“As opposed to the alley the restaurant currently faces, we’ll now be able to offer streetside seating and hopefully bring even more people in off the streets,” Lori Targal said.

“We’re working on an all new menu and we’ll even have desserts and soups too.”

Plans to expand the restaurant, which will now feature a wood-burning stove and a new organic menu, came about after Lori and her son started turning away customers because they did not have enough room, she said.

“We just didn’t expect it to be doing so well, so quickly,” Lori Targal said.
“We expected most of our business to come from takeout but we ended up getting huge parties that wanted to come in and we just couldn’t handle the capacity.”

Pizza Pi, located in the same building as OZ, opened for business in August.

Pam Kazamer, a manager at Gumby’s Pizza, 311 W. Grand River Ave., said their store has good clientele but their business might be slightly impacted by Pizza Pi’s expansion.

“Even we’re willing to try different pizza ourselves,” Kazamer said.

The new smoke store in Lansing will offer glass blowing classes where customers will be able to design their own pieces, Lori Targal said. The Targals also expect to benefit from 10 nearby medical marijuana dispensaries, but Lori Targal said it was not the primary reason for relocating.

“We wanted to have a building with separate rooms so we could offer these types of classes that are separate from the rest of the store,” Targal said. “We’ve had a huge influx in interest in glass blowing, so we really wanted to offer more classes.”

Targal said she hopes her customers, many of whom are students, will follow the store to its new location.

“We’ve always been embraced here in East Lansing and they’ve always supported us and our art. Even though it’s not the best climate for expansion, we’re looking forward to this new venture,” she said.

Mandy Miller, a manager at Su Casa, a smoke shop in Lansing located at 1041 N. Cedar St., said she was not worried about the new competition from OZ and said the store was not aware of OZ’s relocation.

“We’re not at all worried because we’ve been here for 36 years and business has been good,” Miller said.

Miller said it did not surprise her more smoke shops were opening in Lansing because of the proximity of the nearby medical marijuana dispensaries.

Lansing resident and frequent OZ customer Amanda Duffy said she definitely plans to follow the store to its new location.

“I love everything that they have to offer here; everything they have is a piece of art,” Duffy said.

“Even though it’s a little more expensive, it’s OK because you know you’re getting something unique.”