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Coming soon to Olivet, a Casey’s General Store will open in the empty lot at the corner of Kalamo and Main Street. This convenience store chain has over two thousand locations throughout the Midwest. Olivet College professor and City of Olivet Mayor Laura Barlond-Maas said Casey’s General Store was cleared forconstruction after numerous committee and city council meetings, because there is a gas station as well as a convenience store.
“The area that it is in is already zoned for business...but if you want to run agas station you need a special use permit...because of the underground tanks.” Barlond-Maas said.
There is only one other Casey’s General Store in Michigan in Watervliet, whichis an hour west of Olivet.
“We’re only the second place in Michigan where they’re putting one in.” Barlond-Maas said.
Freshman Michael Fisk lived in Olivet his entire life. He said growing up in Olivet was, “Pretty chill, not much happened here in ‘Jolly Oli’...it looked the exact same almost my entire life.”
When a new restaurant Ziggy’s Place, owned by Peter and Cathy Marcus, who also own Olivet Hardware, opens, Fisk claimed he will visit the restaurant with his friends.
Ziggy’s Place will be located next to the Double Nickel. At a Sept. 6 Olivet Chamber meeting, Peter Marcus gave a tour of the restaurant, which is still under construction. The information provided by Marcus says the restaurant will be,“Family Dining in a traditional atmosphere. Key Ingredients for Our Recipe: Freshness, Quality, and Service.”
The restaurant will be open seven days a week, and Sundays will feature a brunch. Other o erings include seasonal menus, all-day breakfast, and catering services.
Peter and Cathy Marcus were unable to elaborate on the restaurant before this paper’s deadline.
In 1844, the city of Olivet, Michigan was founded alongside Olivet College. The town has slowly expanded in population and size. Today, the city of Olivet has a population of just over 1,500 citizens, and stretches approximately 1.02 square miles. In recent years, Olivet has seen and will see a few new businesses open their doors to the residents and college students living around town.
Three years ago, Jamie Kita opened a gift shop called Seasonal Inspirations Gift Shop, located in the same building as Health Simplified, and The King Agency, an insurance agency. Seasonal Inspirations officers homemade trinkets and decorations for various holidays, as well as classes for making similar decorations. Kita previously worked in a hospital, and opened her shop based on her crafting hobby.
“I’ve always liked to create things,” Kita said, “I kind of use it as an outlet for stress...I like to [run the shop] myself, partly this is an extension of me because it’s things I create...I started out wanting an outlet for stress, and it kind of has morphed into becoming a business.”
Kita grew up in Olivet, so she chose to open the shop here.
“This is my community, I was born here, my family is from here,” Kita said.
Across the street from Seasonal Inspirations, a graphics store called Shore to Shore Graphics recently opened. Shore to Shore Graphics is run by Holly Hoffman and Tammy Buechle (pronounced Beekly). The two have been business partners since August 2017, and both have experience in the screen printing business. Before running Shore to Shore Graphics, Hoffman ran Lakeshore Graphics. They became business partners when they realized they work well together.
“She’s an embroiderer, and I’m screenprinting,” Hoffman said.
“She’s good with sales, I’m good with the bookwork.” Buechle said. Hoffman said, “We need each other.”
Hoffman’s kids graduated from Olivet High School, so they chose Olivet as
the location for Shore to Shore Graphics.
“We love the community, we love supporting the schools, but we just really
like it here.” Ho man said.