Family Fun & Great Pizza Written by SARAH GRAY Donna Olmstead is excited to see her family—not in the traditional sense of her daughter Hayley, son Cory, and husband Brad, but family in the customers that she has looked forward to seeing on a daily and weekly basis.
Creating a family-friendly environment is what led Donna to look for extra space for her restaurant. She loved that families would come to her restaurant for birthday parties, and on Friday or Saturday nights it could easily be standing room only.
As her business grew, she needed more help. Hayley, who attended Bluffton University for business and accounting, began coming home on the weekends to help. She recently graduated in December 2019 and is now the assistant manager. Cory is also involved in the restaurant as a delivery driver. The need for more help also started Donna thinking about the need to expand. She toyed with the idea and looked into purchasing land, but there wasn’t much out there. She said that one day while driving with her husband to pick up stock in Jackson, she noticed the abandoned indoor golf range off I-94. She said it was a shame that it was closed and just sitting there. “It’s the same as The Silos,” she remembers saying. Then it was like a light bulb moment. Soon after, Donna and Brad met with the owner and looked over the property located just off M-99 between Hillsdale and Jonesville. It wasn’t an easy road to purchasing the property but Donna is thankful to Dave Cleveland, Hayley, and Brad for all their tireless efforts to make it happen.
Since taking over the franchise in 2014, Donna has worked tirelessly to make Cottage Inn a place to go for good food and great memories. She started expanding delivery zones, began holding birthday parties, and getting to know her customers on a personal level so, from the moment they walked in the door, they knew it was going to be an enjoyable experience. “I knew that we needed to go out of our way to get customers. And we did.”
A 75x50 square foot addition was put on the building allowing Donna to increase her capacity, as well as a 32-seat banquet room off the second-floor arcade. She also put in a new play place for the kids. And then there is the fun park side. Silos offers two stories of arcade games and fully-stocked redemption center. There is the beautifully restored 18-hole mini golf course with two fountains, bumper boats, and two tracks for go-carts. There is also a self-serve, four-tee driving range that is open almost 24 hours a day.
As owner of Cottage Inn Pizza in Hillsdale, Donna has grown to have a relationship with her customers, something she really missed for three months. “We treat you like family,” Donna said of her customers. “I want to remember your face and your name. We take the extra step with you.”
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