■

Their local products are being sold
nationally and internationally.

STEVE STEIN STAFF WRITER

BILL GEMMEL

BI G

CO

0

Left:
Elwin Greenwald:
Making scones.

Below:
Risa
Easing pain.

ne sells scones.
The other sells
a topical anal-
gesic liniment
which offers re-
lief from chronic
pain. Different prod-
uct,s, to be sure. But there are
some common denominators be-
tween Elwin Greenwald, the
man with the scones, and Risa
Miller, the liniment lady.
Both of their companies oper-
ate out of modest facilities in Roy-
al Oak. And both entrepreneurs
sell their products not just local-
ly, but far outside the area as
well.
Mr. Greenwald, former exec-
utive chef at Van Dyke Place in
Detroit who studied cooking in
France for nearly a year, left Van
Dyke and opened the Elwin's To
Go cafe in Royal Oak in 1990.
In 1993, Mr. Greenwald closed
Elwin's To Go after it moved to a
different Royal Oak location and
started Elwin and Company, sell-
ing only scones and brownies
wholesale.

About six months ago, Mr.
Greenwald dropped the brown-
ies and made scones his lone
product. Company sales reached
nearly the $1 million mark in
1994.
Today, Mr. Greenwald offers
more than 45 varieties of scones
— some fat-free — and they are
sold locally at coffee houses, book-
stores and markets.
They also are available in
northern Michigan cities like
Harbor Springs, Traverse City
and Mackinac Island, and in
Ohio, New York, Texas and Vir-
ginia.
This year's company wish list
includes expansion to areas like
Chicago and Manhattan, pro-
ducing a mix which would be sold
in gourmet cooking stores and
starting a mail-order business.
What began as one of the more
popular offerings at Elwin's To
Go has literally become Mr.
Greenwald's meal ticket.
About 400 dozen scones are

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