[msb-alumni] Mimi's Sweet Shop is a sweet lover's delight

From: Steve <pipeguy920@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 10 May 2016 17:45:41 -0400

BlankKathy Rodgers was Lansing Township Treasurer and Ed Rodgers was an MSB
Alumnus from 1963.

Mimi's Sweet Shop is a sweet lover's delight Vickki Dozier , Lansing State
Journal
LANSING TOWNSHIP - Erin Ford peered through the glass showcase, trying to make
a difficult decision: Which candy did she want? "I will only try a couple," she
said. "I think I'll try the cookies and cream crunchers."

All around her, children and adults alike were checking out the boxed Sanders
candy on the shelves, ordering ice cream and perusing the case of bulk candy,
like Erin was. Her mother, Judy Ford, pointed out the peppermint patties. Erin
quickly decided she'd have that, instead.

The Fords, like everyone else, were there for a Thursday evening "sweet peek"
at
Mimi's Sweet Shop in Eastwood Heights, just for family and friends. Mimi's
opened on Friday. Friends and family of Mimi's Sweet Shop at Eastwood Heights
in
Lansing Township, May 5, 2016, during the "Sweet Peek" soft-opening of the
store
specializing in made-in-Michigan ice cream, chocolates, coffee, donuts, tea,
hot
cocoa and soft drinks. Art featured and for sale on the walls is provided by
students in Peckham's "Art from the Heart" program, and all proceeds benefit
Peckham. (Photo: Matthew Dae Smith/for the Lansing State Journal)

Maggie Sanders was everywhere, greeting guests, giving out hugs and thanking
people for coming to the soft opening. Maggie fondly remembers making jam with
her grandmother, her Mimi. Strawberry jam. Every summer. Her Mimi was a
phenomenal baker, cook, lover of sweets, and she always had a candy dish
sitting
out in her house.

"My grandmother was a bad chick," Maggie Sanders. "My grandfather died in 1960,
when my mom was 12. So she raised five kids all on her own, on a teacher's
salary. And they all went to college.

Maggie Sanders, owner of Mimi's Sweet Shop, holds a photo of her late
grandmother, "Mimi," or Rita Iott, during the "Sweet Peek" soft-opening
of her new store at Eastwood Heights in Lansing Township. (Photo: Matthew Dae
Smith/for the Lansing State Journal)

Her Mimi, Rita Iott, started teaching Sanders to cook and bake at a young age,
whenever she would go to her house. But the strawberry jam was Iott's
specialty.
"She would go to all the local farms to get strawberries, and we would spend
from the end of May to the beginning of June making jam," Sanders said. "She
passed away six years ago. We just made a batch of her jam last year, and it
turned out so good."

Now Sanders is following her own love of sweets. Mimi's Sweet Shop will have
ice cream, donuts, chocolates and various other sundries on the menu.

Sanders knows her Mimi would be proud.

"Mimi is actually a shortened version of Mémère," said Kathy Rodgers, Sanders'
mother . " My dad is the French Canadian. My mother was actually Irish. In
France they used Mémère and Pépère for grandmother and grandfather. But the
tradition in the family down through the years was that grandmas were called
Mimis in that French Canadian tradition. She ended up being a 100 percent Irish
lady with a French Canadian nickname.

The pastel-colored walls of the shop give off a peaceful, serene feeling. The
one bright wall is close to the counter and painted in a shade of magenta
called
"Hot. Sanders wanted a color on one wall that really popped. The walls are
covered in art from Peckham's Art from the Heart program.

"They are going to put art all over our walls, and we are going to sell them
for
the artists, also," Sanders said. "We're not taking a cut of that."

A selection of Sanders boxed chocolates at Mimi's Sweet Shop. (Photo: Vickki
Dozier/Lansing State Journal)

One of the Ashby flavors they'll carry is Michigan Pot Hole - thick, black-tar
fudge in chocolate ice cream with chunks of chocolate asphalt. Sanders says the
ice cream company donates a portion of all their sales of that flavor to
Michigan roads.Ice cream will be supplied by Hudsonville and by Ashby's
Sterling
Ice cream (out of Ludington). Sanders decided to go with two companies to offer
a different variety and will rotate flavors between the two companies.

"We're doing all Michigan made," Sanders said. "There were a couple items we
nixed from the menu because they are only distributed in Michigan and not made
here.

In the morning, they'll serve Glazed and Confused donuts. And Paramout Coffee
will provide the coffee. Sanders Fine Chocolatiers out of Detroit will supply
both boxed and bulk chocolates.

"We're doing the Sanders cream puffs and some of their bumpy cakes, which
they're famous for," Sanders said. "And they actually make the cream puffs
where
you can scoop ice cream into the center. I hope I don't gain 60 pounds working
here."

For the floats and coolers, there will be Faygo pop, which will also be
available in the grab and go case near the front of the store.

Sanders originally considered opening a diner. A stay-at-home mom for the past
five years, she decided to go back to work but wasn't sure what she wanted to
do. Prior to having her children, she worked in retail and retail management
for
almost 10 years. When she decided to go back to work, she thought about opening
a diner, and serving her Mimi's recipes. "I've got two shoe boxes full of her
recipes in my kitchen," Sanders said.
"She used to watch us a lot because my parents were both working. We would cook
and eat dinner with her. But she decided she didn't want the hassle of a
diner."
"I thought, what do I love other than cooking? ," she said. "The answer was
everything sweet.

Her father, Ed Rodgers, suggested an ice cream store, which kind of rolled into
candy and ice cream. Then ice cream floats came into the mix. Her husband's
grandfather was a lover of root beer floats. They had them at every family
outing. "I sat with my husband and suggested, 'Why don't' we do something in
honor of not only my grandmother, but also your grandfather?" Sanders said, "So
it turned into floats, then it turned into milkshakes and malteds. It just kind
of all stemmed from that.

Sanders says it has been a struggle to find all Michigan-made products. "We do
have a lot of companies," she said, "but like hard candy, I can'd find a
company
that makes hard candy that is just from Michigan. They have Michigan
distribution centers for hard candy, but there is no actual company that makes
the candies here."

Sanders wants people to think of Mimi's as a little home away from home. A
gathering place. A place to sit, enjoy a 'cup' of coffee and conversation, do
homework
or business. "I want it to feel like a very family-oriented place," Sanders
said. "I'm very close with my family. And I want people to be able to bring
their families in and feel that open atmosphere.

The sweet shop is very kid-friendly. Everything is washable. "If your kids
spill
ice cream, we can wipe it up," Kathy Rodgers said. "Maggie's idea was she
didn't
want it to be a place where you just come in and grab an ice cream and go. She
wanted people to feel comfortable.

Kathy Rodgers thinks folks will be excited about the malted milkshakes. They
used to serve them at the drugstore in Deerfield where she grew up. She
explained that what makes it different than a milkshake is there's a powder you
put in them, and it makes it taste like the candy "whoppers.

"You would be surprised at the number of older people who remember a malted
milk," Rodgers said. "I know people who love malteds and you can't get them
anywhere. But at Mimi's, you'll find them. And milkshakes. "We may limit the
flavors but I think we will try to cater to everyone, even the little guy who
like Superman," Sanders said. "So I guess we'll have Superman milkshakes."
Contact Vickki Dozier at (517) 267-1342 or vdozier@xxxxxxx .

[msb-alumni] Mimi's Sweet Shop is a sweet lover's delight

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