Business

NORTH LIBERTY– Serendipitous.
It’s a word Molly’s Cupcake’s owner Jamie Smith uses quite a bit when she talks about her journey with the bakery.
When the Manchester native first left her career in real estate, Smith applied for jobs at five different bakeries in Chicago. Molly’s was the only one who returned her phone calls. It was simply meant to be.
“It worked out great. They’re the best,” she said. “I absolutely love them.”

Solon Economist
SOLON– Familiar faces will greet patrons at the door, and familiar selections will be on the menu, but there will also be some new surprises at the Frida Kahlo Mexican Restaurant and Lucy’s Bakery that will open in Solon at the beginning of August.
Diego Rivera, former owner of El Sol Mexican Cuisine in Solon and Mount Vernon, has partnered with former El Sol manager Joel Vazquez to bring the community a new restaurant at 101 Windflower Ln., (in the Dock’s old location).

SHUEYVILLE– Hippocrates is said to have coined the phrase, “Primum non nocerum (First do no harm),” as part of his famous and time-honored oath for physicians. Although he’s not a medical doctor, Marck Dudrey, aka: the Motor Doctor, takes that philosophy to heart when it comes to his customers’ wallets.
“I like to think of myself as auto repair with a conscience,” Dudrey said. “I’m not going to sell you something on your car that I don’t feel you need.”

NORTH LIBERTY– To Charles Christie, owner of Tyme Photography, there is no wrong way to take a photograph. Instead, it’s about applying better techniques to the process. It is this philosophy that he is passing down to his students.
“The class is designed in a progression of steps,” explained Christie. “When you buy a book on photography, you really don’t know what you’re getting. It will cover one subject when you should be reading about that subject much later on, so you’re kind of skipping around.”

ELY– “We take our coffee very seriously.
Mark Banowetz, co-owner of The Retreat in Ely, and his wife Kathleen opened the coffee shop and bakery in a renovated house along State Street in January 2013. In just one year, it has become a daily destination for many, and a new discovery for many more.
“We already had the house and Mark was using it for his own business (Great American Shed Co.),” Kathleen said. “We always kind of wanted to do a coffee shop so we started thinking about it and doing research, and one day, we decided we could do it here in this house with a little extra work.’”