Brunswick Auto Mart
Car shopping with a personal touch? It’s all part of the experience at Brunswick Auto Mart.
After spending decades working in other dealerships, Gary Panteck purchased his own car business in 1990. Together with his sons, Bryan and Geoff, Brunswick Auto Mart expanded to include five standalone buildings staffed by over 300 employees.
Today, Bryan and Geoff handle day-to-day operations at the family-run dealership. The two brothers have been with the business for over 20 years and grew up watching their father sell cars.
Despite the company’s growth over the years, the family stays focused on what matters most — relationships. “We believe in taking care of the customer and making the process of purchasing or servicing a car seamless and easy,” says Bryan Panteck, vice president of Brunswick Auto Mart. The dealership prides itself on repeat customers, sometimes selling cars to multiple generations in the same family.
They also strive to keep their long-term employees with the company. Most of their managers have been with Brunswick Auto Mart for 15 to 20 years. “When customers come back, hopefully for the second or third time around, they’re seeing and talking to the same people,” says Panteck.
Finally, their positive partnership with the City of Brunswick has helped them develop and expand. “In the last 10 years, when we’ve grown the most, Grant Aungst, the city’s economic development director, has been extremely helpful,” says Panteck. “He’s also done a great job of bringing other businesses in around us, which helps the community.”
The Human Bean
It’s always a brewtiful day at the Human Bean, one of Brunswick’s newest coffee shops.
Owner Kyle Nothnagel first got the idea to bring a drive-thru coffee franchise to the Cleveland area when he was on a family trip to the West Coast. “I drove by this place (a Human Bean franchise location), and it just screamed Northeast Ohio,” Nothnagel says. “The last time I saw a coffee shop drive-thru was when I was a little kid.”
With a background in the service industry, opening a coffee shop seemed like an ideal project for him. When a property became available in the City of Brunswick, he thought the Human Bean and Brunswick would be a perfect match. The location opened in June 2022, offering a unique double-sided drive-thru and a wide variety of drinks, along with a small food menu. Some of the most popular coffees are cold brews, cold foams and energy drinks. The Granita — a blended, frozen drink — is also a favorite, made with milk, espresso and sugar. Some of the food options include bagels, cookies, muffins and breakfast sandwiches.
The location was designed without headsets or screens in order to encourage interaction between customers and employees. “I wanted people to be able to ask questions,” says Nothnagel.
Opening a new business has come with challenges, including figuring out a safe traffic pattern to accommodate the building’s drive-thru. But the City of Brunswick was a huge help. “I’m so thankful to Hannah Ashley (general manager and Nothnagel’s partner in life), my staff and the City of Brunswick,” Nothnagel says. “The people working at the city have all been wonderful. I have not had one bad experience.”
Mapleside Farms
For almost 100 years, Mapleside Farms has operated as an active orchard with over 4,000 apple trees. But this is more than just an ordinary farm. Nestled on 146 acres in the heart of Brunswick, it’s a year-round venue for festivals, concerts, weddings and events. It was even voted America’s most beautiful farm in 2011.
At Mapleside Farms, visitors can experience the beauty of rolling hills and a rustic barn while enjoying live music, delicious food and fun-filled activities. The farm has become a popular spot for high-end weddings — couples have traveled from all over the country to get married at Mapleside. In addition, seasonal events like the famous Pumpkin Village, Breakfast with Santa and Breakfast with the Easter Bunny draw enormous crowds throughout the year.
For Mapleside owners Greg and Kelly Clement, it’s all about creating unique events and activities for their visitors. “The absolute best part about life is experiencing the world with people we love,” says Greg Clement. “We love to create new and cool experiences for people. We love to create memories that last a lifetime.”
Greg and Kelly grew up in Brunswick and visited Mapleside Farms as kids. Around 2007, developers planned to purchase the farm and use the land to build 230 homes. When that deal paused, the Clement family had the opportunity to purchase Mapleside in 2010 and conserve the authentic rural character of the property. They continued working with the previous owners, the Eyssen family, who had managed Mapleside since 1927. “It was a good transition. The Eyssens are a great family,” says Greg, noting that two generations of the Eyssen family still work on the farm. “Everyone knew Mapleside Farms, and we could see a lot of untapped potential.”
Today, the farm continues to thrive as a unique agri-tourism venture in the Brunswick community. “You can’t ever stop the path of progress, but you can create pockets of nature and peace that are reminiscent of the good old days,” says Greg. “That’s why we try to keep Mapleside as authentic as possible.”
