Development News

Did you recently buy a historic home and need help getting renovations underway? Or do you want to learn more about living green? Then NKY Restoration Weekend is for you.
 
The second annual Restoration Weekend is from 9 am to 5 pm on Feb. 23 at the Gateway Community and Technical College's Urban Campus in Covington. The event will feature many opportunities for historic home owners, including classes and demonstrations on how to make historic houses and surrounding property more energy efficient and sustainable; researching historic homes; utilizing the Kentucky homeowner’s rehabilitation tax credit; Rookwood tile history and maintenance; historic ironwork; window restoration; plaster; masonry repair and maintenance ask the expert.
 
There will also be a vendor fair with more than 20 booths featuring craftsmen and contractors that represent all aspects of the renovation process.
 
“The weekend is about combining sustainable and green practices with historic homes,” says Beth Johnson, preservation and planning specialist for the City of Covington. “The vendors are a huge part of the event, and helps connect homeowners with good products and contractors.”
 
But Johnson says the highlight of the event is the keynote speakers, Matt Grocoff. He’s a nationally known TV personality who turned a 100-year-old folk Victorian house into net zero, which means it’s historically sensitive, but doesn’t use energy.
 
“There’s such an amazing stock of historic homes in Northern Kentucky and the surrounding area, and people need to be responsible homeowners and be better stewards of historic homes,” Johnson says. “DIY is really big, and they need to know the proper ways to do things.” 
 
The event is partially funded by the Certified Local Government grant that’s given to the cities of Bellevue, Covington and Newport from the National Park Service and administered by the Kentucky Heritage Council.
 
NKY Restoration is an unincorporated association and collaboration of businesses, artisans and craftsmen, nonprofit organizations, cities and the Historic Preservation offices in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati.
 
The event is free, but reservations are requested to ensure a spot at the keynote luncheon.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Downtown Horseshoe Casino doesn’t open until March 4, but it has a power-packed restaurant line-up sure to please casino-goers and foodies alike, including Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, Jack Binion's Steak and the latest addition, Bobby Flay’s Bobby’s Burger Palace.

Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville will have an outdoor entrance off Broadway, adjacent to that of the casino. The 14,000-square-foot restaurant will have seating for about 400, and feature an outdoor patio and Margaritaville retail store.

Named for the founder of the original Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, Jack Binion's Steak will offer traditional beef cuts, dry-aged prime rib, American Wagyu beef, lamb and veal, plus seafood, poultry and a potato car that will have tableside preparation of sidedishes. The 200-seat dining room will overlook downtown and have a private dining room equipped with audio and visual equipment available for rent for meetings and special events.
 
The new Burger Palace is Flay’s 14^th location, but the first in the Midwest. Located on the casino’s gaming floor, the 3,500-square-foot restaurant will have seating for about 90 people, and 10 signature burgers that are inspired by Flay’s travels across the United States and his love of grilling.
 
The menu’s highlights include the Buffalo Style Burger with Red Hot sauce, topped with blue cheese dressing and watercress; the Dallas Burger, which is spice crusted and topped with coleslaw, Monterrey Jack cheese, BBQ sauce and pickles; and the Palace Classic Burger, which has your typical cheeseburger toppings (American cheese, lettuce, tomato and red onion). The menu also features a Burger of the Month; all of the burgers can be prepared with Certified Angus Beef, ground turkey or a grilled chicken breast. 
 
Flay opened his first BBP in 2008 on Long Island. “At any time of year, my favorite thing to eat is a cheeseburger,” he said in a statement. “I’m very excited to open the first BBP in the Midwest and be able to share this with the families and residents of Cincinnati.”

Flay and his business partner, Laurence Kretchmer, look for areas where they can open several restaurants and create synergy. "There is a lot of breadth in the Ohio market, and good potential opportunities," says Kretchmer. "Opening Bobby's Burger Palace in the casino is a great springboard opportunity for future expansion in the region."

Flay and Kretchmer have done business with Caesars before, and they're one of the developers of Horseshoe in Cincinnati. The team has a high-end restaurant at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and two of the BBP are in casinos.
 
Flay is an award-winning chef, restaurateur and the author of 11 cookbooks. He is owner and executive chef of Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay Steak and Bar Americain, with locations across the U.S. Flay has also starred in countless Food Network and Cooking Channel shows, served as Resident Chef and Lifestyle Correspondent for “The Early Show on CBS” and “CBS Sunday Morning” for over a decade, and is a regular contributor on NBC’s “The Today Show.”

Horseshoe Casino is a $400 million venture between development partners Caesar and ROC Gaming. It will feature a 100,000-square-foot gaming floor, complete with 2,000 slot machines, 85 game tables and a 31-table World Series of Poker room.  

By Caitlin Koenig
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The Original Makers Club is a fairly new startup from Louisville—it was founded in 2011 by photographer Josh Merideth— but it already has branches in Lexington, Cincinnati and Brooklyn. OMC is an aesthetically minded brand and publication that curates, highlights and looks to elevate the culture, society and local business scenes of cities.
 
“A few years ago, Louisville was going through a similar revitalization to Cincinnati’s current one, which makes it a prime time to celebrate local culture,” says Mike Brady, managing partner and events director of OMC.
 
Comprised of design-conscious, forward-thinking local businesses, Cincinnati’s branch of OMC has about 60 members, including A Tavola, Ensemble Theatre, Sloan Boutique, 21c Museum Hotel, 3CDC, Smart Fish Studio, 5 Dot Design, Bakersfield OTR, Paolo Modern Jewelers, Japps, 4EG, MiCa, Taste of Belgium, DIGS and Jaguar Land Rover.
 
“We are less about adding anything than we are about showcasing the culture and talent that exists here,” Brady says. “We want to insure that those visiting the city get a real taste of her. We also wish that those currently living in Cincinnati are experiencing it to the fullest.”
 
On Feb. 8, OMC is hosting its launch event for the Cincinnati branch. Members of OMC will be providing appetizers, drinks, music and neat things to look at—including A Tavola, 5 Dot Design, Marti’s Floral Designs, Parlour, Christian Moerlein, Matthew Metzger and Jaguar Land Rover.
 
Besides the launch event, OMC is working on creating a mural with help from Artworks and hopes to co-host larger events like a Dinner Series, which would showcase member chefs and entertain a group of people in an exotic location in or near the city, Brady says.
 
There are only a handful of tickets available for the launch event for non-OMC members, so get them while you can.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Northern Kentucky University students across disciplines will come together for 24 hours to tackle a real-world business challenge during the first 24 Hours of Mobile Innovation Contest.

Up to 70 students are expected to collaborate in this fast-paced tech challenge, starting the evening of Feb. 8 at NKU's Griffin Hall in the College of Informatics.

The event is being organized by the College of Informatics and the Haile/US BANK College of Business in partnership with businesses TechAllies and MindCrate.

Without spilling the secret of the exact challenge, NKU Business Informatics Professor Teuta Cata says students will work to solve an actual business challenge that could be put into use. Students will get some guidance as they begin to create, design and code the mobile app. Broad guidelines for the app are that it will improve daily activity and business processes or develop a new game idea.

"There will be teams of students who are earning a lot of different degrees here at NKU, because we need a variety of skills," Cata says.

There will be a mixture of graduate and undergraduate students who'll work on everything from the back end to the interface to marketing and communications. Each team member should have the following technology skills: Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint; and experience with the Internet and different mobile devices. Each team should have at least one team member with a basic understanding of project management, database and data communication, among others skills.

They'll have 24-hours to meet the challenge. The awards ceremony starts at 6 p.m. on Feb. 9.

Cata says she got the idea for the event after watching a Cincinnati Startup Weekend event, where local entrepreneurs work for 54 hours over three days to create a startup company.

"I thought this was a great idea for students to get involved with," she says.

Outstanding students will have the opportunity to interview with TechAllies for a chance at a paid internship with the consulting company.

Written by Feoshia H. Davis
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This weekend marked the grand opening of Roosters Men’s Grooming Center in Mariemont. It’s the chain’s second location in the Cincinnati area—the Mason location has been open for just over a year; Dub Nelson and his wife, Lisa, own both.
 
“We have three adult sons who were frustrated with where they were getting their hair cut,” Nelson says. “When I retired from Fidelity, I came cross the Roosters concept, which offers a great experience, and thought, ‘Why not?’”

The first Roosters location was opened in Lapeer, Mich., in 1999. Joe Grondin, Roosters' founder, wanted to re-establish the traditional barbershop of the 1960s. Today, there are Roosters locations in 19 states.
 
Roosters offers five different haircut options for men: the Young Men’s Cut, for those under the age of 15; the Student Cut, for ages 15 to just graduated from college; the Roosters Club Cut, for those out of college but under the age of 65; the Senior Cut, for those 65 and older; and the Hero’s Cut, which is the full Roosters Club Cut at a discounted price for members of the military, policemen and firemen.
 
And Roosters doesn’t just cut hair. They also offer shaving and waxing services, camouflage color to hide gray hair, manicures and shoe buffing. All of the haircuts except the kids’ cut come with hot towels and a light scalp massage during shampooing.
 
“It’s a very relaxing environment,” says Nelson. “Some guys that come in right after lunch fall asleep in the chair.”
 
During the grand opening, the Nelson donated money to the Mariemont Civic Center to provide scholarships for children who can’t afford to go to preschool.
 
The Nelsons have lived in Cincinnati for about eight years. They have always thought Mariemont was very community-oriented and wanted to be part of that. “We want Roosters to be a great partner in the community, providing community sponsorships and making Mariemont a great place to work and live,” Nelson says.
 
Nelson also wants a trip to Roosters to be a family outing, a place where fathers and sons can come in and get their hair cut, and bond, at the same time.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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When it was founded in 2005, Barking Fish Lounge focused mostly on corporate internal and external videos. There was more focus on post work, such as editing and graphics, but the company did offer some production services at the time.
 
Since then, Barking Fish has expanded its entertainment production and content development divisions. Some of the company's recent projects include the 2010 Pete Rose documentary 4192: The Crowning of the King and 7 Below, which is a psychological thriller starring Val Kilmer and Ving Rhames.
 
“We’ve become more recognized for this type of work, which is great, but we didn’t want to lose our core business and clients,” says Aymie Majerski, producer and one of the co-founders of Barking Fish. “That’s why we’re expanding and promoting this side of the company more than ever in 2013.”
 
In addition to continuing to grow the entertainment side of Barking Fish, Majerski and her team will be working with existing and potential clients to expand the commercial side of the business. This means offering more creative services than before, as well as more production services.
 
“We’ve hired an amazing production manager who will head the production side of the business,” Majerski says. “We’ve always been known for doing things ‘outside the tank,’ and we want to continue to push the boundaries and create experiences for our clients and partners.”
 
Founders Majerski, Terry Lukemire (senior editor) and Joe Busam (design director) have more than 30 years of combined experience in creative production and post-production services. Barking Fish was founded on their desire to work on a more intimate level with clients in order to create and produce quality content that animates, elevates and motivates.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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The property at Fifth and Race streets has seen its fair share of change in the past 14 years. Plans for a Nordstrom, a skyscraper, even condos came and went. The parking lot stayed. But by December 2014, the new dunnhumby Centre will occupy the space.
 
Construction began on Jan. 31 on the nine-story, $122 million building that will house the branding giant’s headquarters. When completed, the project will include a three-level parking garage with 1,000 parking spaces; 30,000 square feet of retail space; and 280,000 square feet of dunnhumby office space.
 
Building plans boast lots of open space and glass windows, plus a wide staircase that will allow for more interaction between employees and less time at their desks.
 
In the future, dunnhumby can expand downward by taking over the parking garage, if needed.
 
dunnhumby currently has about 650 employees, and it plans to grow to more than 1,000 by 2018, which is one of the reasons for the new building. Also, the current dunnhumby headquarters is in the right-of-way for the proposed new Brent Spence Bridge, says Ann Keeling, public relations representative for dunnhumby.
 
Turner Construction Company is building dunnhumby Centre; it’s funded by new market tax credits, 3CDC-managed corporate loan money, and state and conventional loans.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Need a funny card to send to the special someone in your life? Look no further than Colette Paperie, a new-to-Cincinnati online stationery business.
 
Keli Catalano, 30, started Colette Paperie back in 2008 when she was a designer at Target in Minnesota. At the time, stationery was something she liked to do on the side, but when Catalano moved back to Cincinnati in 2010, she decided to make it her full-time job.
 
“I’ve always loved paper,” says Catalano. “Even though I don’t have a need for them, I still buy cards.”
 
Catalano designs and illustrates the cards herself. She usually draws the designs by hand and then touches them up on the computer.
 
The majority of Catalano’s business is through online sales, but she does visit craft shows and sells her products wholesale to boutiques across the country. They’re available on Colette Paperie’s website, or at Boutique 280 in Madeira and Wholly Craft in Columbus.
 
Colette Paperie offers cards for all occasions, plus journals, calendars, stationery sets, pencils and magnets. The products' messages say exactly what you want to say, but in unique ways.
 
The baby cards are some of Catalano’s craziest designs, and they tend to be the most popular among buyers. “Some of them are ridiculous, but they’re funny,” she says.
 
Catalano does take custom orders for wedding stationery, but she hasn’t concentrated on that side of her business yet. She also customizes messages on the insides of the cards for customers.  
 
Catalano’s goal is to create a new reason to send paper mail instead of email. “I love seeing people send cards for no particular reason,” she says.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Some of the city's biggest bike-related projects in the works for 2013 are still in the planning stages, but a few will continue and build on the momentum from last year. 

This year, the city's Bicycle Transportation Program includes plans to finish more than two miles of bike lanes along Riverside Drive, a project that was started in 2009. Plans are also in the works to extend the Spring Grove bike lanes from Hopple to Bank Street downtown; proposals have been drafted for rehabilitation projects along Dalton Street, Bank, Western Avenue and Langdon Farm Road. 

The City also hopes to continue its design work on the Ohio River Trail, extending bike-friendly paths from Salem Street to Sutton Road and Collins Avenue to Corbin Street.
 
The City is also in the early stages of looking to put Ohio’s first cycle track on Central Parkway between Ludlow Avenue and Liberty Street. “Cycle tracks aren’t mainstream yet, but New York City and Washington, D.C., have quite a few,” says Melissa McVay, senior city planner in the Division of Transportation & Engineering. “They’re the most family-friendly bike facility you can build.”
 
A cycle track is like a bike trail or shared path, but it’s in the street, for bikes only and separated from cars by a physical barrier, such as planters, trees or a curb. Cycle tracks are meant to keep cars from veering into bicyclists’ paths.
 
“A typical bike lane is usually enough to encourage cyclists to try them, but sometimes, they don’t make everyone feel comfortable,” says McVay. “The physical barrier of a cycle track is meant to make cyclists feel safe.” 

One of the most exciting developments for bicyclists last year was the addition of a green bike lane on Ludlow last year. “It started the conversation among people who don’t ride bikes, and they’re beginning to see the infrastructure,” McVay says. “I feel like the bike community has grown, and there is now a growing city-wide awareness.”

Approved by the City in 2009 and put into action in 2010, the Bike Plan outlines bicycle-related projects over the next 15 years. In all, the plan recommends 445 miles of on-street and off-street bike facilities, such as bike lanes, bike racks and multi-use trails.
 
In 2009, there were about seven miles of bike lanes and sharrows in Cincinnati, says McVay. In 2010, 2.3 miles were added; in 2011, 4.5 miles; in 2012, five more miles were added, for a total of 19 miles.
 
Since 1993, many bike-friendly projects have been implemented, including striping 12 miles of bike lanes, creating 21 miles of shared-use paths and trails and installing six miles of sharrows, or shared lane markings, throughout the city.
 
The bulk of the Bicycle Transportation Program's focus is on developing on-street and off-street bike facilities as outlined in the Bike Plan, but it also organizes bike-related events, proposing policy and zoning changes, and working on advocacy projects with Queen City Bike and Mobo Bicycle Co-op.
 
The public played a huge part in developing the Bike Plan by utilizing online tools to show the City where bike facilities were needed.
 
Even though there has been an outpouring of public support for bike facilities, there are still issues when it comes to removing parking. The City proposed a project along Spring Grove Avenue this past summer that would consolidate on-street parking to one side of the street, but businesses liked having parking available on both sides of the street.
 
“The project will be successful if the community comes together and rallies around the project, and the trade-off of on-street parking for a bike lane will ultimately benefit both business owners and bicyclists,” McVay says.

The City wants to hear from you! Take the survery and grade Cincinnati on different bike-friendly aspects around town.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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The idea for Happy Chicks Bakery began in Jessica Bechtel’s kitchen. She and Jana Douglass, 31, have been friends and colleagues for about 10 years, and over those years, they’ve made many batches of cookies together. Since they love to bake and are both vegans, the pair figured they could make it into a business.
 
Douglass and Bechtel started Happy Chicks, a vegan bakery, in April of last year. Happy Chicks doesn’t have a storefront, but they sell their products wholesale to Park+Vine and the Family Enrichment Center in Northside. In the summer, Happy Chicks has a booth at the Northside and Madeira farmers markets. Bechtel and Douglass also do custom orders and cater special events.
 
“Our goal is to have a storefront in the next few years,” says Bechtel, 33. “We’re trying to do the business without taking out loans. When the time comes, we’ll probably look for a space downtown.” 

Happy Chicks is also in the process of looking for other wholesale opportunities to help expand their business.
 
Happy Chicks makes cakes, cupcakes, cookies, macaroons, pies, scones, muffins, a vegan croissant, breakfast roll and coffee cake; the breakfast items are popular at both Park+Vine and the Family Enrichment Center, Bechtel says.
 
The black raspberry chocolate chip cookie is a top-seller, as are the tiramisu and caramel chocolate stout cakes. They also offer seasonal-flavored treats, such as the Snowball, which is a coconut cupcake topped with coconut frosting and filled with a cranberry sauce.
 
All of the bakery’s goodies are dairy and egg-free, and most of the recipes are also soy-free. Many can be made gluten and nut-free, too.
 
Need to satisfy your sweet tooth before Valentine’s Day? Visit Happy Chicks at Sweet Victory, a wedding dessert tasting and cake-decorating contest, Feb. 6 at Cooper Creek Event Center. Or get tickets to Cupcakes & Cocktails, a ladies-only event that benefits the Eve Center, Feb. 8.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Grocery stores and farmers markets aren’t the only places in Cincinnati to buy locally grown produce. Urban Greens LLC is a garden that gives its customers the opportunity to grow their own food in a community-owned plot.
 
Urban Greens was founded in 2010 by 15 families who wanted to grow their own produce, but didn’t necessarily have the space in their own backyards. Ryan Doan, founder of Urban Greens, was introduced to community gardening by a Mt. Washington resident who grew 90 percent of his family’s food on a plot in his backyard. Doan also took classes at the Civic Garden Center; he then found the plots in the East End by the Ohio River. The plots are owned by FEMA and can’t be bought or sold for development projects because they have been designated for agriculture purposes or parks.  
 
Customers have fresh produce about 26 weeks out of the year, and during the winter, their shelves and freezers are stocked with homemade goodies from the gardens.
 
In order to keep up with the plots, Urban Greens sells Community Supported Agriculture shares. Customers pay an upfront fee of $600 per year for three to 10 pounds of produce per week. There is also a work share program, where customers pay $450 and work 20 hours in the garden. The shares not only pay for seeds, fencing, cages and water, but for the garden manager’s and a few part-time employees’ salaries.
 
The community garden will have three plots in Cincinnati this year—two in the East End and one that’s new for 2013, plus one in Hamilton—for a total of two and a half acres of fresh produce. The Hamilton plot is on the grounds of one of the local high schools and is tended by a student.
 
Urban Greens will offer 35 CSA accounts in the East End, 20-25 in Hamilton and about 15 at the new garden. CSA customers pick up their pre-packaged produce once a week from the garden plots.
 
Besides selling produce to its CSA customers, Urban Greens is the sole provider of produce for a local company. They sell to the businesses’ employees on Tuesdays, and pick for CSA customers on Thursdays. During the summer, weekends are reserved for selling produce at local farmers markets.
 
“We set aside a certain amount of produce to sell to the general public at farmers markets,” Doan says. The rest of the produce is divided evenly among Urban Greens’ customers, so that nothing goes to waste.
 
This year, Urban Greens is also offering 30 Flexible Market Accounts to those who want to choose their own produce. Customers load $100 at a time onto a card, come down once a week and pick out the produce they need. FMA is like a grocery store that offers local produce, plus local cheeses, granola and handmade soap, says Doan.
 
“FMA allows people to get the tomatoes they need to make spaghetti sauce or salsa, rather than the bunches of kale they might grow themselves,” he says.
 
FMA also makes Urban Greens accessible to more people, as the CSA can be too expensive for some. “I don’t want Urban Greens to be for rich people buying organic vegetables, but for everyone,” says Doan.
 
Doan is also looking to develop a gardening program with a few local schools. He wants to have gardens on school grounds, and when school is in session, the produce will be incorporated into the students’ lunches. Urban Greens would also teach students how to harvest and seed the gardens, and they would be the ones farming the land, not school personnel.
 
“I’d like to continue the gardens at the schools during the summer and sell the produce at farmers markets,” Doan says. “But once school is back in session, the produce would be for the cafeteria.”
 
To reserve a CSA share or more for more information about FMA, email Urban Greens at urbangreensllc@gmail.com.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Find home-made bacon, sausage and pastrami, along with a selection of local craft beers and one of the best views in town at the new Incline Public House in Price Hill, which opens Feb. 1.

Brothers Tony and Dominic Cafeo have been planning the restaurant, which also features a 1,400-square-foot deck, for a few years. It is part of a new development at the top of the stories Price Hill Incline that includes 15 condo units. “We’ve always wanted to be in Price Hill,” Tony says.
 
The restaurant will have an in-house smoker and a brick oven; the bar menu will focus on craft beer from local craft breweries, but there will be a small wine menu too, Tony says.
 
“We’re hoping to get lots of traffic, which will make the people of Price Hill feel safer,” Tony says. “Hopefully, people from outside of the neighborhood will come and get a better perception of the area.”

For more information aobout Incline Public House's opening day, "like" it on Facebook or follow it on Twitter.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Kitchen 452’s small dining room only holds six tables, but the restaurant is going to pack a big punch. Its menu is full of comfort food, such as sandwiches and soups, all delivered with fun twists.
 
Kitchen 452 will open from 6 to 9 p.m. on Jan. 25 during Walk on Woodburn, but the restaurant’s official grand opening is Feb. 1, when it will begin its regular lunch hours, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
 
Jen Lile, 39, and her business partner, Leah Joos, 29, began looking for restaurant space last May. Neither went to culinary school—they were academic advisors at the University of Cincinnati’s honors college, and through helping their students follow their dreams, they realized what their own was.
 
“After doing some research, we found out about SpringBoard Cincinnati,” says Joos. “We enrolled in courses there, then found the space on Woodburn, solidifying our idea.”
 
Joos’ interest in food started in her grandmother’s kitchen. She and her sister considered it a playground, and their grandmother let them make whatever they wanted.
 
But she didn’t really start cooking until graduate school. “I wasn’t good at it, but it gave me a good sense of focus and a creative outlet when my brain was drained,” she says.
 
Lile spent time in Europe and saw a difference between how food was appreciated and prepared that she didn’t see in the United States. When she came back, her idea of food changed and she became interested in learning about food. “Before my trip to Europe, I considered boiling water cooking,” she says. “My kitchen became the space where I really wanted to be.”
 
Joos and Lile designed Kitchen 452’s menu around traditional comfort food. “We like to play around with different flavors and try different flavor combinations together,” says Lile.
 
For example, their turkey sandwich is on bread fresh from the bakery, with a cranberry and orange chutney, which is balanced with crispy shallots on top; Kitchen 452’s tomato soup is topped with a parsley and garlic gremolata. Joos and Lile also wanted to focus on foods that feel like the seasons, so when it’s dark and wintry outside, there will be warm and hearty dishes on their menu.
 
“We want people to feel like they matter,” says Joos. “We want to get to know our customers, because we know that people make a decision when they go out to eat, and we want them to choose Kitchen 452 and keep coming back.”
 
Joos and Lile want to do things that can connect them with people on different levels as well. They plan to offer themed dinners at Kitchen 452, and possibly offer educational classes. One of their ideas is an oil and vinegar tasting that will teach customers how to incorporate different oils and vinegars into dishes they cook on a daily basis.
 
Kitchen 452 will also offer catering for business meetings and special events, with menus tailored to customers’ needs.
 
“It’s exciting for us and for our customers to try out different recipes that aren’t necessarily on our menu,” says Lile. “We want to help create custom menus and be part of important events in other people’s lives.”
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Yoga is usually accompanied by soothing background music, but at OMYA Studio in Northside, that background music is an important aspect of every class.
 
Co-owners Hollie Nesbitt and Mark Messerly both have musical backgrounds. Nesbitt is a former music teacher, and Messerly is a music teacher at the Cincinnati Gifted Academy and plays in several bands, including Wussy and Messerly and Ewing.
 
About four years ago, Nesbitt started Little Yoga Sunshine, a yoga program for children. She has taught yoga to Girl Scout troops and church groups; she also used to teach yoga to students at Cincinnati Public School’s after-school program. Over the years, Nesbitt has taught yoga at Wyoming Youth Services, The Women’s Connection, Lighthouse Youth Services, the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati, United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Museum Center.
 
OMYA, which stands for Outreach, Music, Yoga and Arts, offers yoga classes for children, adults, families and those with special needs. “Yoga gets the body moving and helps with concentration and calming down,” says Nesbitt.
 
Yoga can teach children with autism the skill of stopping with the four “Bs” (brakes, brain, body, breath). It can also help non-ambulatory people with muscle tone and physicality, and those with Down syndrome with strengthening their joints and muscles.

“We offer lots of kid, family and special needs classes, which is something that many yoga studios don’t have,” says Nesbitt.
 
Messerly doesn’t teach yoga classes, but he’s planning to offer several music classes at OMYA. In the future, he plans to offer an early childhood music class for children with autism and ADHD. He also wants to start a guitar club for beginning and intermediate guitar players and a songwriting class for older children and adults. He’s also in the process of developing a six-week course for kids with autism, a program that doesn’t exist elsewhere.
 
“It’s always struck me that kids love music, but adults say they can’t carry a tune,” Messerly says. “I want to give music back to people. Not everyone will be a musician, but they should have music in their lives.”
 
Not only will Messerly teach a few music classes at OMYA, but he has incorporated yoga breathing and movements into the music classes that he teaches at Cincinnati Gifted.
 
OMYA also has a working relationship with WordPlay, which is housed in the same building as the studio. “We want to do some cross-curriculum work with WordPlay, where kids will write poems or song lyrics and then I’ll teach them how to add music,” Messerly says.
 
OMYA is right across the street from Yoga-Ah, the yoga studio where Nesbitt learned to teach yoga. She says they do lots of cross-promoting for the studio. “While your child is taking a class at OMYA, you can take one for adults across the street.”
 
Currently, OMYA offers one or two classes per day, with no classes held on Tuesday. Nesbitt is one of two yoga teachers, and Robyn Holleran, a professional belly dancer, teaches belly dancing classes for girls ages 12 and up; April Eight also teaches Songs of Peace classes. Classes are $10 for adults, $8 for kids and $15 for families.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Everything But The House, an online personal property and estate sale service provider was founded in 2006. Although the business is based in Cincinnati, founders Brian Graves and Jacquie Denny haven’t stuck to those boundaries.

EBTH has an online sales platform, so buyers can be anywhere in the world and participate in local auctions. This month, EBTH opened two new locations, one in Lexington and the other in Fairfield County, Conn.

EBTH’s president and CEO Andy Nielsen and Jon Nielsen, partner and CBDO, took time to answer a few questions about the company’s recent expansion.
 
What prompted EBTH’s expansion to Lexington and Fairfield County, Conn.?
We’re really excited for 2013 and all of the growth that it will bring. In fact, we have plans to enter four to six new markets this year. 

Lexington was an easy choice for us because EBTH has grown organically into the state of Kentucky over the last few years. We have buyers and sellers in Lexington who have been loyal customers of EBTH in Cincinnati, so expanding to Lexington and opening a local office there just made sense. 

We take tremendous pride in the service we provide and we’re confident that EBTH will be embraced by cities cross the country. As such, we decided to expand our reach a bit further by opening in the state of Connecticut. Fairfield County is located about 45 minutes outside of New York City, has a dense (and thriving) housing market, and is home to some amazing antiques and collectibles.
 
Are either of the new locations open for business yet?
Yes, both locations are now open for business. The Lexington location opened Jan. 7 and the Connecticut location opened on Jan. 15. Our representatives in both locations are working on booking their first sales so please be sure to keep an eye on our website.
 
Will the new locations run like Cincinnati’s EBTH?
Each and every EBTH location will offer the same tremendous services, online personal property and estate sales. Whether you’re in a situation where you need to sell a large collection of personal property, including antiques, furniture, artwork, collectibles and more, EBTH is the solution to sell everything quickly, easily and profitably.
 
How do the new facilities compare in size to the Cincinnati location?
At onset, our new offices in Kentucky and Connecticut will be slightly smaller than our facilities here in Cincinnati, but with year-over-year growth that averages nearly 75 percent, we anticipate that our new locations will quickly scale to the size of our Cincinnati location.
 
Did founders Brian Graves or Jacquie Denny have a hand in the new EBTH locations?
Absolutely. As partners and original founders, Brian and Jacquie have been instrumental in our growth and they will have a hand in each and every new location that we open. The growth that we’ve experienced over the past five years has been extraordinary and we’re excited to carry that momentum into new cities across the country.
 
How did EBTH decide where to open new locations?
We have been blessed with tremendous ‘word of mouth’ marketing. Our customers are amazing, and as they’ve told their friends and families about the service that EBTH provides, we’ve been lucky to earn business from people across the country. 

Our growth into Kentucky was largely organic, and our decision to open in Connecticut was strategic, based on an effort to grow into a number of major metropolitan markets across the country in the coming 12-24 months.
 
How do you think EBTH’s expansion will help its current customers?
Our growth is great for everyone—buyers as well as sellers. As a buyer, our expansion into new locations means that you’ll have access to more sales and an increased variety of unique pieces from across the country. As a seller, it means that you’ll finally have one expert service provider that can handle the sale of your contents quickly, easily and profitably.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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