BIZ BUZZ
Restaurant to have country decor
Country Time Cafe and Bakery is a new restaurant going into the former Deli Station at the corner of Washington Street and North Eighth Street next to the Minnesota School of Diving.
Owner Bill Matthies of the Minnesota School of Diving leased the restaurant building to Rick Spaid and Mark Sunde. The restaurant is expected to open this week. It offers a breakfast buffet and lunch menu, with salad bar and menu offerings. Certain orders, like breakfast wraps and burger baskets, will be available through the drive-through window and a larger menu selection will be offered inside.
The restaurant, which seats 32, will offer a menu that includes cold and hot sandwiches, soups, bakery items including rolls, cakes and cookies and breads. Breakfast items include the usual suspects of potatoes, scrambled eggs, French toast, waffles, sausage and gravy and biscuits, bacon, muffins and croissants. The lunch menu includes tacos, fish, chicken, club sandwiches and BLTs and burgers.
Sunde said they wanted to have a country setting. The largely red and white interior has gingham curtains and antiques. Sunde said he's been in the food industry all his life and was a dietary supervisor for 18 years. With Spaid's background in building maintenance and previous business ownership, Sunde said they have both areas covered. Spaid and Sunde started on their restaurant plan about six months ago. They plan to begin with two employees. Sunde said they'll consider extending the hours to include supper depending on the business.
"I'm really impressed with what they've done," Matthies said, noting the work that has gone into transforming the interior. "It's very nice."
PlayNTrade recently opened in the Northwoods Plaza near Home Depot, offering new and used video games.
PlayNTrade recently opened in the Northwoods Plaza building next to Bethany Book and Gift Store. The Northwoods Plaza is near Home Depot in Baxter. The business offers new and used video games and lets customers try both before they make a purchase. Brainerd Dispatch/Renee Richardson » Purchase reprints of this photo.
Owners Mark Westberg and Tina Theisen, husband and wife, announced their plans for the store in August. Construction efforts went into creating the space, with multiple stations where consumers can try games, new or used, before making the decision whether they want to add them to their collection at home.
Last week, Westberg was cleaning discs and setting up games in new sleeves and putting them in display racks. He said with the current economy, Westberg said he hopes the value of used games would be a selling point in the store's favor as the holidays approach.
Erica Johnson, owner and operator of Northern Family Chiropractic, is now a partner in the Trails Head Building with Dale Bolt and Bernie Roberts. Johnson often works with children and pregnant women. The office building is on Excelsior Road near Super One Foods. Johnson recently moved her chiropractic business into the building's east end. Johnson said her lease was up at her office on Northwest Fifth Street where she has been for five years. Johnson said becoming an owner in the Trails Head Building offered a nice opportunity to have an investment instead of just seeing the money for a lease disappear.
The move also doubled Johnson's space and she is considering bringing in another chiropractor in about two years. Until then, Johnson said the increased space and better parking has made the office more efficient for a business that is growing.
"It's been a good move for me," Johnson said.
Manhattan Beach Lodge announced it would be closing for an annual cleaning and management reorganization on Monday and will reopen at 4 p.m. Dec. 4 with a new menu selections.
Jim Prock, Gold Cross Courier Service Inc. CEO, recently announced the Chippewa Valley based customized courier covering Minnesota and Wisconsin, acquired Reed's Courier.
"While Gold Cross Courier Service Inc. specializes in daily customized routes, Reeds Courier specializes in same day package delivery which gives us the capacity to provide daily service to Western Wis., Twin Cities and northern Minnesota, including the cities of Brainerd, Onamia and Duluth/Superior," the company reported. Reed Macknick, with 14 years in the package delivery, joined Gold Cross with responsibility for the package delivery division, the company reported.
RENEE RICHARDSON, senior reporter, may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.