Developer Michael Chetcuti is getting ready to put the cherry on top of his latest development. However, in this case it's not a cherry but what he considered a potentially iconic business sign for downtown Royal Oak.
Chetcuti wants to install an artistically distinctive sign on the St. Clair Edison building for his Cloverleaf Fine Wine shop. The new business opened this week in the basement of the old historic structure on Main Street and the train tracks. Chetcuti plans to ask the city to approve it on Wednesday and hopefully put it up two weeks after that.
"The sign is definitely a fine-art sculpture," Chetcuti says. "We thought why put up a cheesy neon sign when we could create something that could be collectible one day."
Chetcuti recently moved the wine shop from Southfield to Royal Oak because he thought its downtown (and all of the foot traffic that comes with it) made for a better business environment. The shop fits nicely into the exposed brick basement of St. Clair Edison, giving it an authentic wine-cellar feel.
Chetcuti rehabbed the building on the downtown’s south side last year so he could move his cutting-edge automotive firm, Streetcar USA, there. The structure, 711 S Main St., is more than 100 years old and was originally used to house generators that powered streetcars on Woodward Avenue, before becoming a warehouse.
Its age made it obsolete but its historical character made it attractive as a new home for the specialty auto technology firm and the wine shop.
Source: Michael Chetcuti, owner of Cloverleaf Fine Wine
Writer: Jon Zemke
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