BAY CITY, MI – Enjoying a glass, or a bottle, of natural wine with your friend next to a fireplace sounds dreamy, right?
Now you can do just that in an intimate setting in downtown Bay City.
Neighbors Natural Wine + Bottle Shop, 809 Adams St., opened in September and is the neighbor to Public House and Elizabeth Charles, all of which are businesses owned by the same family.
Owner of Public House and Neighbors Lyndsay Edmonds said she loves having her mother, Debbie Edmonds, right next door with her shop, Elizabeth Charles.
The inspiration for opening Neighbors started with falling in love with the architecture and the space, Edmonds said.
The storefront was James Shearer’s personal office when he built the building in the late 1800s, Edmonds said, so she tried to keep everything as original as possible.
“We’re really trying to not cover Bay City’s history, but enhance it,” Edmonds said. “It allows more people to come and see the beautiful spaces of Bay City.”
There’s a cozy fireplace, tall ceilings, textured walls, detailed woodwork and a safe, which is now the little bottle shop to purchase whole bottles of wine, whether you want to take them home or enjoy them at Neighbors with a $5 corkage fee.
After living in Florence, Italy for a while, Edmonds said she enjoyed the natural wine they were serving abroad and wanted to bring it back to Bay City.
“They don’t use a lot of pesticides really on anything, so even though it’s not labeled that way, it’s just how they drink,” Edmonds said.
Although there is an open archway between Public House and Neighbors, they are two separate spaces.
Edmonds said they needed to come up with a different concept for the extra 25 seats in Neighbors because there isn’t the space to serve the kinds of cocktails that Public House is able to.
Both businesses share the same food menu, but Neighbors’ focus is natural wine and wine-forward cocktails.
Neighbors also features a Sunday Slow Coffee Club when the space turns into a little European-style café where people can get pastries, coffee and read the New York Times newspaper.
Edmonds said the community support has been overwhelmingly positive.
“We truly do – no smoke and mirrors – we have the best customers. People are so supportive. Bay City is great for that,” Edmonds said.
Neighbors hosts many events such as baby or wedding showers and birthday parties, Edmonds said. To inquire about hosting your event, click here to fill out the form on their website.
Follow Neighbors on Instagram here or check out their website here.
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