A Hive, a Bird, and a Boat

Three operations, two towns, and one couple behind it all

Business is business. But for Landon McDaid, business needs to mean more. That’s why Landon and his wife, Nicole McDaid, want the impact of their three Leelanau County operations to go beyond their own pocketbooks.

The McDaids’ Hive Coffee Co. in Suttons Bay supports mental health and honeybee conservation. Little Boat Coffee in Leland supports the Great Lakes. Birdie’s Sandwiches in Suttons Bay supports Michigan wildlife. The latter two businesses opened less than three months ago.

Northern Express sat down with Landon to see how it started, how it’s going, and what’s next.

A Buzz in Suttons Bay

Landon and Nicole (now a full-time nurse at Munson Medical Center) met while in school at Ferris State University not long before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Landon initially majored in environmental biology before switching to hospitality, working chef and bartending jobs in Big Rapids while he attended school.

“We were in college and I was working about four part-time jobs taking 15 credit hours, so my wife and I were just not able to hang out a lot,” Landon says. “We were like ships crossing in the night.”

But they found connection and peace after Landon bought a nice espresso machine.

“I just started making us coffee every morning, and it became a ritual where we would sit together every morning and talk about life, talk about how we wanted to go forward, go through our mental health for the day, and kind of prepare ourselves for the day,” he says.

Fast-forward a few years to when the McDaids came north to live with Nicole’s sister and brother-in-law, Kat and Tony West, during COVID. West was managing the Leland Lodge at the time, and Landon went on to work in various hospitality positions at the Lodge, Dune Bird Winery, and elsewhere.

They moved up here full time, and the opportunity in 2023 to open Hive—which had been a Mundos location—was too great to pass up. In the back of Landon’s mind was just how important that morning coffee conference was to his mental and emotional health.

“That’s kind of where Hive started, because I wished everybody had that ritual to fall back on and have it launching them into their day,” he says.

While the McDaids are certainly proud of the coffee and other drinks and treats they provide at Hive, it’s the mission that means the most.

“I want a heart behind my business. I know I can’t wake up in the morning every day and go make coffee just for money,” Landon says. “So our mission for Hive is to support local mental health and honey bee conservation. That part of me that likes environmental biology is still in there.”

Hive has made various donations to causes in this vein and has hosted several events to raise awareness and offer support, particularly for mental health.

More Opportunities

Birdie’s and Little Boat opened on Nov. 20 and 21, respectively, just a few short weeks after the McDaids got the keys to those spaces. Both openings were less about a desire for expansion and more the result of the couple jumping on two opportunities.

Birdie’s is in a separate space toward the back of Hive that was formerly occupied by Bay Burrito. Landon had his eyes on it with a specific plan in mind, should it ever be available.

“I thought it would be really nice to offer a grab-and-go sandwich option in Suttons Bay. It was a niche that my old manager and I had talked about all last summer,” he says. “We had talked about if that space ever becomes available, that'd be an awesome thing to do there.”

In the meantime, Landon heard a rumor that Madcap Coffee was planning to vacate its space in Leland. He approached the Madcap folks and said he’d like to be the first person they called if that was indeed the case. They later called him with an offer to sell, though the two parties had to hammer out a price.

“We were in the middle of negotiating price for equipment, and I had to wait about two weeks for them to [pull together a price for equipment],” he says. “In the time I was waiting for them to give me a final amount, Bay Burrito said they were leaving.”

So here the McDaids were, working to open up two new operations in a matter of weeks and then finding a way to run all three at once. It was stressful, but mostly the good kind of stress, surrounded by friends and family.

“I’m definitely the rip-the-band-aid-off kind of person,” Landon says. “It’s been challenging, and honestly, without my wife, I’d probably be going insane. And without both of our parents, my parents doing a bunch of remodeling, and the support from her parents, it wouldn’t be possible at all.”

And before the concepts and menus of these two new operations were fully fleshed out, Landon was already thinking about the heart behind both businesses.

“With Little Boat, our cheeky little slogan or whatever you want to call it is that you can still make waves with a little boat,” he says. “We want to have some impact on Lake Michigan and Michigan waterways, and also the Fishtown Preservation [Society].”

The impact for Birdie’s is still taking shape.

“The heart behind Birdie’s is to support Michigan wildlife, and we’re still trying to figure out how we can target that, but I’ve got some friends that are going to get me in contact with the Piping Plover Project,” he says.

Doing It Well

Idealism is great, of course, but it only gets you so far in the competitive world of consumer-focused business. That’s why Landon and his staff have gone a long way toward making the best cup of coffee they can at Hive and Little Boat (Mundos and Madcap continue to roast the coffee for both locations, though Landon hopes to roast his own soon).

“What I’m really most proud of is a saying that I learned in hospitality, which is that if you’re going to do something, do it well,” he said. “So everything we do, we have a standard for. Every shot of espresso we pull is exact weight, exact timing, and dialed in to exactly how we want it to taste. Our syrups are all made in-house…Our staff takes 15, 20 minutes out of their opening procedures just to make sure our coffee is tasting right.”

Over at Birdie’s, the sandwiches are second to none, Landon says.

“We’re most proud of the flavors that are coming out of there. We’ve got really good sauces that we’re putting on sandwiches and really good creations that are super fun. We’ve got an amazing muffalata there. We’ve got a great turkey club that features our bird sauce, which is a Calabrian chili mayonnaise,” he says. “We’ve got so many good, different, unique sandwiches.”

Customers have warmly welcomed both new businesses, Landon says, even though it’s the off-season. He looks forward to warmer months ahead.

Find Hive Coffee Co. at 206 N St Joseph St, Suttons Bay, in Suite B and Birdie’s Sandwiches in Suite D, and Little Boat Coffee at 106 N Main St in Leland. hive-coffee.com

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