A taste of New York City is coming to Rogers City.
Mike Flanagan and his wife Patty have purchased Rogers City Office Supply on Erie Street and will transform it into a restaurant in the coming months.
?I?m going to be opening up a deli, sometimes catering service, because I think the town needs another alternative, a place to get a hot special or a cold sandwich on the go,? said Flanagan, who moved to Rogers City in March. He said he?d like to open the business in late February or early March, if everything goes as planned. Rogers City Office Supply, open since the late 1970s, will close December 28.
THE OWNERS have had their building space on the market for six years. ?I?ve really enjoyed it,? said co-owner Jolene Heller. ?Meeting the people, that?s the thing I?ll miss the most.? Flanagan closed on the deal and expects to begin work after the first of the year. They?ll have Grand River Navigation, which just moved into office space once owned by Elmer Radka, at their left, and the Rogers City Servicemen?s Club as their neighbors to their right.
?The great thing is that it?s a clean slate,? said Flanagan. ?By the time she empties out, it?s going to be bare walls and I will be able to build it to suit my needs.? Flanagan leaves a career in electronic repair, but has experience in the food industry. ?It?ll be a bit of a career change for me but I was in the family business for 12 years back in New Jersey,? he said. ?We had a successful deli, liquor and catering business back in Jersey City, which I grew up in. I learned all my skills and talents from my mother and family.?
PATTY, A FORMER Mayes, has family members who are part of the business community in Rogers City. Her sister, Jean Mayes, owns ?A-Mayes-Ing Flowers,? which will be a stone?s throw from the deli, and their late father, Harry Mayes, once owned a laundromat in town. Flanagan said he started doing catering for his wife and her friends and the idea has evolved from that. The deli will offer new foods from back east, sandwiches built on the spot, and hot soups, Flanagan said.
?Stuff for people on the go, whether it be the girls who work in an office, or people who work at the bank, or if someone is driving through town,? Flanagan said. ?My family is great guns for me. I can probably count on at least my mom coming out for my grand opening and coaching me on, whenever she wants to put her two cents in,? he added.
Flanagan, who only will have to walk four blocks to work, also hopes to gpurchase breads and rolls locally as well as specialized
AS FOR HELLER, she?ll be closing Rogers City Office Supply with mixed emotions. Business has tailed off in recent years, but she just can?t put her finger on why. ?I guess a lot of people don?t buy locally. I suppose some of it was Staples (in Alpena), but I?ve been into Staples and there are a lot of items I was cheaper on. I think it was the mentality of not buying locally,? Heller said. Heller appreciates the many loyal customers she?s had over the years. ?I?ve had a lot of really good, loyal customers.?
Heller added for a business to survive in the small, downtown climate, ?local people need to support the business.?
