Craig Ryan Fine Clothing adds to revitalization of Atrium building

It’s been a while since downtown Lansing’s historic Atrium building was lively. Formerly home to the Strand Theatre and Arcade, later known as the Michigan Theatre, which closed in 1980, the building has long been used for office and retail space. But business owners said it hasn’t always been clear to passers-by that it’s open at all, much less for business.

That appears to be changing. On Tuesday, Sept. 9, a previously empty suite in the Atrium building sprang to life as customers walked into the newly opened fifth location of Craig Ryan Fine Clothing.

“It feels great,” Julian Delos Reyes, the company’s president, said. “I went to school down the road at Michigan State, and just being a part of the revitalization is exciting. We’re really looking forward to seeing where Lansing ends up.”

The store offers fine men’s clothing, from “the nicest handmade suits from Italy” to more casual pieces like “a nice golf polo” to staple items like socks and underwear, Delos Reyes said.

The business was founded in 2004 by Craig Ryan Kurzeja, who died last year. It has storefronts in Grand Blanc, Petoskey, Harbor Springs and Birmingham. While some locations offer women’s clothing, the Lansing location is a menswear shop — though Delos Reyes said that “around the holidays, whether it’s Mother’s Day or Christmas or anything like that, we bring in some items that are geared toward the ladies.”

At Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, Lansing Mayor Andy Schor said the shop is “filling a tremendous need.”

“We hear pretty often, ‘When will we get men’s clothing back again? When are we going to see the fine clothing?’ We’re over the moon,” Schor said.

This is the latest development in the effort to revitalize the Atrium building, which will be connected to the in-progress Tower on Grand skyscraper by a walkway over Grand Avenue as part Gentilozzi Real Estate’s New Vision Lansing project.

“As a business owner in the Atrium, it’s going to be great for people to see that it’s a space you can actually walk into,” Element Massage owner Colton Hughes said. “Being here for nine and a half years, it’s been pretty quiet for the majority. This is going to help people to see that there are actually things in here, businesses that would love for people to come in.”

Britt Houze, owner of the Middle Village shop BHouzeOriginals, said Craig Ryan will bring “a lot of new sets of eyes” to the Atrium building and “a new look to the city, a more urban feel.”

Craig Ryan is the second upscale menswear shop in downtown Lansing, though the first, Kositchek’s, has been temporarily closed for over a year after its roof caved in during a storm.

Delos Reyes said the store will bring Lansing residents “a sense of style and community that Craig built his business on.”

“A lot of our customers have, over time, become our friends,” he said. “Some of our biggest supporters are people that walked into Craig’s first store and just found reasons to come back.”