Hooters plans TC opening
EAST BAY TOWNSHIP – Hooters – the restaurant chain that made waves nationally in the '90s for its skimpy waitress uniforms and hiring practices – is facing a final round of approval May 2 to open a restaurant along East Bay Township's Miracle Mile.
The project appears to have created little controversy in East Bay. No residents commented on the proposed restaurant at East Bay Township's March 7 meeting, when officials approved preliminary plans for the restaurant, said Deputy Zoning Administrator Leslie Couturier.
It will be located next to the Super 8 Motel on U.S. 31.
"People think of it as a degrading place because of the name, and it's not," said Laura Finkel, general manager of Super 8. "It's just a restaurant that has a name like that. So what? It's got good food."
Garfield Township residents, however, weren't quite so receptive when Hooters proposed a restaurant there several years ago.
Hooters developer Art Dore of Saginaw did not return repeated phone calls to comment on the restaurant. Contractor Carl Schwartz, of Saginaw's Wolgast Corp., will present a revised site plan for the 5,422-square-foot restaurant at East Bay Township's May 2 meeting.
Finkel said despite the controversy that sometimes surrounds Hooters, the restaurant's presence in East Bay Township is not an issue as far as she's concerned.
"It's going to bring a new crowd over and it will help with my business, I know that," she said. "It's a restaurant bringing money to the town no matter how big or how small (the town) is." BN