Ferndale

AJ’s Café to close at end of March

By Jeremy Selweski
C & G Staff Writer

» Click on image to view full size « Photo by David Schreiber After five years in business, AJ’s Music Café in downtown Ferndale will close at the end of March. Owner A.J. O’Neil, pictured, became known nationwide for his marathon concerts that also served as tributes to the Detroit auto industry and its workers. Photo by David Schreiber After five years in business, AJ’s Music Café in downtown Ferndale will close at the end of March. Owner A.J. O’Neil, pictured, became known nationwide for his marathon concerts that also served as tributes to the Detroit auto industry and its workers.

FERNDALE — His time as a business owner may be coming to an end, but A.J. O’Neil has no regrets.

The owner of AJ’s Music Café in downtown Ferndale will be closing at the end of March after five years in business, a time during which his café received national publicity for its world record-setting marathon concerts and its staunch support of the Detroit auto industry and blue-collar American workers. Still, O’Neil is not sad to be putting the finishing touches on this chapter of his life.

“I’m very proud of all the great things that we’ve accomplished here,” he said. “This has become a community gathering place more than just a regular business. We’ve gotten the attention of the world about the importance of hardworking people on ‘main street’ and how much they mean to this region. We’ve provided a lot of good things that money can’t buy — goodwill, awareness, hope, inspiration — and that has made this journey well worth it.”

O’Neil said that the first thing he plans to do when the café closes is to take a two-week vacation. He pointed out that nearly all of his time and energy over the last five years have been devoted to running his business. In order to pay his $3,100 monthly rent, O’Neil typically works about 70 hours per week, only to bring home about $250 in profits.

“I’m very tired after five straight years of that,” he said. “The unfortunate truth is that I’m not able to make a living in this business. I can’t keep working this many hours to just barely get by.”

O’Neil lamented that in addition to his business’ high rent price, the landlord of AJ’s Café has not done a good job of maintaining the property, and some of the building’s problems have recently begun to snowball.

Cristina Sheppard-Decius, executive director of the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority, believes that AJ’s Café will be missed, especially by its base of loyal customers and performers.

“It definitely contributed to the life and vitality of the street and brought more people to the downtown district by generating positive awareness,” she said. “A business like that can have a big impact on the community itself because a lot of people hold it close to their hearts.”

Still, she added, that’s not necessarily a formula for commercial success. “When it comes to running your own business, having great passion and creativity doesn’t necessarily translate into smart financial decisions that will help you expand your customer base,” Sheppard-Decius said. “You also have to have a strong business concept that fits what the market is looking for.”

Besides the pending closure of AJ’s Café, a number of other changes are afoot in downtown Ferndale. The former Via Nove will soon become the Local Kitchen & Bar, while the former Club Bart will reopen as the John D. Bistro & Bar and the former Post Bar is being transformed into the Woodward Imperial. In addition, the former Cantina Diablo’s has already reopened as One Eyed Betty’s, and the Go Comedy! Improv Theater is expanding its operations into a second building. Other new businesses include B. International Hair, TV Fitness, D’s Treasure Chest and Evolution Spa.

But for some downtown Ferndale patrons, there will be no way to replace the unique environment of AJ’s Café. Ferndale resident Greg Sumner, a history professor at the University of Detroit Mercy, has been a regular at the café’s Wednesday open mic nights since it first opened. He especially enjoys the warm, friendly, inviting atmosphere that has become a hallmark of AJ’s.

“A bunch of us started calling it ‘church’ because of the feeling of unity and fellowship that we get there,” Sumner said. “It has an intimacy to it that’s like a family, and anyone is welcome to join the family on any given night. The place is really a reflection of A.J. and his personality and energy and enthusiasm. He is the café, and the café is him.”

Sumner believes that people are craving that type of personal connection more and more in the detached digital age that we live in. He also feels this is why AJ’s has been able to attract such a diverse audience, from local artists and intellectuals to blue-collar workers, political activists and everyone in between.

“This is going to be a big loss to the Ferndale community,” Sumner said. “We’ll be mourning that loss, but we’ll be celebrating it as well. Hopefully, we can find a way to keep the AJ’s spirit alive elsewhere after it closes.”

O’Neil is unsure of where his career will take him once the café is no longer at the center of his life. In the immediate future, though, he will be focusing on his campaign to unseat U.S. Rep. Sander Levin (D-Royal Oak) as a Democrat representing Michigan’s 12th congressional district.

“I definitely want to stay active in metro Detroit,” O’Neil said. “I’m a young man with a lot of energy and a lot of ideas about how to restore our city’s tarnished reputation. As for this place … we’ve made our point, our lease is up, and now it’s time to say good night.”

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Jeremy Selweski at jSelweski@candgnews.com or at (586)218-5004.