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Posted on Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 6:02 a.m.

Transition coming to Seitz's Tavern in Chelsea as owner to sell 94-year downtown bar

By Laura Blodgett

seitz1.jpg

Randy Seitz is preparing to sell his Seitz Tavern, which has been in downtown Chelsea and in his family for 94 years.

Laura Blodgett | For AnnArbor.com

Randy Seitz, the owner of Seitz’s Tavern in downtown Chelsea is selling the business, the building or both.

“All of my children are grown and have their own careers, so there is nobody to take over,” said Seitz. “Due to the economy, I have to put in extra hours. Basically, I’m tired.”

The ideal for him would be to sell the building and the bar outright, but he said he will also consider selling just the business and leasing the space.

“If there are no buyers, then I will probably put in a manager and become a silent partner,” he adds. Seitz is currently in the process of getting appraisals and has not yet selected a Realtor or listed the property.

The rectangular-spaced building is 2,400 square feet, including the first floor bar and upstairs office space. There is also additional space in the basement, currently used for storage.

Located at 110 W. Middle St., the bar has been in Seitz’s family for 94 years.

“It started across the street where the bakery is now at least as far back as 1874,” said Seitz. “It was bought by Tommy McNamara in 1895, and then my grandfather bought it from him in 1916.

"My grandfather had a little sandwich shop with a two-lane bowling alley down the street, and he wanted to expand, so he bought the bar.”

In 1928, Seitz’s grandfather bought the current building and moved the bar across the street — the actual bar and all.

At 11 feet high and 23 feet long, the bar is made of solid cherry with elaborate scroll work. Dating back to 1900, it is one of the last of the stand up bars, according to Seitz.

“I could fit about 12 stools in front of it, but this way I can pack 30 to 40 people at my bar, and they all talk to each other. Besides, this way I can always tell who has had enough to drink.”

As the eldest son, Seitz came home from college to help his father run the bar when his health started to deteriorate. He has been there now since 1976.

Seitz laughs and says they go beyond that old Cheers catchphrase, “where everybody knows your name” to “where generations know your name.”

For years, people have been coming for their popular Saturday beef plates, comprised of roast beef on top of three pieces of bread, with a layer of broth poured over it and topped with cheese and onion.

There is a cooler for takeout, but they sell its contents across the bar too, so many people just grab a beer out of the cooler and bring it to the bar to drink.

“We have a lot of the oddball beers in that cooler — the microbreweries, foreign beers, your ices — so I just have a sign on the cooler that reads ‘yuppie beer’,” says Seitz, laughing.

A former working man’s bar, Seitz says they had a hard time weathering the factory closings in the last few years. The smoking ban really hurt them too, he says.

“If you do a lot of food, it didn’t affect you because people expected that around the food. But if you have a bar, especially depending on your clientele, it really affected business.”

Seitz says he is so used to people smoking, he usually doesn’t even catch it at first.

“Who catches it are the other smokers who can’t do it. They police it so I don’t have to.”

He had to lay off some employees and pick up more hours earlier this year, but they are “doing okay now — not making big bucks, but staying above the red line.”

When Seitz started working nights again, he noticed how the bar has really changed.

“I am amazed at how many young men and women come in now," he said. "We get such a variety of people in here that there is no set group that we cater to anymore.”

Laura Blodgett is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to AnnArbor.com.

Comments

James Wencel

Fri, Dec 24, 2010 : 7:23 a.m.

Sorry to see Randy sell the bar but I wish him well in retirement or what ever he has planned. I grew up in Chelsea but have not lived there in over 30 years. I always stop into the bar when I am in the area. My kids love the burgers. The same burgers we used to eat as Jr. High students at lunch time. My grandfather took me into Seitz's when I was young and I have been going there ever since. Good Luck Randy and I hope the bar does not change much.

jondhall

Wed, Dec 22, 2010 : 8:19 a.m.

@ David Briegel be careful who you get in bed with! @ Clownfish: Go spend your grand-kids money not mine and your trickle down theory means nothing. Money is wasted no infrastructure created even Roosevelt did it better. Could have built Bridges, but gave money away needlessly, you voted for him keep him. He has 24 more months. Hope you have your tenure.

robyn

Fri, Dec 17, 2010 : 9:53 p.m.

When I was a little kid my Grandfather used to stop in there and he'd take me with him. He'd always get me a root beer and a bag of pretzels or chips. My Great-Grandfather used to take my Dad there when he was a kid. My Dad and I used to stop in for burgers. That place has been a part of my family's life for generations. I really do hope that a new owner doesn't come in and turn the place into some unrecognizable quasi-bistro...

David Briegel

Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 6:22 p.m.

Clownfish, you are absolutely correct as usual. The "state of denial" of those trickle down believers just can't be a healthy phenomenon. They just can't bring themselves to admit that Obama is a pragmatic centrist. If you thought for yourself you could not avoid that conclusion! Like most bars in the A2 area, it will likely become yuppified and gentrified.

jcj

Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 4:55 p.m.

Give it a break clownfish! I am not a drinker and have only been in Seitz's Tavern once. But this is another example of "the times they are a changing." Best of luck to you Randy.Thanks for your families contribution to the way it used to be in this country.

SMAIVE

Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 2:40 p.m.

94 years of Seitz stories would make a great book. How about how his grandfather handled prohibition in the day?

JGS

Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 1:31 p.m.

"Seitz-Seeing" Is like no other.

ShadowManager

Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 10:51 a.m.

When people drink PBR to be hip, they are really trying to be like Seitz's. Don't make them like this anymore. With some marketing, and a little edge, this could be the coolest "retro" bar in the State...but unfortunately, with all that Pabst Blue Ribbon, it wouldn't be the same.

clownfish

Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 10:30 a.m.

@clownfish... you think WAY too hard. Better than the alternative, not thinking at all and following the propaganda of the celebrity entertainers on the Telly, that'll get you "It MUST BE Obamas fault! I want the govt to fix every problem in the country, but keep them out of my life (and out of my Medicare!)" I am wondering how many jobs JONDHALL has created in the last two years? I am wondering if the owner of Seitz's has turned away unemployed patrons because that "Obama money" is no good in his bar? Lets give due where it is due, though... The Holmes Family in Chelsea! Jiffy Mix has added infrastructure to their business, which did spread some income around. I am betting they will take advantage of the "socialist" Obama capital improvement tax credit proposed by the "Maoist" in the White House, if it passes congress. (Communists are huge on tax credits for capitalists! This proves the "right" so correct about Obamas commie agenda). Chelsea Milling is doing well in a bad economy, by supplying a good product at a fair price, no advertising, no hoopla, no celebrity endorsements. Sorry for the digression, but when I read comments like JONDHALLS Extrapolations From Nowhere I just have to respond with at least a little logic. I would like an answer though, does he/she think that Washtenaw County would be better off without the $575,000,000? Would our economy in MI be better off if over 618,000 unemployed people had not been receiving unemployment benefits, over 200,000 receiving extended benefits? (as of Oct 2010). Since the "Obama stimulus package" passed, that has fallen from 699,000. Is it Obamas doing? Probably not all of it, but $13 billion had to have helped.

sun runner

Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 9:58 a.m.

Whenever people visit me in Chelsea, I take them to Seitz's, telling them "This place is one of a kind." I hope whoever takes over doesn't change much or anything at all.

Forever27

Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 9:16 a.m.

I'm going to miss roast beef plate saturdays and the $1 sliders.

AA

Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 9:04 a.m.

@clownfish... you think WAY too hard.

Top Cat

Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 8:45 a.m.

Back to the matter at hand....this bar is a treasure. For anyone that loves old bars and has not been there, go as soon as possible. It is like walking back in time to 1962.

clownfish

Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 8:35 a.m.

I wish Mr Seitz luck in his endeavor to find a new owner. @JONDHALL- "yuppie beer"- beer perhaps made locally, employing local people instead of Missourians? I guess that Obama stimulus plan is not working for the "working people ". Are you kidding me? This is your reaction to a local business being sold? The "socialism" of Obama brought millions of dollars to Washtenaw County, around $575 million! http://projects.propublica.org/recovery/locale/michigan/washtenaw Michigan received $13 billion dollars, maybe you think the state would be better off without an extra $13,000,000,000 floating around? Every wage earner(read: "working people") in the country received a tax cut under the stimulus package. So did most small businesses, such as those like Seitz's. JOND, maybe you could list the specific job growth brought to us by the Bush tax cuts, and show how the extension of cuts for millionaires is going to help out Seitz's Tavern? Allegedly Seitz's should be a part of the "small business" tax extension agreed to by the "socialist" Obama. We can see that the inheritance tax DID NOT keep Seitz's from transferring from generation to generation, now did it? So, JONDHALL, where are the jobs created by those that have received "job creating tax cuts" that have been in place for 10 years? Where is the "trickle down" economics from the top 1% of income earners, those that have continued to see an increase in income growth while the "working people" have seen stagnant wages and massive lay-offs? Last year, the top 20 percent of householdsthose taking home more than $100,000 a yearreceived 49.4 percent of all household income. The bottom 20 percentthose earning less than $20,000received 3.4 percent. The top earners' share is up from 49 percent in 2008, while the bottom earner's share fell from 3.6 percent. The ratio of earnings between the top and bottom is almost double what it was when the Census Bureau began tracking in 1967. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_41/b4198033845016.htm Why are the top 20% not buying beer at Setizs'? Must be Obamas fault.

jondhall

Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 7:16 a.m.

I guess that Obama stimulus plan is not working for the "working people ".