It was hours before Mats would return to Janna Nichols’ Old Town Lansing store, but she was already excited: “I actually can hardly wait. It’s driving me crazy!”
Mats is Mats Nilsson, the Swedish-born creative director of IKEA U.S., and Janna’s store,
Gone 2 the Dogs, is one of ten Old Town businesses selected by IKEA for a makeover. It is the culmination of events that began last summer when the
Old Town Commercial Association (OTCA) entered IKEA’s Small Business Big Dreams Contest. The winning group of small businesses would collect a “Main Street Makeover” courtesy of IKEA.
Old Towners made a persuasive
video of their corner of the world, as did dozens of other communities across America. The top videos were put on
IKEA.com, and the voting began. On September 12, representatives from the Canton, Michigan IKEA store came to town and announced that Old Town Lansing had won.
“I think that what really clinched it for us was that they saw the huge outpouring of public support for us, not just from Lansing, but literally we had votes from around the world,” says Jamie Schriner-Hooper, OTCA executive director. “They said they saw that this would just be a great community to work with.”
The ten lucky Lansing businesses? OTCA, Portable Feast & Friends, Such Video, The Sierra Club, Elderly Instruments, The Headroom Salon, Gone 2 the Dogs,
Preuss Pets, Vernadine’s Soul Food, and Pablo’s Panaderia.
Old Town has since had several IKEA visitors, but easily the most anticipated was Mats. He came to town in October, visiting each of the ten businesses — some several times — gathering ideas, listening, and sharing his own thoughts.
Mats has been with Ikea for 26 years. According to Raymond Simanavicius, the IKEA project manager for the Old Town project, “Mats is sort of our trend person, keeping all of us up date here in the United States as to what directions home furnishings and interiors are going in.”
Mats returned in late November, with a video crew. Mats sat down at each business and explained his thinking and ideas, and brought out photos he had taken earlier of key spaces with cutout items from the broad IKEA line — items, as IKEA would say, that would create “a better life at work.”
Such VideoSuch Video’s office space was always cool, but co-owners David Such and Karen Stefle will tell you it has also always been a mishmash. “When you’re starting a business, you don’t always have time or money to invest in doing it right,” says David. “We needed something like this to make it a priority.”
According to Stefle, co-owner of Such Video, which also produced the Old Town video for the contest, “It was clear Mats really listened to the things that were important to us and found the areas that IKEA could make the biggest difference.” Before Mats’ visit, Karen says she actually had butterflies: “Like it was Christmas!” she says.
The makeovers at Such will include a project to finish the new “Adrenaline Suite” of editor Todd Smelser. Todd logged long hours in Los Angeles before moving back home to Michigan earlier this year with his wife and kids. “It was time the kids got to meet their daddy,” he says.
What won’t change with the IKEA makeover are the posters of the Tom Hanks movies Todd worked on, signed by Hanks himself.
Elderly InstrumentsOld Town was a unique opportunity — kind of a puzzle, says Mats, whose first stop in November was
Elderly Instruments. Certainly an elderly building, it’s one that is quite unique, with beautiful stringed instruments of all kinds on display, but an old structure, nonetheless — built as the Old Fellows Hall in 1914.
“We’re still filled with odd fellows,” laughs Jerry Spencer, Elderly operations manager.
“Mats was challenged by this place at first,” says Jerry. “He didn’t know quite where to go for awhile, but then he figured it out.”
Jerry pointed to one of the main things Elderly wanted: a redo of the front entranceway. It is a bit on the rickety side, like an old instrument, much out of tune. Mats pulled a bunny out of his hat, suggesting “lots of paint solutions — painting the tin ceiling silver, for example, with a darker blue on the side walls, trying to make it a little more elegant,” says Jerry.
“All in all, we’ll be more welcoming, more comfortable.”
Portable FeastOver at the Portable Feast & Friends on Turner Street, however, owner Sharon Hind had her doubts about the process.
“The chairs in my place right now were Beaners’ early chairs — the black wrought iron frame, serviceable and strong, and I didn’t want to change them,” she says. “Well, Mats came in here two or three times and sat and looked and talked and asked me questions, and he saw the place going more toward a bistro look — black and crisp white — and I just wasn’t buying it.”
She thought to herself: “This is Old Town, kinda funky, and I just don’t think this fits with who I am and the history of the place.” By history, Sharon was thinking about the contributions of two deceased people who left their mark on her and her place — her business partner, Dan Berning, and Robert Busby, who convinced her to come to Old Town.
“Then Mats comes in to show me his designs, and he lays down the photos he took. And I saw how many rough edges there are around here. And he shows me photos of another place: different lighting, different color scheme, different sink behind the counters, and new counters, new colors — all wood, stainless steel and black.” Sharon had a revelation.
“I realized that taking some stuff out is really going to help me mentally as much as it’s going to help the restaurant physically,” says Sharon.
Mats left another IKEA designer to work closely with each business; someone to carry out his overall vision and work on the details. In Sharon’s case, that designer was Jen, and she also helped Sharon see the potential.
“Jen said to me, ‘Y’know, now it’s going to be your restaurant.’ And she’s right. It will always be Dan and me and Busby, but now it’s going to be mine,” says Sharon.
Gone 2 the DogsDown the street and around the corner on Grand River, Mats sold Janna Nichol on his ideas from the get-go. “I love Mats, and my dog loves Uncle Mats. It was so cool that he saw the front of this place as a kind of general store, and the back as my own creative space. New lighting everywhere, and I really need it.”
The coolest thing for Janna? “That Mats came up with the general store idea, because this was a general store way back — it was called the Crescent Tea Company.”
“I am just so excited about my makeover. I don’t want to wait until January — I want to get started right now!”
Jack Helder works as a writer/producer in Lansing, and is a lover of Old Town, showing his Salukis and fly fishing.
Dave Trumpie is the managing photographer for Capital Gains. He is a freelance photographer and owner of Trumpie Photography.
Photos:
Mats Nilsson goes through plans for Old Town businesses
Nilsson walks through Elderly Instruments with Jerry Spencer
An IKEA video crew record David Such & Karen Stefl meeting with Nilsson
Such Video owners tour the company with their IKEA designer
IKEA design plans at Elderly Instuments
Mats Nilsson
Gone 2 the Dogs owner Janna Nichol
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie