bustaurant” 1923 has rolled on from its most recent home at 552 S. Main. Its owners, Aaron and Miriam Orr, could not be reached for comment, nor could their landlord, Wickfield Properties. An eclectic range of gluten-free tacos had been served from the classic London bus since 2022, beginning at a parking lot at Miller and First before moving last year to the southern edge of downtown.
“For lease” signs are posted in the Traver Village storefront of the former Zoup! Eatery, which opened there in 2004 as its first franchised location. The soup chain started in Southfield in 1998 and opened more than 100 fast-casual restaurants before its 2022 sale to WOWorks, a subsidiary of private equity firm Centre Lane Partners. Stores began rebranding as Z!Eats, since cofounder (and U-M grad) Eric Ersher retained a line of specialty products—soups, broths, and concentrates—found in grocery stores. Various efforts to contact a corporate spokesperson or franchisee proved fruitless.
Motor City Bicycle closed its store at 3162 Packard in late October. Though its steeply pitched roof recalls its time as the Peak sports shop, the storefront in the plaza near Platt had been a bike shop since the 1998 opening of Two Wheel Tango. Motor City owner Scott Kellogg could not be reached for comment, but an employee hinted that a nearby location may be in the offing. In the meantime, customers can visit their stores in Brighton and Livonia.
American Freight is shuttering its 370 stores nationwide, including the long-standing location at 4801 Washtenaw, just west of Golfside. The furniture, mattress, and appliance retailer “has struggled due to sustained inflation and macroeconomic challenges” according to parent company Franchise Group, Inc., which announced the closures as part of a bankruptcy filing. Its other holdings—which locally include Pet Supplies Plus and the Vitamin Shoppe—are expected to remain in operation. The manager at the local American Freight was too busy with customers to speak at length, but he says clearance markdowns are underway and that the store will close sometime in December.
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