Racquets holds serve in downtown Muskegon

August 30, 2009
Dave Alexander
Muskegon Chronicle

When Hoby Thrasher opened Racquets Downtown Grill in Muskegon in 1987, the Muskegon Mall was thriving as the community's top shopping destination.

Meanwhile, hockey club owner Larry Gordon was winning championships with the old Muskegon Lumberjacks as the community worked its way out of a two-decade economic slide that transformed the community's historic industrial base.

A lot has happened in downtown Muskegon since 1987, but Racquets is still there even as the Muskegon Mall is gone and the hockey team had ownership and name changes prior to reverting back to the Lumberjacks moniker.

In the meantime, Racquets has become a comfortable, community gathering place over the years.

Current owner Ron Madison said his sports pub is surviving the current economic downturn and is poised for growth in the coming years as a new downtown Muskegon emerges and the economy improves.

"In the past year and a half, we have been in survival mode," Madison said of the business he purchased in 2006 at a low point in downtown redevelopment.

"There has been dramatic changes downtown, all for the good," said Madison, who has a business background in financial services and real estate. "As we sit right now, we have wonderful new neighbors, with the new owners of the hockey team and Baker College. We are excited about the increased energy down here."

While working for Woodland Realty in Muskegon as a residential and commercial agent, Madison was telling clients at the midpoint of the decade to make investments in downtown Muskegon. With the failure and demolition of the Muskegon Mall due to retail moves to the Lakes Mall in Fruitport Township, downtown real estate prices were at a low point.

In 2006, Madison purchased Racquets, 446 W. Western, and entered into a lease-to-buy agreement with the building's owner.

"Things couldn't have gone any lower downtown," he said. When he took over the business the last portions of the mall were being hauled away.

Since his purchase, Madison has seen the historic streets replaced in the downtown central business district where the mall once stood. Two existing buildings have been renovated and three new buildings have risen at Third Street and West Western Avenue, including Baker College's new Culinary Institute of Michigan, scheduled to open next month.

Having existing businesses like Racquets survive the downtown transition has been critical, said Dan Rinsema-Sybenga, manager of the Muskegon Main Street program.

"Racquets has become a place to hang out. ... It's familiar like comfort food," Rinsema-Sybenga said. "They have been involved in the downtown community. We couldn't have started the Taste of Muskegon event without them."

<When entering the restaurant business as a owner, Madison tapped long-time friend and 20-year restaurant veteran Yosef Johnson to be his manager. The two recently have retooled the Racquets menu.

The number of items were trimmed down but signature items, such as taco soup, specialty pizzas, burgers and sandwiches, remain, Johnson said. With fewer items, the bar can serve food made in its own kitchen, including fresh herbs grown in the front window, he said.

"We have made refinements that we have been forced on us because of the challenging economy," Madison said. "What we need is more consistent foot traffic downtown. We hope that will come with the new developments around us."