By By ANDY HAMILTON / Niles Daily Star
NILES – As the weather begins to clear and festival season looms around the corner, visitors to downtown Niles will notice some new business faces.
Four new shops have opened in the last month on or near Main Street, and a fifth is only weeks away from being ready for business.
Boyd Nutting is ready for business at Manifesto, which offers collectible vinyl records, books, tapes and music equipment at 209 E. Main St.; Niles native Chris Pawielski has opened the bicycle shop Cycle &Fitness at 211 E. Main St.; frame shop and gallery Frame of Mind, 215 E. Main St., is operated by Helen Moorman; and Julia Hoskins' Purple Rose Cafe is open inside the Four Flags Antique Mall at 218 N. Second St.
A new pizza place, Massimo's, at 20 E. Main St. – formerly Blimpie's – already has signage and owners Massimo and Cindy Cataldo will open next month.
"To go through downtown and try to find a common thread, they're all real artisans and experts in their chosen field. It's just really quality merchants," said Lisa Croteau, director of Niles Main Street.
Croteau said many of the businesses already established in downtown Niles, such as Veni's Sweet Shop and Red Shoe Jewelry and Apparel, showcase one-of-a-kind creativity and talent. Plus, stores like Signal Travel and Tours offer personal services that can't be found on a computer or at larger travel agencies.
"These new businesses that are coming are just a wonderful fit," she added.
Boyd Nutting has been collecting just about anything – records, books, comics, movies, musical instruments and equipment – for 30 years. He now has a place to invite others to see it, and sell it, in Manifesto.
"I've collected things for years and years with the idea of always wanting to open a store like this," Nutting said.
The 48-year-old Buchanan native now has a wall of books, many of which he purchased in one swoop from a Standale book store going out of business, a collection of records – yes, vinyl, 30 to 40 years old and in playable condition – guitars, amplifiers, keyboards, and more. In the basement floor he has started piecing together his 48-track recording studio.
"It's an eclectic collection," Nutting said.
Nutting has also joined the Niles Main Street Promotions Committee in time to assist in the planning of the Arts In Motion festival for June 23. He said he plans to host poetry readings, and already has scheduled a March 14 movie night to show "The Trial," directed by Orson Welles, as well as live music featuring Plato and the Western Tradition and Slack Babbath March 16.
"I'm glad to be a part of [downtown Niles]," he said. "Everyone seems to be real excited about what's happening."
Just next door to Nutting's Manifesto is the full service bicycle shop Cycle &Fitness, which also has a location in St. Joseph operated by Mike Jones. Both Chris Pawielski, who is operating the Main Street location, and his wife Keri, are Niles natives and graduated from Niles High School.
"I was going to open here either way," Pawielski said.
Pawielski has been working on bikes for about 10 years He recently returned from Oregon, where he was certified in bike repair by the United Bicycle Institute. "It just helps sell bikes. The more you know, the better you can help people," Pawielski said.
His business partner Peter Greaves has 15 years experience repairing bikes, and another Cycle &Fitness staff member Larry Lentz is learning the ropes.
Before opening, Pawielski and the staff touched up the inside of the store, brightening it up with fresh paint and adding new counters. Cycle &Fitness is now packed with Specialized bikes, helmets, gloves and bike car top carriers.
Croteau said there are about a half dozen open locations along Main Street in Niles looking for business occupants. But, to have five stores open in downtown in the first quarter of the year is good signs for things to come.
"I think it's going to be a really cool spring. This block is filling up," Croteau said. "It's a good way to kick off the spring."