Innovation & Job News

Smart Dining sets its table at Ypsilanti SPARK office

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

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Ypsilanti

Making a choice about going out to dinner takes lots of information, especially when a group is making that decision. Enter Smart Dining, the company that strives to provide.

The downtown Ypsilanti-based firm serves as a resource for local restaurant websites, menus, reviews and discounts. A click on its website can provide easy access to all of this valuable information, making dinner choices easier.

Of course it's never as easy as it sounds. The company started off with a partnership with The Ann Arbor News two years ago and lots of immediate promise. Unfortunately, The Ann Arbor News' plans changed. Smart Dining is focused on avoiding that same fate, revamping its website and business model.

"How do you create an advertising vehicle that isn�t an in-your-face piece of junk mail?" says David Kanaan, president and co-owner of Smart Dining.

Smart Dining's four people are doing this in Ann Arbor SPARK's new East Incubator in downtown Ypsilanti.

"It's a fantastic place," Kanaan says. "If you saw what they offer to small businesses it would be stupid to go elsewhere. What they offer is unbeatable."

He is taking those vibes and getting ready to go forward on them. He thinks Smart Dining is one year away from hitting on all cylinders and then sky is the limit.

"The chance for expansion is infinite," Kanaan says. "It's all about gaining traction in one market and moving onto the next."

Source: David Kanaan, president and co-owner of Smart Dining
Writer: Jon Zemke