When a local cafe owned by a wonderful family was recently forced to rebrand — we knew that we just had to help.

Blue Caribou Cafe in Beulah, Michigan was served with a cease-and-desist letter from coffee giant Caribou Coffee Company Inc. and  didn’t have the money to fight the action — which could have cost more than $50,000. Being a Traverse City, Michigan based company, we felt compelled to help our fellow Northern Michigan business, and volunteer some of our time and resources to help them re-brand their fantastic company.

You can read more about their story here:

Record Eagle: Blue Caribou Cafe owners are forced to rebrand
Fox News: German coffee company crushes American family’s dream

We worked closely with the Chorley family and  their employees to research the how the business got started, learned about the family’s story, and got to understand the company culture before creating a completely new brand identity. Family plays an important part in the restaurant, as does the Northern Michigan location. Taking this into account, we suggested a new name that the family instantly loved:

Ursa Major Bistro

After we settled on the new name, we also designed a custom logo that includes a mark we call the “ladle bear.”  The bear is blue, a subtle nod to the previous name sitting comfortably in a big dipper. It’s a literal visual tied to the Ursa Major constellation but it also highlights one of the cafe’s most coveted dishes: their soups! Finally, the mark includes a seven-point North Star which represents the seven members of the Chorley family.

We were happy to be a part of this project, and glad that we could help on of our Northern Michigan neighbors!

Congratulations Ursa Major Bistro — and best of luck in the future!