The Crazy Wisdom Community Journal • September - December 2017 • Page 34
Feature continued from page
Ollie Food & Spirits: A Depot Town Favorite — Ollie Food & Spirits 42 East Cross Street, Ypsilanti, MI 48198 734-482-8050; www.ollieypsi.com Flint native Mark Teachout has been an entrepreneur for most of his working career. He started his roots in the music industry as a tour manager and sound engineer in Chicago, moved on to a boxing/fitness gym in Portland, Oregon, and then spent some time in New York City before moving back to Michigan in 2009. He lived in Detroit for a year before moving with his wife, Danielle (also from Flint), to Ypsilanti. He promptly saw a business opportunity.
Mark took a job as a dishwasher at Café Luac (the same location as present day Ollie Food & Spirits) and washed dishes for about two weeks before asking the owner if he’d be willing to sell the business. Mark took a job as a dishwasher at Café Luac (the same location as present day Ollie Food & Spirits) and washed dishes for about two weeks before asking the owner if he’d be willing to sell the business. His mother gave him a small business loan, and Mark went from dishwasher to business owner in the span of two weeks. “My entire family is made up of entrepreneurs, so this is nothing new to us,” Mark said. Around
Danielle and Mark have been the owners and managers since the café opened in 2010, and continue to manage the two establishments, and, with the help of some additional managerial staff, do their utmost to provide the best possible customer experience for each patron who walks through the doors. this same time, Mark also purchased (and still owns) Two Jerks Records, located just down the road from Ollie also on Cross Street in Ypsilanti. Because the established Café Ollie closed for a couple of months in January of this year, many people may be under the assumption that Ollie Food & Spirits is under new management. But the truth is that the café underwent a rebranding and renovation and re-opened its doors as two businesses, Ollie Food & Spirits and Cream & Crumb (located next door to Ollie). Danielle and Mark have been the owners and managers since the café opened in 2010, and continue to manage the two establishments, and, with the help of some additional managerial staff, do their utmost to provide the best possible customer experience for each patron who walks through the doors.
Danielle and Mark Teachout