Saladworks Franchise Coming To Downtown Grand Rapids, Mi. This Spring

A new Saladworks restaurant will open this spring in a long-vacant space at the corner of Ionia Avenue NW and Weston Street.

The "fast casual" restaurant at 30 Ionia Ave. SW is one of three restaurants that will be brought to West Michigan by TiJu Ventures, the company that also located a Kilwin's Chocolate and Ice Cream store at the corner of Pearl Street and Monroe Center NW two years ago.

The new restaurant will feature fresh, made-to-order entree-sized salads, sandwiches, wraps and soups. Founded in New Jersey in 1986, Saladworks now has more than 100 franchisees in eight states.

It will be the first location for a Saladworks franchise in Michigan, said Tim Calderone, whose spouse, Julie Calderone, is the franchisee. Calderone said they hope to complete the build-out of the restaurant space on the ground floor of the Weston West Apartments building by early June.

The Downtown Development Authority on Wednesday, March 12, approved a $10,000 grant to help build an accessible entrance and restrooms and a second $2,000 grant to assist the restaurant owners in creating new signs. The total cost of improving the space was estimated at $610,000 while signage costs were estimated at $18,500.

The restaurant also received approval from the city's Historic Preservation Commission for its plans to alter the historic storefront in the Heartside Historic Preservation District, Calderone said.

Calderone said they have the rights to three Saladworks franchises in West Michigan. They also plan to open a restaurant in a new building planned for Centerpointe Mall on the current site of an Arnie's restaurant. He said they have not identified a location for their third restaurant.

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