Green Door takes semi-breather as owners search for a buyer

The Green Door, an eastside Lansing institution for more than three decades, serving up the blues and a wide variety of other music while also thriving as an old-school neighborhood bar and grill, is for sale — but there are no plans to shut it down.

Co-owner Jen Costigan announced on Monday that she and her partner are seeking a buyer. Meanwhile, she said she will discontinue live entertainment on Fridays and Saturdays for the rest of the summer while staying open on Thursdays.

 The asking price is $200,000, as listed on bizbuysell.com, for the 2005 E. Michigan Ave. establishment. On the Support & Training part of the page, it states, “Management will stay on during transition and possibly to run the business post-sale.”

Co-owner Jon Woolston said Tuesday that it’s time for someone else to take the reins, but the goal “is to sell it to somebody who will keep it the way it is. They will have their own vision, but hopefully, it correlates with the vision we have.”

Meanwhile, MiLife Sports & Social Club and DJ karaoke will continue on Thursdays (except for July 3).

“The game plan is that if we can’t find a buyer, we’ll just open back up in September for three days a week and go from there,” Woolston said.

Costigan invited the community to join her this Saturday, June 28, for a farewell party of sorts to close out the final weekend of service and entertainment, which will feature the Big Willy Band and Root Doctor, fronted by Freddie Cunningham.

She didn’t provide any reason for the decision in the release other than wanting to “start the next chapter of my life” and address her knee problems “before I actually have a peg leg.”

“It’s an emotional thing for Jen,” Woolston said. “This has been her life. She started working here when she was 18. If this works out, she wants to go out on her own terms with the going-away party.”

As was the case for many businesses, the pandemic severely tested The Green Door’s livelihood. It closed for about 18 months and eventually reopened on Sept. 24, 2021, operating on a Thursday-through-Saturday schedule. The establishment closed the grill and stopped serving food shortly after it reopened but allowed patrons to bring in outside food.

The Green Door’s website notes that the establishment began as a restaurant called The Green Door Lounge in the mid-1960s. Over the years, it transitioned from offering live music only on weekends to providing live entertainment nightly, as well as hosting special events on Sundays and Mondays. It became known not just as a blues bar but also for its wide variety of music featured in recent years and its lively dance floor.

The Green Door was a perennial  top-three placer in City Pulse’s Top of the Town contest.

Costigan thanked all the musicians and bands that had performed over the years, as well as friends, co-workers, employees and “the best customers ever.”

“Most of you have become GD familia. I will never forget you.”