Dearborn’s Bistro 222, a fresh little restaurant that offers the niceties of linens, fresh flowers and tasteful place settings, is now able to serve wine with its fine meals.

Bistro 222, chef/proprietor Michael Chamas’s gem of a restaurant on 22266 Michigan Avenue now has the proper liquor license to fill the wine racks that he had built into his restaurant when he first opened. The racks will hold the personal selections of many of his regulars.

He began serving wine just this week after suffering through a long,  bureaucratic process to get the needed approvals.

“It was amazing what we went through to be able to do this but the response has been overwhelming,” Mr. Chamas said. “The wine is a nice compliment to the food we offer. We also will offer some select beers.”

While we have been a huge fan of Bistro 222 with or without the wine, this new addition should help bring in new customers to this intimate 60-seat place – a standout on the commercial strip of Michigan Avenue. The building is owned by Hakim Fakoury.

Card Shop Business Doing Well and Will Remain in Building

The Dee’s Hallmark building, home of the best card shop in Dearborn, is now on the sales block for $640,000. But the card shop itself will be staying for the foreseeable future, according to the shop’s owner, Don Belcher.

“Blessings to all my loyal friends who have shopped Dee’s for the past 25 years. I am saddened by the recent confusion concerning the future of Dee’s Hallmark. The last thing I need is for people to think I’m willingly going out of business. Hopefully I can help clarify some of the misconceptions. I opened for business in November of 1985 and shortly after the first holiday season I knew this would be my home for years to come. I loved the community and it’s residents who soon became my friends. I expressed my sentiments to the owners of the building, who are great people, and asked if they would like to sell. They told me they were not interested at the time but if and when they were I would have first opportunity. True to their word they did just that which was October of last year. Unfortunately after the many years of struggle I was painfully not in a position financially to buy the building I always dreamed of owning. My commitment to survival has always been strong but after closing (3) other stores and using the money to keep Dee’s going there was not enough left to take them up on their offer, which brings us to the present. It is common knowledge that this is not the best time to sell commercial property as evidenced by the many vacancies in our area. However should it sell I will make every effort to negotiate a favorable lease agreement with the new owner. If that is not possible I will look to relocate as close to my current location as I can. A smarter man would have given up long ago I think I’m just to dumb to know when it’s time to quit!!!! With that said I hope this clears up any notion that after all I’ve been through that I would leave a community that I feel as close to as family I have worked with mothers/children /and grandchildren and I cherish those memories. Trust me I will not leave easy as long as you want me here. Peace and God Bless.”

With so little retail in west Dearborn, we are hopeful Mr. Belecher will be able to keep his card shop at 22283 Michigan Ave., for many years to come.

The building, built in 1967, went on the sales block at the end of October for $640,000. The 4,261 square-foot building also can be leased for $15 a sq.-ft for a lease payment of $5,326 a month.

A few interesting documents worth looking at from Signature Associates, who is listing the property. One document takes a look at the demographics of our region and household income within a one, three and five mile radius. As you can image it goes down the father you go out of the circle. For a look at that document, click HERE.

A second document lists the full demographic profile, looking at a one, three and five mile radius. Click HERE for that document.

Finally, a third document from the real estate company says this in the comments section of the listing:  “Outstanding retail opportunity in downtown west Dearborn. Long established retail business vacating this building located in the hub of Dearborn’s retail district directly across the street from two new parking decks. Total taxes for 2008 were $10,969.58. Special assessment for 2008 ($616.90) is year 6 of 10.” To view this, click HERE.

The Dearborn Parent Teacher Student Association and several other school districts across the state will be marching on Lansing Tuesday to protest Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s decision to cut education funding.

Dearborn school officials are eying massive job cuts as a result of decision by Granholm. For earlier story, click HERE.

Colette Dunsmore, Dearborn PTSA Council President, has been busy notifying parents and media outlets about the march and urging their participation. Ms. Dunsmore said the PTSA wants to fill at least three buses for the trip to Lansing, which is being funded by PTA’s across the district.

Here is what you need to know if you plan on joining the rally, courtesy of Ms. Dunsmore:

DATE:  Tuesday, November 10th

TIME:  Meet at 8am, leave by bus NO LATER THAN 8:15am.

LOCATION:  Ten Eyck Parking Lot (Administrative Services Center)

DETAILS:  We have a permit to be on the steps of the Capitol Building from 10 a.m.-noon. If you want to make signs, please do so! Make sure to include “Dearborn” on the posters plus you may also include “unfair cuts”, “support our children”, etc. You will want to bring a snack with you as we won’t have time to get lunch while we are there. You’ll be able to eat your snack on the way home from Lansing.

RETURN:  Leave Lansing at approx. noon, return to Dearborn around 1:45.

ATTIRE:  Dress warm as we’ll be outside for approximately 2 hours.

QUESTIONS?Feel free to contact Colette Dunsmore at 313-333-0121.

With the Mercury and the Little Café all but a distant memory on the stretch of Michigan between Military and Brady, Panera Bread at the corner of Howard has fast become the new neighborhood gathering place.

Dearborn's Panera Bread at Michigan and Howard has fast become the new neighborhood gathering place.

While pricier than the two closed homegrown establishments, we’d say that Panera offers some high quality food, good coffee and free Wi-Fi. And that appears to be the secret to its success. We miss being able to get a good omelet, hash browns and toast from the home-owned restaurants in West Dearborn but we are glad to at least have a place to go.

An article in the October issue of Fast Company magazine says that that the St. Louis-based Panera is opening a new bakery-café every five days. Sales were up 16.2 percent in 2008 and profits in the first half of this year were up 33 percent, according to the article.

Some other excerpts from the article:

“Panera is proof that, in suburbia, there’s a hunger for real food — unfussy ingredients moved from farm to plate quickly and affordably. And the company has combined that menu with an unpretentious atmosphere — there’s no table service, but also no time limit. As a result, it has become as much community gathering space as a bustling lunch spot . . .

“ . . . Panera’s target audience is more Food Network than fast food. “We hit a chord with people who understand and respond to food, but we also open a door for people who are on the verge of that,” says chief concept officer Scott Davis. “We run an idea through the Panera filter and give it that twist that takes a flavor profile closer to what you’d find in a bistro than a fast-food joint . . .”

“. . . the $4.3 billion bakery-café segment is a growth sector, and even with more than 1,300 locations, Panera still has plenty of room to grow. As the dominant player in the market — add up the sales for the next four biggest bakery-café chains, including Einstein Bros. Bagels and Corner Bakery Cafe, and they’d still have less than half of Panera’s sales — it’s in the best position to capitalize on the potential of bakery-cafés in the broader restaurant business. That means there’s plenty for Panera to eat up — including its competitors’ lunch.”

The full article can be found here.

Les Stanford Chevy Dealership to Expand, Occupy Flower Market Site

After nearly 47 years of doing business at the northeast corner of Michigan and Oakwood, Westborn Flower is moving across the street into the Westborn Market following a failed court fight to purchase the building and stay in its current location.

The flower shop will then be torn down to make way for the expansion of the Les Standford Chevy dealership for one whole city block of new cars and trucks.

Westborn owner Mark Anusbigian and his family were forced to incorporate the flower shop directly into his Westborn Market after failing to land a deal with the Koustas family, which owned the building and apparently didn’t want to sell to Anusbigian.

The Westborn Flower Market will relocate into a new addition being built onto the Westborn Market, located directly across the street.

Anusbigian had hoped to purchase the building of the current flower shop and remodel it for a more modern-looking flower store. While we are sad to see the old store go, we are very happy to see that the flower shop will at least remain, moving under the same roof as the Westborn Market.

Longtime Dearbornites will recall that the Westborn Market once occupied the site of what is now the Westborn Flower Market before moving to its current location. The Anusbigian family opened the market in 1963 and for the first 20 years leased from Tony Koustas on a — believe it or not — month-to-month basis. The last lease deal Anusbigian had – a 25-year one – expired in June 2007.

In that lease deal was a clause that essentially said Anusbigian had the first right of purchase if Koustas ever decided to sell. Apparently when the lease ended, Koustas felt all bets were off and decided to sell to Stanford. That landed the Anusbigian and Koustas families in court.

In the end, Stanford purchased the building from the Koustas family. But Koustas didn’t own the entire piece of land used for parking. That belonged to the Anusbigian family, who also owned the property to the east of the flower shop where the former Powers Hamburgers used to be on Michigan Avenue.

So Stanford and Anusbigian worked out a deal where a portion of Stanford’s property behind the Westborn Market will go over to Anusbigian and the market.

Westborn Market will need the land for additional parking as the new 8,000 foot expansion for the flower shop will require taking several parking spaces along the eastside face of the store. The expansion is expected to be completed by year’s end.

Designing such a floor plan shouldn’t be an issue for the Anusbigian family. They have successfully done this in their Berkley and Livonia Westborn Market locations.

“This will provide much greater convenience for our customers who are seeking a ‘one-stop shop’,” Anusbigian said in a company issued press release. “We’ll have a full-service florist with wedding design services, ready made and custom made floral arrangements, bouquets, giftware, fresh cut flowers, gift baskets, delivery service and more.”

Anusbigian says the architecture for the expansion will be a sleek design of glass and steel with a clean industrial feel. Customers will still have the same easy access to parking from both Michigan Avenue and Oakwood Boulevard.

“There’s never been a better opportunity to demonstrate our confidence in Dearborn and in Michigan than during these difficult times,” Anusbigian said. “We are decidedly optimistic.”

We are, too. We wish the best to the new Westborn Market and Flower Shop.

Berry and Adams Elected to School Board; HFCC Millage Passed

It was incumbents night out in Dearborn Tuesday.

Six incumbents again won back their city council seat in an election where just 29 percent of registered Dearborn voters (17,173 of the city’s 59,351 voters) went to the polls.

The lone new member of Dearborn City Council was Brian O’Donnell, a political newbie on the scene who ran a very effective campaign. He will replace Councilman Doug Thomas who finished in 10 place with just 5,078 votes.

The loss by Thomas certainly means he can now spend more time at his Florida home but it doesn’t mean he will fade off into the political sunset. Thomas told us before the election that if defeated he would work to put on the ballot a proposal to have term limits in Dearborn for all elected positions.  We do find it interesting that his term limit idea never came to his mind during any of the 22 years Thomas served on city council.

Tom Tafelski was again the top vote getter with 9,744 votes, despite having to wade through a heavy dose of mudslinging by unknowns who accused him of paying fewer taxes than his neighbors, committing fraud, and for not paying parking tickets, among other accusations.  He will continue serving as council president. A surprising second was Suzanne Sareini, who in her sixth term on council will now serve as council pro-tem.

George Darany, who was running for his second term, finished a strong third.

Robert Abraham, seeking his third term, finished fifth with 7,570 votes. This was his strongest finish yet since joining council and even more impressive since he finished ninth in the August primary.

Mark Shooshanian finished with 7,586 votes, just 16 votes in front of Abraham.

Nancy Hubbard barely made the seventh seat on the council with 6,970 votes. That is a huge fall for the councilwoman who last election finished third behind Tafelski but became council pro-tem when John B. O’Reilly, Jr., who was then council president, became mayor. This moved Tafelski into the council president seat and Hubbard as number two. 

A nervous Hubbard watches the vote tally come in Tuesday night in this photograph by the Dearborn Press & Guide.

Hubbard barely survived a strong showing by David Bazzy, who finished with 6,422 votes, 548 behind Hubbard. Hubbard no doubt can thank her absentee voters for getting her into office. Hubbard was worried Tuesday night. The Dearborn Press & Guide’s Millard Berry, the paper’s award-winning photographer, captured the tense moments Tuesday night as the votes were being tallied. For the full photo, click HERE.

In the mayoral race, John B. O’Reilly, Jr., cruised to an easy win, defeating challenger Michael J. Prus, 14,150 to 1,932, taking about 88 percent of the votes.

O’Reilly’s win, along with victories by four of the five people he endorsed for city council  (Hubbard, Shooshanian, Sareini and Abraham), means the mayor will be able to push forward his vision for the city more easily. Without the vote of Doug Thomas on council, it appears Tafelski will have a more difficult time solidifying support for his political agenda. Darany has voted with Tafelski in the past but he more recently has sided with O’Reilly, despite not being endorsed by the mayor this time out. O’Donnell will be the wild card but even if he and Darany vote with Tafelski that still only gives the council president three votes on matters.

In the Dearborn School Board race, Pamela Adams (6,968 votes) and Hussein Berry (5,965) won seats, beating out Roxanne McDonald (4,889) and John C. Corbin (4,517).

The Henry Ford Community College millage continuation proposal easily passed, 12,496 to 3,485.  The one-half mil operating millage expires in 2010. The renewal preserves about $2 million of the college’s local operating budget.  

The city council race results, in order of finish, are below.

1. Thomas Patrick Tafelski. . . . . . 9,744
2. Suzanne Sareini . . . . . . . . 8,103
3. George T. Darany . . . . . . . . 7,762
4. Mark C. Shooshanian . . . . . . . 7,586
5. Robert A. Abraham. . . . . . . . 7,570
6. Brian C. O’Donnell . . . . . . . 7,101
7. Nancy A. Hubbard . . . . . . . . 6,970
8. David W. Bazzy. . . . . . . . . 6,422
9. Sharon Dulmage. . . . . . . . . 5,789
10. Doug Thomas. . . . . . . . . . 5,078
11. Patrick M. Kiernan . . . . . . . 4,921
12. Ali Sayed . . . . . . . . . . 4,676
13. Patrick D’Ambrosio . . . . . . . 4,563
14. George Hart. . . . . . . . . . 3,915

WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 35

Former Dearborn mayoral candidate Tom Russell, a long-time reader and sometimes commentator on Deepsaidwhat.com, sent us a note the other day letting us know that he was endorsing Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. for re-election.

While Russell admits his endorsement might not be “particularly newsworthy” (and we’d agree), he does point out that the 82 votes he received campaigning in his fuzzy yellow bathrobe was 19 more than current Mayoral candidate Michael J. Prus when the two ran in the last election.

He also wanted to set the record straight that he was not “picking my nose” in the front page photograph in the Dearborn Press & Guide that has run several times in the last month. Russell says he was “just thinking”.

We’re not sure about that part Tom, but we will take your word on it.

Here is some of what Russell had to say about the photograph and his O’Reilly endorsement:

“There’s been a picture printed on the front page of the Dearborn Press and Guide a couple of times in the last month or so from the last election, featuring Mayor Jack O’Reilly, challenger Michael Prus, and some doofus on the end who looks like he might be picking his nose. I am that doofus. (No, I’m not picking my nose. Just thinking.)

A number of people have recognized me from the photo, and asked if I was running again. No, I’m not, but I think more people have asked me about my candidacy in the last month than ever asked me when I was actually running. And part of that is because I really ran as a lark, with full knowledge that my chances of winning were next to nil. I just tried to have fun with it, which is why I did a video comparing municipal financing to the arcade game BurgerTime, and why I campaigned wearing a fuzzy yellow bathrobe.”

For the rest of the Russell article, click HERE.

And for Russell’s video comparing municipal financing to the arcade game BurgerTime, click HERE.

Vote Tuesday!

With the election just one day away, just how important is receiving an endorsement from the local paper, fire department and even the mayor going to be for the 14 candidates running for Dearborn City Council?

We will all find out in less than 48 hours. But until then, we thought it would be interesting to list which candidates got the stamp of approval from these various organizations.

Let’s start with the Dearborn Press & Guide. The paper went with a mixture of incumbents and new challengers, selecting a total of eight candidates for the seven open seats. On the new faces side, the paper endorsed David Bazzy, a former Dearborn Charter Commissioner, Sharon Dulmage, who served 22 years on the Dearborn school board, and Brian C. O’Donnell, a healthcare sales executive.

On the incumbent side, the paper chose Robert Abraham, George Darany, Suzanne Sareini, Mark Shooshanian and Tom Talfelski.

The Dearborn Fire Fighters Association, Local 412, in a front page ad in Sunday’s Dearborn Press & Guide, choose the following council candidates: Tom Tafelski, Nancy Hubbard, George Darany, Suzanne Sareini, Mark Shooshinian, Brian O’Donnell and David Bazzy.

Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr., in a flyer mailed to voters, said “of the fine candidates running for City Council, there are 5 who I believe have consistently put Dearborn’s interests first.”

Four on the mayor’s list are incumbents and include, Nancy Hubbard, Mark Shooshanian, Suzanne Sareini, Robert Abraham. The only challenger who made his list was David Bazzy.

Finally, a group calling themselves “Citizens Allied for Truth”, put out a flyer that endorses five candidates: George Darany, Sharon Dulmage, Patrick Ambrosio, Tom Tafelski and Doug Thomas. We aren’t sure who is behind the mailer but if anyone does, please post it here.

Please get out and vote on Tuesday. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

The Blockbuster store at 22914 Michigan in Dearborn is closing.

Dearborn’s Blockbuster video store on Michigan Avenue in west Dearborn is closing its doors, one of the nearly 960 stores the Dallas-based company plans to close by end of 2010.

Struggling against stiff competition form Netflix and Redbox, the video rental chain is shrinking its operations by more than 20 percent to save money and keep its lenders happy.

The move to close the west Dearborn store at 22914 Michigan, just down from Kroger in the strip mall located on the north side of Michigan at Nowlin, really shouldn’t come as a surprise. Most people these days either don’t have time for videos or simply are using Netflix, pay-for-view or checking them out for free at the library. Combine that with prices that continue to drop to purchase movie DVDs and the future doesn’t look so bright for the video rental company.

What will move into this large vacant space is anyone’s guess but it will bring to at least three the number of vacancies in this strip mall, which has plenty of free parking.

A new restaurant/lounge appears to be headed into the former Venue nightclub building.

Just east of the closing Blockbuster about four blocks away on the same side of the street, it appears a new restaurant/lounge could be moving into the building that once housed the Venue nightclub.

A sign in the window at the rear of the building, located at 22048 Michigan near Monroe, simply says it is “coming soon”.

Just what length of time applies to the word “soon” is anyone’s guess.

The definition of “soon” has been a rather nebulous one at Norm Newman’s vacant Inca and Pier 1 building where a sign has been promising a “redevelopment” since February. Same is true of the Fatburger sign promising “coming soon” on Hakim Fakhoury’s building at Military and Michigan.

Even so, we will gladly take a “coming soon” sign in a window over an empty one any day of the week, regardless of how squishy the word might be. The “soon” at least represents hope and west Dearborn needs a bit of that right now.