Umi Sushi Opens on the Plaza

There was a major change at a Plaza restaurant last December. Hana Sushi, which had been located at 29 N. Main for three years, was sold to Kjae Nam, who remodeled the interior and changed the name to Umi Sushi.
"I have lived in Jackson County for ten years, and before that was involved in the restaurant business in Portland for ten years," Kjae said. "My family is in the restaurant business, so I grew up in the industry. Throughout my career, I have been involved in all aspects of the industry. I also helped start many of the Benihana restaurants throughout the U.S."

Homemade Pasta at Wiley’s World

Three years ago Bill and Gretchen Boylan both had day jobs until they found out that their next-door neighbors were selling Wiley's World Pasta Shoppe and Eatery, located at 1606 Ashland Street.

"Bill has been a firefighter/engineer for Jackson County Fire District 5 for 23 years, and I was substitute teaching when this opportunity to move on to Wiley's came up," Gretchen said. "When the owners decided to sell, we jokingly said we should take it over.

Quality Car Repair and Sales at Henry’s Automotive

Henry's Automotive, located at 4586 S. Pacific Highway in Phoenix, will be celebrating 22 years in business this June. It was in 1991 that Henry Oprawski and his wife Grazyna decided to leave the big city life of L.A. for Ashland.

"We were tired of the big city," Grazyna said. "We had always loved Ashland and its culture, so we decided to move our business up here and call it home."

Joining them in the business was Slawek Krolak, who is married to Grazyna's sister Elizabeth. Slawek had been an engineer in his native Poland, and the Oprawskis convinced him to relocate to southern Oregon.

Milagro’s Fresh Mexican Opens

It's been a long and winding road for Susan and Steve Means the last few years. The two entrepreneurs met on a short airline flight back in the 1990s, and after getting married spent time in various locales around the country before deciding to return to Ashland.

Sue had moved to Ashland in 1982, was a midwife for seven years, and opened the Gourmet Coffee Cellar in 1989 before selling it to a friend in 1992.

Quality Auto Service at Siskiyou Imports

When Bow DeBey, owner of Siskiyou Import Service (1713 Siskiyou Blvd), was attending Ashland High School in the early 1990s, he was fortunate enough to find himself in the auto shop with Mr. Titus, a teacher who retired last year after 43 years.

"I was passionate about cars and figuring out how to fix their problems," Bow said. "After high school I went to work for a year at Siskiyou Imports for the owners, Butch McCamey and Daniel Bissey. I then moved to Eugene, where I met my wife and moved to Denver to be near her."