‘I gave a lot of them their first haircut and their last haircut’
After 60 years in business, Carl Buck’s barber’s chair still spins around.
Business & Entrepreneurs
From the multi-generational family business to the startup in the Edison neighborhood garage, NowKalamazoo covers the people putting in the work and the remarkable things they create.
Latest in Business & Entrepreneurs
A book. A bakery business. Now college.
Inspired by a childhood spent baking with mom and grandma, and a book that stuck with her for a decade, a Kalamazoo teen entrepreneur answered a call for young would-be authors.
Turning mom’s recipe into a full-time business
The Love Muffins origin story begins with a cake to share. Then a side hustle to sell. It became something to do with family, for neighbors, and to combat the lonely start of the pandemic.
A Coffee Rescue rescue
A local entrepreneur thought she couldn’t go on after a decade of building a business and mounting frustration. Then came her fans and patrons to the rescue.
The last shoe drops
A third-generation Kalamazoo cobbler is shutting down his shop with no one left to take it over when he retires this summer. It’s a trend in a craft that has devastated local customers and, nationally, underscores an embrace of waste.
5 local businesses. 5 minutes. $5K. Startup Zoo returns.
The entrepreneur support network returns with the first of its new monthly pitch competitions and a series of programs to invigorate local business growth.
From the gym to gaming to a business idea
Playing video games was supposed to pass time until the pandemic ended and gyms opened back up. Then Jon Elms, a fitness coach, created an energy drink company for gym rats and gamers alike that is expanding beyond Kalamazoo after some help from another local business owner.
A sister by her side. A family behind her back.
It takes a will, skill, and family for two women running a cafe in the middle of rural Scotts. Yet the community is grateful they’ve taken it on, from the retired couple who offered them the chance, to their meat suppliers who are also regular diners.
‘I put all of my savings into this’
After serving her family and friends for years as a homemaker, Swapna Gorthi takes a chance on her own coffee-making and culinary skills, opening a shop with a unique menu. Coincidentally, it hasn’t been a direct path to establishing the Round About Caffe.
‘The possibilities are endless’
An unconventional chef and restaurateur had a dream of serving meals and her community. When the banks and management company sitting on a vacant property refused to respond to her attempts to buy or lease, she set up shop anyway.
