Karin Connelly Rice
Business has been booming at Geiger’s since the sporting goods retailer opened its third location downtown last month. “Things have been going really well,” says co-owner Gordon Geiger. “We’re quite pleased with the traffic and the acceptance of the store.”
Geiger admits there has been a learning curve to running the store in a downtown environment, as opposed to its Chagrin Falls and Lakewood locations, but the owners have consulted with the owners of neighboring Heinen’s about how to adapt.
Then, in a brainstorming session, Geiger’s management came up with an idea that not only returns to the era of personalized service during the holidays, it saves time for busy downtown residents and shoppers.
Geiger’s will offer personalized shopping for its customers during the holiday season.
“You have to be a good listener and trust your instincts,” says Geiger of his consultation with Tom and Jeff Heinen on the new store. “We realized the solution of personalized service could be of some value to our downtown clientele.”
Geiger says the idea came out of brainstorming session in which that staff were recalling the days at department stores like Bonwit Teller and Halle’s department stores. “Those were the heydays of retail,” says Geiger. “It was a high level of service era, one which we hope will be once again.”
Shoppers can call (216) 755-4500 to make an appointment and share their gift lists. A personal shopper will then bring a selection of gifts for everyone on the customer’s list. Customers can enjoy a coffee or another beverage while relaxing.
“If they don’t know what they want to get, we can make some nice suggestions,” says Geiger. “In the 11th hour there may be some interest in this sort of thing for last minute shoppers.”
Customers can make appointments during business hours, but after-hours exceptions can be made. The service includes free gift wrapping.
The service runs through Sunday, Dec. 20. Geiger says they may extend the service year-round if there’s demand for it.
Geiger admits there has been a learning curve to running the store in a downtown environment, as opposed to its Chagrin Falls and Lakewood locations, but the owners have consulted with the owners of neighboring Heinen’s about how to adapt.
Then, in a brainstorming session, Geiger’s management came up with an idea that not only returns to the era of personalized service during the holidays, it saves time for busy downtown residents and shoppers.
Geiger’s will offer personalized shopping for its customers during the holiday season.
“You have to be a good listener and trust your instincts,” says Geiger of his consultation with Tom and Jeff Heinen on the new store. “We realized the solution of personalized service could be of some value to our downtown clientele.”
Geiger says the idea came out of brainstorming session in which that staff were recalling the days at department stores like Bonwit Teller and Halle’s department stores. “Those were the heydays of retail,” says Geiger. “It was a high level of service era, one which we hope will be once again.”
Shoppers can call (216) 755-4500 to make an appointment and share their gift lists. A personal shopper will then bring a selection of gifts for everyone on the customer’s list. Customers can enjoy a coffee or another beverage while relaxing.
“If they don’t know what they want to get, we can make some nice suggestions,” says Geiger. “In the 11th hour there may be some interest in this sort of thing for last minute shoppers.”
Customers can make appointments during business hours, but after-hours exceptions can be made. The service includes free gift wrapping.
The service runs through Sunday, Dec. 20. Geiger says they may extend the service year-round if there’s demand for it.
Everyday items like head phones, ear buds, even loud music through speakers can damage our hearing. Hair cells and hair bundles in the inner ear receive audio information and transmit it to the brain. When those hair bundles are damaged, hearing loss can occur.
“The hair cells are used to convert sounds to electrical impulses that go the brain,” explains Brian McDermott, associate professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at CWRU School of Medicine. “When sound comes into the ear, the hair bundles, or stereocilia, move back and forth. Loud noises can kill the bundle.”
But now researchers at Case the have discovered that the movement of protein within hair cells of the inner ear shows signs of a repair and renewal mechanism. That recognition means that researchers may be able to find a way to reduce or repair hearing loss, says McDermott. “We hope it gives insight into the important hair cell.”
McDermott and his team are using zebrafish – a transparent fish found in India's Ganges River – to study and better understand the workings of the human ear. “We use zebrafish in our research to study ears because the fish are optically clear,” explains McDermott. “Their hair cells are similar to human hair cells.”
McDermott learned a lot about the human ear from studying the fish. “For a number of years people thought that the hair bundle was a static structure and really didn’t change much over time,” he says. “We showed the hair bundle proteins actually move quite fast. We were shocked. We were surprised to see that movement.””
The discovery gave the researchers hope that there may be a way to cure hearing loss. “The reason that movement is important is it implies that there is a renewal process going on,” says McDermott. “Proteins are exchanging, which might be a repair process.”
The next step is to determine how the hair bundle may repair itself with the protein movement. McDermott and his team will continue to study the process fully in the transparent zebrafish ear. “There are no drugs right now that actually cure hearing loss,” says McDermott. “It’s very much a possibility that when we understand the process, that movement may heal hearing loss.”
The research was published in the Nov. 17 edition of Cell Reports.
“The hair cells are used to convert sounds to electrical impulses that go the brain,” explains Brian McDermott, associate professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at CWRU School of Medicine. “When sound comes into the ear, the hair bundles, or stereocilia, move back and forth. Loud noises can kill the bundle.”
But now researchers at Case the have discovered that the movement of protein within hair cells of the inner ear shows signs of a repair and renewal mechanism. That recognition means that researchers may be able to find a way to reduce or repair hearing loss, says McDermott. “We hope it gives insight into the important hair cell.”
McDermott and his team are using zebrafish – a transparent fish found in India's Ganges River – to study and better understand the workings of the human ear. “We use zebrafish in our research to study ears because the fish are optically clear,” explains McDermott. “Their hair cells are similar to human hair cells.”
McDermott learned a lot about the human ear from studying the fish. “For a number of years people thought that the hair bundle was a static structure and really didn’t change much over time,” he says. “We showed the hair bundle proteins actually move quite fast. We were shocked. We were surprised to see that movement.””
The discovery gave the researchers hope that there may be a way to cure hearing loss. “The reason that movement is important is it implies that there is a renewal process going on,” says McDermott. “Proteins are exchanging, which might be a repair process.”
The next step is to determine how the hair bundle may repair itself with the protein movement. McDermott and his team will continue to study the process fully in the transparent zebrafish ear. “There are no drugs right now that actually cure hearing loss,” says McDermott. “It’s very much a possibility that when we understand the process, that movement may heal hearing loss.”
The research was published in the Nov. 17 edition of Cell Reports.
As a biomedical engineering graduate student at CWRU, Punkaj Ahuja was working in 2010 on applications for a core sensor his team was developing.
Then the idea for a rapid blood test using the same technology came to him. By October 2014, he had formed Apollo Medical Devices – a company that is developing a low-cost, accurate and rapid blood analysis system.The company has offices at BioEnterprise.
“Our device uses rapid blood testing technology with a single drop of blood in just five minutes,” explains Apollo CEO Patrick Leimkuehler. “It delivers when time matters most – in the ER, the ICU and the OR.”
The Apollo system uses a single drop of blood to get basic metabolic panel, or CHEM-7, results in minutes. The test measures various basic levels like glucose, sodium, creatinine and potassium to diagnose illness and determine treatments. Other tests require a blood draw and take up to two hours for results.
“I was working on another project using the same sensor technology and a group of us were in a room brainstorming,” recalls Ahuja. "We were discussing what else we can do with this sensor technology – with its low cost and rapid results.”
After talking to a physician, Ahuja was convinced they had to develop their product. “That’s what pushed us toward the test itself,” he says. “Once it was ingrained in our minds, a lot of work and a bunch of labs tests began to get this into the real world.”
While the Apollo device is still in the development stage, Ahuja and Leimkuehler plan to have the product to market by 2017. Apollo plans to market the device primarily to hospitals’ emergency departments, intensive care units and operating rooms. Once launched, Leimkuehler says Apollo plans to expand and target primary care doctors and the home health care markets.
Last summer, Apollo Medical Devices won the $20,000 grand prize in JumpStart’s Startup Scaleup NEO Up-and-Comers Pitch Competition. The company has also received funding from the Northeast Ohio Innovation Fund, CWRU’s Case-Coulter Translational Research Partnership and Ohio’s Third Frontier Technology Validation and Start-up Fund.
Then the idea for a rapid blood test using the same technology came to him. By October 2014, he had formed Apollo Medical Devices – a company that is developing a low-cost, accurate and rapid blood analysis system.The company has offices at BioEnterprise.
“Our device uses rapid blood testing technology with a single drop of blood in just five minutes,” explains Apollo CEO Patrick Leimkuehler. “It delivers when time matters most – in the ER, the ICU and the OR.”
The Apollo system uses a single drop of blood to get basic metabolic panel, or CHEM-7, results in minutes. The test measures various basic levels like glucose, sodium, creatinine and potassium to diagnose illness and determine treatments. Other tests require a blood draw and take up to two hours for results.
“I was working on another project using the same sensor technology and a group of us were in a room brainstorming,” recalls Ahuja. "We were discussing what else we can do with this sensor technology – with its low cost and rapid results.”
After talking to a physician, Ahuja was convinced they had to develop their product. “That’s what pushed us toward the test itself,” he says. “Once it was ingrained in our minds, a lot of work and a bunch of labs tests began to get this into the real world.”
While the Apollo device is still in the development stage, Ahuja and Leimkuehler plan to have the product to market by 2017. Apollo plans to market the device primarily to hospitals’ emergency departments, intensive care units and operating rooms. Once launched, Leimkuehler says Apollo plans to expand and target primary care doctors and the home health care markets.
Last summer, Apollo Medical Devices won the $20,000 grand prize in JumpStart’s Startup Scaleup NEO Up-and-Comers Pitch Competition. The company has also received funding from the Northeast Ohio Innovation Fund, CWRU’s Case-Coulter Translational Research Partnership and Ohio’s Third Frontier Technology Validation and Start-up Fund.
In 2009, Cleveland City Council updated its non-discrimination law to include transgender people. Then council added an amendment.
But there was a problem with the wording, activists in the transgender community say. Council added an amendment to the law stating that employers and places of public accommodations could tell a transgender individual which restroom – men’s or women’s -- they could or could not use, instead of leaving that decision open to whichever sex he or she identifies with.
“You don’t often see discriminatory language in a non-discrimination law,” says Jacob Nash, co-chair of Cleveland is Ready, the group working on ordinance 1446-13, which would change the wording in the current ordinance.
“What removal of this piece would do is make it safer for transgender people,” explains Nash. “It’s not safe right now – telling a transgender woman to go into the men’s restroom. I know women who have been attacked or cornered or raped because that’s where they were told they needed to go.”
While some members of the transgender community are open, or “out,” others are not, Nash explains. Either way the situation can be humiliating. He tells of a transgender woman who was made to use the men’s room while a police officer stood guard outside the door.
“That’s ridiculous,” Nash says. “To have someone literally policing the restroom?”
Diane Dierker is also campaigning for 1446-13. “I’m a transgender woman, so this is of great concern to me, especially because now I’m a Cleveland resident,” she says. “Who is better able to determine who should use which bathroom than the person who has to go?”
Dierker’s employer allows her to use whichever bathroom she identifies with and she has never personally been harassed. “But I think about it every time I’m in a public place and have to go to the bathroom,” she admits, adding she does know people who have been harassed or even arrested.
Dierker points out that transgender people are not looking to do anything malicious. “Transgender people are in the bathroom for one purpose – to go to the bathroom,” she says.
Nash says Cleveland is Ready has gotten support from some city council members, but so far ordinance 1446-13 has not gone to a vote. Nash says they are hopeful it will be heard by the end of the year.
But there was a problem with the wording, activists in the transgender community say. Council added an amendment to the law stating that employers and places of public accommodations could tell a transgender individual which restroom – men’s or women’s -- they could or could not use, instead of leaving that decision open to whichever sex he or she identifies with.
“You don’t often see discriminatory language in a non-discrimination law,” says Jacob Nash, co-chair of Cleveland is Ready, the group working on ordinance 1446-13, which would change the wording in the current ordinance.
“What removal of this piece would do is make it safer for transgender people,” explains Nash. “It’s not safe right now – telling a transgender woman to go into the men’s restroom. I know women who have been attacked or cornered or raped because that’s where they were told they needed to go.”
While some members of the transgender community are open, or “out,” others are not, Nash explains. Either way the situation can be humiliating. He tells of a transgender woman who was made to use the men’s room while a police officer stood guard outside the door.
“That’s ridiculous,” Nash says. “To have someone literally policing the restroom?”
Diane Dierker is also campaigning for 1446-13. “I’m a transgender woman, so this is of great concern to me, especially because now I’m a Cleveland resident,” she says. “Who is better able to determine who should use which bathroom than the person who has to go?”
Dierker’s employer allows her to use whichever bathroom she identifies with and she has never personally been harassed. “But I think about it every time I’m in a public place and have to go to the bathroom,” she admits, adding she does know people who have been harassed or even arrested.
Dierker points out that transgender people are not looking to do anything malicious. “Transgender people are in the bathroom for one purpose – to go to the bathroom,” she says.
Nash says Cleveland is Ready has gotten support from some city council members, but so far ordinance 1446-13 has not gone to a vote. Nash says they are hopeful it will be heard by the end of the year.
The aromas of fresh baked bread and pastries will soon waft through the streets of Cleveland when Bloom Artisan Bakery and Café opens two locations next year. In a social enterprise venture, Towards Employment, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping low income and disadvantaged adults achieve self-sufficiency through employment, announced last week that it will open bakeries in both Public Square and on the Cleveland State campus.
“The Towards Employment board of directors set out to start a social enterprise a couple of years ago,” says Logan Fahey, Bloom’s general manager. "We looked at different industries – manufacturing, lawn care – and then we found this crazy bakery idea. It met a need in downtown Cleveland and it’s an incredible training opportunity for our students.”
Bloom will hire and train 12 to 14 employees through Toward Employment for both locations in its first year, with a vision of expanding into additional locations, corporate catering and wholesale. “We wanted to create a business that is scalable,” says Fahey. “The hope is that once they graduate from the bakery they will move on to jobs with higher wages and use the skills they’ve learned.”
Before being hired by Bloom, potential employees will go through Towards Employment’s four-week career readiness course.
Once hired, employees will be learning baking skills from the best. Internationally-renowned artisan baking specialist Maurice Chaplais will personally train the staff on the art of making pastry and bread with locally-sourced ingredients.
Menu items include items such as the Great Lakes Beer bread, house white bread, assorted dinner rolls and croissants, pies, cookies, cakes, brownies and tarts. If that wasn’t enough, Bloom will also serve a lunch menu of sandwiches, sides and soups.
The CSU location at 1938 Euclid Ave. will house the production facility in addition to the retail shop. “It will have full commercial kitchen with glass windows so you can see the bakers making the product,” says Fahey.
Training starts in January and Fahey says they expect to open in February or March. In the meantime, Bloom Bakery is looking for an experienced executive head baker. Interested candidate can email their resumes to Fahey.
“The Towards Employment board of directors set out to start a social enterprise a couple of years ago,” says Logan Fahey, Bloom’s general manager. "We looked at different industries – manufacturing, lawn care – and then we found this crazy bakery idea. It met a need in downtown Cleveland and it’s an incredible training opportunity for our students.”
Bloom will hire and train 12 to 14 employees through Toward Employment for both locations in its first year, with a vision of expanding into additional locations, corporate catering and wholesale. “We wanted to create a business that is scalable,” says Fahey. “The hope is that once they graduate from the bakery they will move on to jobs with higher wages and use the skills they’ve learned.”
Before being hired by Bloom, potential employees will go through Towards Employment’s four-week career readiness course.
Once hired, employees will be learning baking skills from the best. Internationally-renowned artisan baking specialist Maurice Chaplais will personally train the staff on the art of making pastry and bread with locally-sourced ingredients.
Menu items include items such as the Great Lakes Beer bread, house white bread, assorted dinner rolls and croissants, pies, cookies, cakes, brownies and tarts. If that wasn’t enough, Bloom will also serve a lunch menu of sandwiches, sides and soups.
The CSU location at 1938 Euclid Ave. will house the production facility in addition to the retail shop. “It will have full commercial kitchen with glass windows so you can see the bakers making the product,” says Fahey.
Training starts in January and Fahey says they expect to open in February or March. In the meantime, Bloom Bakery is looking for an experienced executive head baker. Interested candidate can email their resumes to Fahey.
