On the day after Thanksgiving, when she reopened her Chelsea TreeHouse indoor playground in its new location in a south-side strip mall, owner Michele Balaka was ready for crowds—but nothing like the size she experienced that day and in the days since. “Our move here [from the downtown Clocktower building] has confirmed my belief that this was 100 percent the right decision,” she says.
She flips through her visitor log from the past couple of weeks and points to zip codes from all over southeastern Michigan. “We even had a birthday party here from Coldwater last weekend!” Word about the move is getting out, she says, and she thinks the TreeHouse’s proximity to I-94 is a major reason for her success. That means there still may be a waiting list on weekends. “I’ve done everything I can to accommodate people,” says Balaka, who has more than doubled her space and added new play areas, play structures, and seating. “But I never expected the response would be this huge.”
Balaka continues to renovate and decorate, saying she’s “only scratched the surface” of what she wants to accomplish. She’s having a screened-in pagoda built in the front of the business, and she’s already installed two glass garage doors that can be opened during mild weather. She wants to spruce up the green space in the parking lot and add picnic tables. And soon she’ll visit Savannah, Georgia, to purchase an authentic sweet-tea machine so she can add that beverage to a menu that includes fresh baked goods, sandwiches, soups, and salads.
Balaka is decorating the cavernous space with work by local artists, including painter Zeke Mallory’s puffy white clouds floating along the walls and whimsical numerals inspired by “It’s a Small World,” Balaka’s favorite part of Disney’s Fantasyland. She’s also created small sitting areas, using oriental rugs and leather couches as well as funky furniture salvaged from her husband’s moving company. A massive wooden table fit for a birthday king or queen–bought at Borders’ closing sale–is centered near the front windows.
“I want it to feel like home here, but above all it has to be practical,” she says. “We want to make it as simple and relaxing as we can for people to watch their children.” To Balaka, however, simple doesn’t mean boring. Surprises abound throughout the new location. The clear-coated floors reveal scattered pennies, sprinkles of fairy dust, and colorful crayons beneath visitors’ feet. Spunky children’s music plays from stereo speakers in the restrooms. And a secret door in the back, with a mysterious latch, mesmerizes kids who watch employees come and go almost magically.
Although Balaka calls her decorating style “eclectic,” one common theme is trees. She worked closely with local carpenter Jerry Maynor, who reclaimed dead trees to build, stain, and polish one-of-a-kind benches, tables, and coat racks especially for the TreeHouse. “All it takes is people who believe in you,” she explains.
Chelsea TreeHouse, 1101 S. Main (Village Plaza), 475–1555. Sun.–Tues. 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Wed.–Sat. 10 a.m.–7:30 p.m. thechelseatreehouse.com
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“It’s hard to be miserable being around chocolate and cheeseburgers all day,” says a grinning Mike Radant, one of Ellie’s restaurant’s owners, about his family’s recent purchase of the neighboring Gourmet Chocolate Café in the Clocktower building. When the Radants—Mike, his brother Steve, and their mother, Judy—learned that café owner Tom Diab was ready to sell, Judy knew it was “a natural fit” for them. She’s known Diab for years, and the businesses already shared space and customers.
Since the Radants opened Ellie’s more than a year ago, business has been so good that they’ve expanded their hours to include dinner, and last month they added to-go breakfast items. “We have people coming back all the time saying, ‘That was the best hamburger I ever had!’ ” says Mike. Now, chocolates and ice cream expand Ellie’s menu of grinders, homemade soups, salads, and dinner specials. “It’s very heartening to have new customers that are becoming our regular customers,” says Judy.
Ellie’s Chocolate Café, 312 N. Main, 475–1457. Mon.–Fri. 7 a.m.–7 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.–7 p.m., Sun. 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
