| May 19, 2004 |
| Jackson eatery coming to area |
|
DMA Food Group
Based in Kalamazoo, DMA has been opening Lansing-area restaurants over the past two years, including:
The Parlour in Jackson
The Parlour on Campus in East Lansing
Damon's in Okemos (closing the end of May)
Gilbert's in Jackson (coming this fall)
Gilbert & Blake's (coming in August to Okemos Damon's location) | By Susan Stock
Lansing State Journal
The company that brought The Parlour to East Lansing earlier this year is bringing another Jackson establishment to Okemos.
DMA Food Group will renovate and reopen Gilbert's Steakhouse in Jackson. Simultaneously, it will replace its 14-month-old Okemos Damon's with an extension of Gilbert's called Gilbert & Blake's.
"We have terminated our relationship with Damon's," said DMA President Mark Janes. "We feel that franchises limit us in what we wish to do with our own company, and we wanted to kick off our own restaurant chain."
Like the original Gilbert's, the new restaurant will focus on seafood, steaks and pasta. Total cost for the two restaurants is $1.5 million.
Here's what consumers can expect:
In Okemos, Damon's at 3554 Okemos Road will shut down at the end of May. The $500,000 Gilbert & Blake's project will begin in June, and the restaurant should be open by mid-August. It will seat more than 200. Damon's employees will be invited to work at the new restaurant. About 25 new employees will be hired.
In Jackson, the $1 million renovation project will begin in June. The restaurant will be in the same location on Shirley Drive and will reopen in mid-October. It will seat about 200 and have 4,000 square feet of conference space.
"The restaurant outlived the building," Janes said. "To restore it, we literally have to almost remove it."
The addition of Gilbert & Blake's to Okemos shows the area is a hot spot for development, said Kristyn Sorensen, spokeswoman for the Michigan Restaurant Association. "This is a really good sign for small independent operators that there's still room for them in this market," she said. |
