Traditions / History


1948 was the year the late Norman LaBelle decided he would have more fun running a restaurant than selling used cars, and the result was the opening of the Pixie Restaurant. Complete with car-hop waitresses and great inexpensive food, the Pixie quickly became a popular place with both the local population and the fast growing enrollment at Central Michigan University.

1972 saw the creation of the Sweet Onion Restaurant, whose original menu was built on a limited selection of soups, sandwiches and dinners. Two years later, the Mt. Pleasant Big Boy Restaurant was added followed by three more locations. Soon Ponderosa Steakhouses joined the LaBelle team with three locations. In 1980, a second Sweet Onion location opened, this time in Midland, Michigan.

In 1987 the company assumed operation of the Michigan Division Cafeteria at Dow Chemical in Midland, Michigan. Eight more Ponderosas in Indiana rounded out the Ponderosa Division. Since those early days nine additional Ponderosas have been added with more to come. 1995 is the year that we added the Italian Oven Restaurant located in Mt. Pleasant. Our restaurant division took a major growth spurt with the addition of Bennigan's Irish Pub. Our initial location, Mt. Pleasant, was so successful that we have since added several more. Our growth plans call for nearly 20 additional Bennigan's over the coming years in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio.

The hotel division took birth in 1989 when the Comfort Inn opened in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. Our hotel division has seen tremendous growth and success. We now have eight hotels in our portfolio - two Fairfield Inns, located in Lapeer and Mt. Pleasant; two beautiful hotels, the Grand Beach and Sugar Beach Hotels, in Traverse City, Michigan; and the Holiday Inn and Conference Center in Big Rapids, Michigan. The hotel division will continue to grow steadily. The Real Estate and Development Division in our company is equally as active as the Hospitality Division. We own several retail malls, apartments, and office complexes in mid-Michigan. Over the past few years this division has added tremendous diversity and stability to our already solid foundation.

Today's company, although much bigger, over 39 restaurants and hotels, and more diverse than our early beginnings at The Pixie, still revolves around the same core values that made us successful. Our over 2,500 employees still share the deep commitment to each community and truly live our mission statement "To Always Do the Right Thing".