Mark Maynard | Jean Henry

Making way for the further mallification of Ann Arbor, this month Eastern Accents, Herb David, and Mahek all cease operations

By Mark | March 13, 2013

Cities are living things. They grow older, like all of us, and they change. They evolve, or they die. I get that. I’ve grudgingly come to accept that the best things in life are transient. That realization doesn’t make it any easier, however, to accept it when good things, that genuinely make me happy, go [...]

Posted in Ann Arbor, History, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Uncategorized | Also tagged Blue Wolf Grill, coining new words and phrases, Discount Records, Dunkin' Donuts, Eastern Accents, franchises, Harvest Kitchen, Helen Harding, Herb David, Iggy Pop, Lisa Waud, Mahek, mallification, national chains, Pete Larson, Pita Pita, Potbelly Sandwich Shop, Qiznos, retail in Ann Arbor, Sava Lelcaj, Shaman Drum, Small & Mighty, Small and Mighty, Tuptim | 38 Comments

Big Business vs. Small Business…. who’s right?

By Mark | February 28, 2013

Today, in response to an interview that I’d posted recently with the founders of the Ypsi/Arbor small business support group Small & Mighty, a reader by the name of KJC posted a link to an article titled “Small is not Beautiful,” implying, I think it’s pretty clear, that many of us are misguided in our [...]

Posted in Economics, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Mark's Life, Observations, Uncategorized | Also tagged BALLE, business, cooperatives, Dug Song, health insurance, KJC, Michael Shuman, Seva, Small and Mighty, Starbucks, The Shop Around the Corner, You've Got Mail, Zingerman's | 38 Comments

Local entrepreneurs Jean Henry, Lisa Waud and Helen Harding on what it means to be “Small and Mighty”

By Mark | February 19, 2013

We didn’t announce it until this evening, but the October recipient of the Ann Arbor Awesome Foundation’s monthly $1,000 cash grant was Small & Mighty, the scrappy, little entrepreneurial support network created in the fall of 2012 by brilliant local shit-stirrers Jean Henry, Helen Harding and the cheese-loving Lisa Waud. What follows is a transcript [...]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Detroit, entrepreneurism, Local Business, Michigan, Uncategorized | Also tagged A2Awesome, Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber of Commerce, Blake Reetz, business ethics, business owners who get it, capitalization, Cliff Bell’s, EAT, Helen Harding, Jefferson Market, Lisa Waud, Michael Shuman, networking, Open City, Pot and Box, Small and Mighty, small business, Sweet Heather Anne, The Wedding Party, Think Local First, Young Entrepreneurial People | 25 Comments

Lisa Waud on her plans to expand Ann Arbor’s Pot & Box into the thriving entrepreneurial hotbed that is Detroit’s Corktown

By Mark | January 17, 2013

A few days ago, Linete and I foud ourselves in Detroit, without kids, poking around Corktown. The plan was to get something warm to drink at Astro Coffee, but it looked too crowded. Linette peaked in, through one of the fogged-up windows, to see if there was space for me. (She can fit most anywhere. [...]

Posted in Ann Arbor, entrepreneurism, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Mark's Life, Uncategorized | Also tagged 2520 Michigan Avenue, absinthe, Andy Didorosi, Astro Coffee, Bureau of Urban Living, Canine to Five, City Bird, Claire Nelson, Cliff Bell’s, cocktails, Corktown, Dave Landrum, Detroit, Detroit Bus Company, Detroit Farm and Garden, Detroit gas stations, Downtown Home and Garden, Emily Linn, entrepreneurism, entrepreneurship, Felch Street, flowers, friends who do cooler stuff that I do, Gallery 555, gardening, Green Dot Stables, Hatch Detroit, Helen Harding, Honor & Folly, Hugh, ice cream truck, indy retail, Izzy’s, Joe Posch, Katherine Yates, Le Petite Zinc, Lisa Waud, Liz Blondy, Mercury Bar, Michigan Avenue, Model D, Mudgie’s Deli, new ideas in retail, Open City Detroit, Paper Street, Pete Bailey, Pop-up for the Holidays, pop-up retail, Popular Mechanics, Pot and Box, Rachel Parke, retail in Detroit, Rooselvelt Park, scotch, Slows Bar BQ, Small & Mighty, St. Cece’s, Stagger Lee, The Sugar House, Two James Distillery, urban gardening, Valentine's Day, Xavier’s, YEP, Young Entrepreneurial People | 23 Comments

The possibility of a farmers market on Ypsilanti’s Water Street

By Mark | November 26, 2012

Over the course of the past week or so, I’ve posted twice about the 38-acre vacant lot at the heart of downtown Ypsilanti commonly referred to as Water Street. In the first post, which was written in response to news that Family Dollar had expressed interest in building on the site, I outlined my objection [...]

Posted in Ideas, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Amanda Edmonds, business incubators, business models, CDC, city planning, Community Development Corporation, dollar stores, Eastern Leaders, economic development, Family Dollar, farmers market, food entrepreneurship, food hub, food stamps, funding, Growing Hope, healthy food access, International Public Markets Conference, John Knott, kitchen incubator, Michigan Farmers’ Market Association, national chains, North Charleston Noisette, season extension, Smith furniture building, sustainable urbanism, visioning, Water Street, Water Street Redevelopment Project | 28 Comments

Tag Archives: Jean Henry

Making way for the further mallification of Ann Arbor, this month Eastern Accents, Herb David, and Mahek all cease operations

Big Business vs. Small Business…. who’s right?

Local entrepreneurs Jean Henry, Lisa Waud and Helen Harding on what it means to be “Small and Mighty”

Lisa Waud on her plans to expand Ann Arbor’s Pot & Box into the thriving entrepreneurial hotbed that is Detroit’s Corktown

The possibility of a farmers market on Ypsilanti’s Water Street

Connect

Recent Comments

Elsewhere

Arts and Culture

Friends

Information, News & Politics

Organizations

SE Michigan Blogs

Special Projects

Ypsi Living

Search