Downtown Ypsilanti faced a tough blow from the COVID-19 pandemic, yet the city is continuing to make a comeback with a diverse array of new businesses opening up in the area regularly.
One major community loss for Ypsilanti, however, happened in October 2023 when Go! Ice Cream owner Rob Hess announced he would close his beloved shop after 10 years, and had accrued over $100,000 in debt trying to keep the business afloat.
Many local residents were saddened by the news.
Just around six months later, a new sweet treat business is getting ready to move into the space, joining two other companies in revitalizing the building at 10 N. Washington St.
Soon, Beara Bakes, Investors Realty Group, and K&S Custom Embroidery will all utilize different sections of Go! Ice Cream’s former home.
On the same street, strip club Deja Vu just reopened after closing down in 2020. Around the corner on Michigan Avenue, Bloodroot Herb Shop opened in August 2023 and Ypsi Bloom Studio is preparing for a grand opening on May 1.
Many other businesses in the area have opened in the last year or plan to open soon including Ypsi Art Supply, Bird Dog Baking, and cocktail bar Bitter Truth, among others.
“It’s really amazing just how long it has taken this little business district to start recovering from COVID-19,” Colleen Kennedy, broker-owner of Investors Realty Group, the property manager for 10 N. Washington St., says. “One storefront at a time, we’re finally feeling the vibrancy back here.”
In the front of the former Go! Ice Cream building, K&S Custom Embroidery, owned by Kirstin Forster and her sister Sarah Forster-Stronski, has been running for around three years. This was the lone business actively operating out of the building since the ice cream shop’s closure.
In February, Kennedy’s company was hired to manage the building and lease out the vacant suites and she quickly decided that the other front suite would be a perfect new office space for Investors Realty Group. Within weeks of being hired to manage the building, Kennedy also connected with Cat Spencer, the owner of the up-and-coming bakery Beara Bakes, which had been operating as a pop-up since 2020 while using the commercial kitchen at local urban farm Growing Hope.
“The front part of the building that Go! Ice Cream had been using as their dining room or gathering space, that’s going to be my office now, so we’re bringing the building up to full occupancy,” Kennedy says. “Beara Bakes’s [entrance] is on the alley and we’re on the Washington Street frontage, we have a huge window right to the street. Instead of another empty, vacant storefront, we’re putting people in there and we plan to be very active in the downtown business development.”
Beara Bakes is highly rated for its holiday bake sales, curated boxes, and “rustic style” biscuits and baked goods, which change seasonally depending on what local farmers are producing. In addition to a robust wholesale business with several local restaurant establishments, Beara Bakes does markets and brunch pop-ups throughout the area.
The former Go! Ice Cream storefront will be the baking company’s first brick-and-mortar.
“I’ve always really loved that space and was equally as devastated I think as anyone else when I learned that Rob was gonna be closing and really sad for the Ypsilanti community because it was a very beloved space by all people,” Spencer says. “I was dreaming of a little cafe attached to a commercial kitchen, right in downtown Ypsilanti, and the Go! Ice Cream space is literally exactly what I had drawn up in my mind.”
The owner says that they don’t plan to do too many renovations, but are just sprucing up the shop a bit and repainting, planning to start bare bones and improve as they go, with a main goal of sustainability and hopes to become a “staple for Ypsilanti culture.”
“We’ve been doing this since 2020. I have a lot of regulars who have been with us since then, and one of the things I’m most excited about is being able to welcome the customers and everybody into this space that we built for them,” Spencer says. “For me, it’s akin to welcoming someone into my home and hosting them for dinner. It’s like one of my favorite things to do and it’s like that but times 1000. I find joy in bringing joy to others.”
“The pandemic I think hit Ypsilanti in particular very hard and it’s really great to see that while we’re mourning the loss of a lot of beautiful, interesting, unique businesses, it’s coming back,” they add. “I’m feeling very hopeful these days that Ypsilanti as a whole is flourishing.”
For now, Beara Bakes will continue normal operations but hopes to be fully operational by June. Kennedy hopes to have Investors Realty Group offices up and running by May 1.
“This one block has so much local business history, and I’m really proud to be a part of keeping it healthy and vibrant for the next few decades,” Kennedy says. “And, of course, I’m really happy that 10 N. Washington is now back in business with three local, women-owned businesses!”
