Early Morning Sandwiches--Sando's and Beefs, Aoy's Sauce Is Cooking, Marquette Praised, Travel Marquette Is Moving, Downtown Vacancies, Dems Slaughtered, and Bohnak's Big Win

The Latest from Marquette, MI by Brian Cabell

WHEN TWO SANDWICH shops announced they were staying open until 2 or 3 in the morning on weekends, you had to ask yourself, Really? In Marquette? The answer apparently is Yes…Sando’s, the little takeout on Third Street across from Marquette Commons, is continuing its 2 am closing time on Fridays and Saturdays this Fall, even though the tourists have left town. NMU students are filling the void.

Although cheesesteaks are far and away their biggest seller, they’ll soon be offering soups, as well. The three partners and their handful of employees are figuring it out as they go. “We just signed a ten year lease,” says Ross Mulder, one of the partners, “so we’re here to stay.”…The customers must love them—they’re rated 4.9 (out of 5.0) on Google.

CHICAGO BEEFS, THE other sandwich shop, now in its fourth month, is equally loved by customers who can find them…They rate a 4.8 on Google…But location—in the basement of the Masonic Center—remains a problem…“Business has slowed down since the summer,” owner Mike Glenn concedes, “but the word is still getting out. Restaurant and bar workers love us.” Especially encouraging— Chicago Beefs will soon be announcing a collaboration with two drinking establishments in town…And yes, the 3 am closing time on the weekends remains.

SO FAR, SO GOOD…Aoy’s 100% Original Peanut Sauce is now producing and selling about 400-500 jars a month. “We’re just about at the break-even point,” says Aoy’s husband and partner Greg Trick, “and now we don’t have to worry about the start-up costs, like design.” Currently, the peanut sauce is sold only at Super One. You gotta think other stores would want to join in…Aoy, of course, is Aoy LaChapelle, the longtime, beloved owner of the Rice Paddy. She and Greg retired a few years ago, but not entirely. “I’ve wanted to do this for a long, long time,” she says of her latest venture.

THEY’VE GOTTEN A huge boost from Teresa Mauldin, who’s been producing and bottling Red’z Bulgogi BBQ-Marinade out of a commercial kitchen in Negaunee for years…Mauldin has counseled Aoy and Greg on the manufacturing process and actually bottles Aoy’s Peanut Sauce…

But Mauldin, who founded the nonprofit, Food Start UP, has grander ambitions. She wants to start a commercial kitchen for all those aspiring food start-ups out there—local people who’ve got great ideas for foods, sauces and spices, but don’t have much money and don’t know how to get started. “They don’t have a clue,” Mauldin says. “Well, that’s what I know. That’s what we do. This is a place for people to start. And they can do it for less than $1000.”

MORE ATTENTION FOCUSED on Marquette recently, thanks to the online publication Bridge Michigan which posted a couple of stories on Marquette—focusing on its tourism popularity, its escalating housing costs, and NMU’s rising enrollment…Overall, a flattering portrait of Marquette which seems to be thriving while much of Michigan is languishing…It’s fair to say, though, that some locals would prefer that attention be directed away from their town because more people moving here likely means higher housing prices.

TRAVEL MARQUETTE, WHOSE mission is to attract more tourists to Marquette, will soon be moving from its current quarters on Washington Street…“We had a change in ownership of the building here,” says Travel Marquette CEO Susan Estler, “and the rent went up, so we found another good location just about a block away.” Their new office will be at the former Forsberg’s A New Leaf location on Front Street. It’s a smaller space but it’s more than sufficient, says Estler, and it’s still in the heart of downtown.

RIGHT NEXT DOOR to Travel Marquette’s current office is Flagstar Bank, with a grand and gorgeous interior in an architectural gem of a building…You can’t help noticing, though, every time you walk inside how quiet it is. Mausoleum-like. Almost no one there. Eight teller counters, but usually only one or two is manned…Rarely a line needed for customers…It’s a delightful place to bank, but you’ve gotta wonder whether this beautiful, stately, historical building could be put to better…and busier… use.

IT HAPPENS EVERY year at the end of summer—store closings. The latest is Marquette Restyle, which featured antique women’s clothes, shoes, and accessories…It’s been in business since 2021….It had appreciative customers, but apparently not enough of them…Marquette can be a tough market, and winter can be deadly for retail stores.

WE’RE STILL WAITING for some of the larger vacancies in town to be filled. Namely, the valuable Upfront building which has been vacant since…the Pleistocene epoch? And then there’s the huge retail space in Two Marquette Place which has been empty ever since the building went up…Those are two highly desirable locations in a town that we’re told is highly desirable and growing, and yet, there they sit. Empty…Oh, and there’s also the former Northern Hydroponics location, smack dab in the middle of downtown, also empty for months now…What gives?

MORE ON THE exceedingly tight housing market. First-time homebuyers nationwide are 38 years old, on average, according to the National Association of Realtors—that’s the oldest ever. No surprise, really. How many 30-year-olds do you know who can afford to buy a house?….Nearly a third of homebuyers nationwide paid with cash last year; in Marquette, that number is even higher. The solution for young folks? Save, save, save. And borrow from mom and dad.

SO, THE ELECTION…The Democrats took a walloping. They figured that a campaign theme of “Donald Trump is an awful person and a threat to democracy” would be sufficient to put their candidate in the White House. They were wrong…They’ve lost touch with what used to be their primary constituency: namely, ordinary working men and women on the bottom side of the economic divide…Instead, they’re now seen more as the party of morally superior, condescending, and sometimes hyper-sensitive progressives, intellectuals, and feminists…It’s time for them to rethink some of their positions…and their attitude.

Michigan Democrats did eke out a win with Elissa Slotkin in the U.S. Senate race—by a mere 20,000 votes or so…But not surprisingly, U.S. Representative Jack Bergman, a Republican, won in a landslide over Democrat Callie Barr…And locally, Karl Bohnak beat incumbent Democrat Jenn Hill in a close race for the 109th District seat for the Michigan House. The 109th is a strongly Democratic district…So does this mean a realignment? Nope, not at all…Bohnak was just a remarkably popular and trusted challenger—probably the best-known personality in the U.P.—and many voters (and longtime TV6 watchers) crossed party lines to vote for him.

One more thing: those anti-Bohnak TV ads were awful. Amateurish. And that unending stream of Jenn Hill flyers in the mail was a total waste of money. They went straight from the mailbox to the garbage can. Candidates need to find another, more fruitful way to spend their campaign money.

HAIKU OF THE WEEK

A big night, high hopes

Pleas to avoid a shipwreck

Alas, the ship wrecked.

—Anonymous