Displaying items tagged: Grand Rapids Downtown Market

Eric Foster credits a 2015 report from Forbes.com that ranked Grand Rapids as 51st out of 52 markets in the U.S. economically for African Americans for helping to cement his idea to create Rende Progress Capital. 

GRAND RAPIDS — When the coronavirus pandemic hit, a pair of Grand Rapids natives scrapped their initial plans to open a cigar lounge on the city’s south side, deciding instead that a fresh food market and weekly farmers market would be a better resource for their neighborhood.

When Alan Hartline purchased Kingma’s Market four years ago, he pivoted away from a corporate world in which he was at the “mercy of quarterly earnings and Wall Street.”

The Grand Rapids Downtown Market continues to restructure long-standing debt tied to a state economic development incentive as it attempts to stabilize its finances.

For the fourth time since 2014, the Grand Rapids Downtown Market has asked permission to keep paying only the interest on its loans tied to a state economic development incentive as it seeks to restructure its debt load.

Here is the MiBiz Growth Report for Sept. 5, 2017.

• M&A: U.K.-based Playtech acquired the technology, intellectual property and certain customer assets of ACM Group, whose CEO, Muhammad Al-Amin Rasoul, and management team are based in Grand Rapids. Playtech, a supplier of online gaming software, is listed on the London Stock Exchange and has 5,000 employees in 17 countries. Grand Rapids investment banking firm Charter Capital Partners served as financial adviser for ACM Group, a business-to-business market maker, dealer and broker in London. The deal is expected to close in early September. Terms include an initial upfront payment of $5 million, two staged payments based on the EBITDA of 2017 and 2018, and contingent consideration based on 2019 EBITDA. The total consideration for the transaction is capped at $150 million.

GRAND RAPIDS — When it came time to buyout a business partner, Fish Lads of Grand Rapids Inc. founder and part owner Jeff Butzow turned to another local grocery executive with extensive experience.

Against the backdrop of business leaders increasingly voicing concerns about a lack of downtown parking, the city of Grand Rapids plans to increase parking capacity with the construction of a new lot.

More than 12,000 amateur athletes and their traveling companions from around the Great Lakes will descend on greater Grand Rapids next summer when the region hosts the State Games of America.

Madcap Coffee Company Inc. plans to expand its downtown presence.

The proprietor of Fish Lads LLC, located in the Downtown Market, plans to open Carvers, an “artisan” butcher shop, according to a statement.