Friday Faves: Favorite Local Businesses Edition!
As we close out the year, the Strong Towns team wanted to do a themed version of the Friday Faves to celebrate the end of 2022. So, today we're sharing some of our favorite local businesses and why they're so special to each of us. A resilient local business community is the beating heart of any strong town. Not only are local businesses important for fueling your place's economic growth and a crucial indicator of a city or town's financial resilience, they're also important “third” places: sites where neighbors can get together, enjoy being out in public, and feel connected with their community.
As you go out to do your holiday shopping this year, what are some of your favorite local businesses you like to visit? Let us know in the comments!
Here are some great local businesses:
(Source: @upstairsabyss/Instagram.)
Asia: Philly’s ask-a-punk spirit keeps the city full of surprises and secrets and one of my favorites is nested in the second-floor turret of an Ethiopian restaurant: Fiume. This speakeasy balances an eclectic drink menu with a commitment to offering citywides—what the rest of the country might call a boilermaker—at a respectable $5. I very firmly believe that a beer and a shot combo should never cost more. It’s easy to love Fiume because of the staff and selection, both of which are phenomenal. Ordering a drink at Fiume entitles you to a personalized spectacle, wherein the bartender walks and talks you through each sprinkle of chartreuse, crème de violet, and berber. But I especially treasure the fact that an underutilized and awkwardly sized room on the second floor of a restaurant begot a symbiotic business arrangement.
Dan of Gear-Up Espresso. Annie was out at the time this photo was taken. (Source: John Pattison.)
John: Though I’ve already mentioned them in another article, for me the question, “What is your favorite local business?” can only have one answer: Gear-Up Espresso. Dan and Annie Schacher have created what I think of as the town living room. The shop is cozy while still being spacious; comfortable enough for an hours-long catch-up with a friend, while also giving a quick caffeine boost to lycra-clad cyclists passing through town on titanium road bikes. Since taking over the coffee shop (previous owners, Kurt and Summer and Wayne, are also good friends of mine), Dan and Annie have had to weather the pandemic, inflation, a remodel project that took months longer than expected, and actual weather: ice storms that knocked out power for a week, and forest fires that caused most of the town to evacuate. In addition, the street leading to the shop was closed for almost a year for redesign and resurfacing. Through it all, Dan and Annie have persevered. They built outdoor seating and put in more bike racks. They keep the doors open for clubs and fundraisers. I wrote my first two books in Gear-Up. And many of my dearest friends—including my housemates, Emily and Elijah—I met for the first time there. The bike-themed coffee shop’s tagline is “Fuel the Adventure.” And Gear-Up does that (did I mention the lycra?). But in ways large and small, Gear-Up also helps fuel our community. If you ever come and visit me in Silverton—and you should!—Gear-Up is where we will meet.
(Source: Shina Shayesteh.)
Shina: Last year, I wrote an article about the experience I had moving out of my multigenerational home as an undergrad, and how isolating it was to live alone in a different city afterward. One of the things that kept me afloat during that time was learning how to cook Japanese food. I’d grown up eating Iranian food, but, alas, there’s no Iranian grocery store in Austin. So, I took it as an opportunity to connect with the other side of my heritage, and supporting me through the whole endeavor was Austin’s local Japanese market, Asahi Imports. I used to go there nearly every week, and sometimes was the only customer around—either because of my weird college student schedule, or because the store was truly less busy back then, I’m not sure.
Nowadays, the store is thriving: It’s gone through an expansion, hosts and participates in a lot of local events, and has even opened a second location in south Austin. I only recently learned that the current owner’s grandmother, Shigeko Burnie, started selling imported goods out of her garage before opening the shop’s first location in 1967. Knowing how the store has grown incrementally and become a part of the community over the past half-century, I feel a swell of pride. I’ll be moving from Austin next year and am going to miss Asahi, but I wish the owner and her family all the best, and hope to see the business even more successful the next time I come back to town to visit.
(Source: Chuck Marohn.)
Chuck: Growing up on a farm, there was no treat better after a long day of work than when my mom would head into town and pick up a pair of Mickey’s pizzas. They were the original take-and-bake pizza shop, long before any of the chains came to Brainerd. My first year of college, I worked there part-time during the entire school year. My family loved it—one half-priced pizza each day you worked—and so did I. And not just for the pizza.
The owners, Mick and Pat, treated 19-year-old me with a lot of kindness and respect, as they did all of their staff. It remains a family business, with a liberal use of the word “family,” as they’ve given a lot of opportunity to a lot of people. When I went in to get a photo for this story, they ran and grabbed Toni (one of the owners) to be in the photo. Three decades ago, I worked there nine months, but they still treat me like I just left.
I worked there in 1991 during the Great Halloween Snowstorm (intentionally capitalized for the locals), closing down the store during the greatest blizzard of my life. That was just a few days after the only time I called in sick for a job when I wasn’t actually sick. It was Game 7 of the 1991 World Series with the hometown Twins playing the Atlanta Braves (we won). I had worked five of the six games in the series and had to do it. I confessed to Mick years later and he told me that I made the right decision.
(Source: Daniel Herriges.)
Daniel: I didn’t pick this one for visual pizzazz, but what my entry lacks in curb appeal it makes up for in every other department. Maximillian’s Cafe is a hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop buried deep in a residential neighborhood of Sarasota, Florida, in an odd and, if we’re being honest, remarkably ugly brick building. You’d never stumble upon the place, and they don’t take online orders, but they do an incredibly brisk lunch business every weekday through a strong word-of-mouth reputation and no small amount of hustle. The food is inexpensive and delicious, and a popular lunch choice for office meetings throughout the Sarasota area. I’m positive this place is a cash cow.
The multigenerational immigrant family that runs it has recently opened a Thai restaurant nearby that enjoys a more prominent location and better aesthetics. But Maximillian’s has a special place in my heart for its no-frills approach, and also provokes my planner brain to ask questions. Like: Does the city understand what an asset a place like this is? Maximillian’s is enough of a draw that it could singlehandedly turn the random street corner where it sits into a destination, but instead, the lot across the street is used for…drumroll…overflow parking for Maximillian’s. Here’s hoping we repeal our parking minimums some day soon, so that a highly successful business can be the seed that grows a destination corner in a walkable neighborhood, instead of coming as a package deal with a mandatory dead zone of wasted land.
(Source: Seairra Sheppard.)
Seairra: The Beanhive in Galesburg, Illinois, is my favorite local business and third place. It’s a short stroll from any downtown apartments, and it even has housing above it. They carry that wonderful cozy-homey-coffee shop vibe and I sit in the midst of golden mirrors and gorgeous artwork regularly, typing away at Strong Towns articles (it’s actually where I’m hanging out as I write this). They outsource their products from local businesses, as well, including some awesome handmade ceramic mugs and fresh produce from nearby farms. Truly, a business like this one is an element every strong town should have. If you ever find yourself in the area, I insist you stop here to grab a cup of joe and enjoy the pleasantries of watching neighbors interact in a small-town coffee shop.
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Finally, from all of us, a warm welcome to the newest members of the Strong Towns movement: Trevor Barry, Paul Basken, Marc Berard, Jr., Justin Boey, Samuel Carp, Jim Colwell, Richard Crane, Andrew Dagg, Paul Franek, Joseph Fredericks, Julius Frost, Zack Goodwin, Michael Holfelner, David Ingold, Samir Joshi, Ethan Kleinikkink, Christopher Konecnik, Danielle Le Roy, Tinagrit Leelawat, Philip Moll, Jake Morrison, Michelle Nash, Jeremy Piper, Alex Price, Luke Robson, Jim Schiffer, Sagar Upreti, Melvin Walls, and Edie Weintraub.
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What are some of your favorite local businesses? Please share them in the comments!