Birmingham's trendy downtown has struggled in recent years to redefine itself. It's become a collection of specialty shops but still has empty storefronts. Now, the city is considering taking steps to fill those buildings, including increasing the number of liquor licenses it allows in order to draw more businesses downtown.

The two juice bars are among several businesses that have opened in downtown Birmingham over the past few months, breathing fresh life into the area. Pam Iacobelli, president of the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce, said about a half dozen businesses have opened in downtown Birmingham over the past two years.

"When you take all of the tenants in downtown Birmingham, including obviously the commercial tenants, the occupancy rates are encouraging," she said. "There are less clothing stores and more of the food and beverage establishments."

The owners of the establishments don't think so. They say that though they'll be targeting a similar audience, they're confident they'll last.

"We're not just a smoothie place," said Sean Gilmartin, who co-owns Tropical Squeeze with his dad, Dan Gilmartin, and a few other partners. Sean Gilmartin points out that the bar serves more than a half dozen types of lattes, has sandwiches made on fresh-baked baguettes and offers an assortment of desserts, fresh fruits and more.

Similarly, Mijo Alanis, who co-owns Beyond Juice with his wife, Pam Vivio-Alanis, said his juice bar business will be successful in Birmingham because of its focus on healthy foods and drinks.

"The people in Birmingham are health conscious," said Alanis, who lives in Bloomfield Township. "People aren't eating fries and burgers anymore."

He was munching on a turkey sandwich and sipping a Razzle Dazzle smoothie, made with strawberries, raspberries, bananas, honey and a few other ingredients. Hannett comes fairly often for lunch during the week and with his wife on the weekends.

Whether or not customers such as Maitland and Hannett continue to patronize the juice bars, the owners of each place at least seem well-prepared for the competitive business they've chosen. Alanis and his wife, for instance, have owned Vivio's, a bar and restaurant in Detroit's Eastern Market, for years, and Dan Gilmartin has worked in retail most of his life.

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