Questions & Answers with community faces

Kelly (Hunter) Masters (39) grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from Bishop Watterson High School in 2003. She followed that up by attending Ohio University, where she graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor’s degree in public health administration.

Meanwhile, Kevin Masters (39) grew up about 100 miles away in Cincinnati and graduated from Little Miami High School in 2004. He then attended Ohio University and graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science degree in sport management and business.

The couple met while both were attending OU; they began dating in 2011 and married in 2014. 

“Growing up in Ohio, you aren’t taught many good things about the state of Michigan,” Kevin says. “We sang a chant called, ‘We don’t give a darn for the whole state of Michigan’.”

Nowadays, though, the Masters are singing a different tune.

They were first introduced to the beauty of our mitten state after Kevin’s job in medical sales moved them to Grand Rapids in 2013. But after five years, they moved back to Columbus.

After making frequent trips back north, the Masters would one day have a fateful car picnic on a color-filled fall day at the Beulah beach, and shortly thereafter, they purchased a summer cottage in Beulah in 2022. 

After visiting Beulah’s popular East Shore Market a few times, Kevin began to chat with Nels Nelson about potential business opportunities: originally, the idea was for the Masters to purchase the business and building, with Nels continuing on in the market, since he could not quite bring himself to fully retire. But the plan quickly went sideways upon the untimely death of Nels last March. 

Nels and Karen Nelson—who were married for 43 years before his death last spring—had originally bought the building in the early 1990s from the Ely family, who operated Ely’s Superette. The Nelsons established East Shore Market, which included groceries, a bakery, and a deli, and the little storefront has had a devoted fan base of locals and summer people for more than three decades. 

So last spring, the Masters sold their home in Dublin, Ohio, before relocating to their Beulah cottage and then ultimately purchasing a home in Frankfort. Kevin is still working his “day job” while Kelly homeschools their four children—Hazel (8), George (6), Nora (4) & Margaret, called “Greta” (1)—but they both work at East Shore on the weekends and in the evenings.

Continuing with our interview series on impactful Northern Michigan characters, The Betsie Current caught up with the couple as they were preparing to celebrate their one-year anniversary and discuss how the transition has been going.  

The Betsie Current: What made you want to get into this industry? 

Kelly Masters: When we lived in Grand Rapids, there was a shop called Martha’s Vineyard that we always loved going to. East Shore seemed like it had the same potential to us, and we were excited to carry on their already established traditions, as well as turning the shop and storefront into our very own.  

Kevin Masters: My father instilled a love of cooking and international fare in me at a young age—even more so than tasting the yummy foods was the appreciation of serving others!   

Current: What does a typical day of work look like for you? 

Kelly: As a homeschool mom, the four kids keep me relatively busy. With a background in retail, I have a hand in merchandising at East Shore, as well as trying to expand our vegetarian menu.

Kevin: Currently, I’m a regional sales director for a healthcare lab in 11 states in the northeastern United States as my “day job.” We rely heavily on our amazing staff and management to execute on the daily, then Kelly and I get to work in the shop when we’re able to—usually on nights and weekends.  

Current: What are your favorite three items on the menu? What are your top three sellers? What about market items? And what do you estimate is the ratio of people who order The Judy compared to everything else on your menu? 

Kelly: Our soups! We’ve been making a great black bean soup, otherwise I go for a veggie sub, and usually one of our assorted chocolate bars. 

Kevin: We love “The Judy” sandwich, because of how much everyone else loves the Judy; I would say it’s probably two-thirds of our orders are for Judys. Otherwise, I opt for a baked East Shore Club or baked Italian, but secretly our Pizza Sub is our most slept-on sub—you should try one! Our snack selection is getting bigger by the day; we try to get a healthy mix of mainstays, as well as some unique international snacks. Our goal is that we may not necessarily have everything that the big grocers in our area have, but they don’t have the things we have, either!  

Current: And what can you tell us about the wine selection? We know that was a big thing for Nels, and he always had a recommendation or two for folks; how are you continuing that legacy? 

Kevin: Last summer, a local sommelier type, Jack Evans, had approached us about a service he provided where he procured wines for establishments. He began filling the void that Nels had previously filled, and after a few months of him providing this service, we quickly knew that he’d be the perfect candidate to help carry on that tradition, and he became the general manager of our Beulah market.  

Current: How have you seen your work grow and change? How do you hope that it will continue to grow? What is next? What do you want people to know about the transition of East Shore? What will stay the same, and what do you see changing?

Kelly: When we were taking over ownership of the shop, it was made very clear to us not to change The Judy! The store had so many great aspects to it, with a few things we knew that we’d want to change—updating the aesthetics and expanding some retail footprint is something we’ll forever be working on, but we feel like we’re getting closer and closer to our vision of what the store could look like.  

Kevin: A big challenge for us was keeping some things similar but making it feel like it was ours.  The original plan was for Nels to continue to work the Deli, but be less responsible for the backend work of running a business.  When he passed, our original plan went out the window. We started with a light upgrade to the aesthetics. We then shifted hours to be open a little earlier and to stay open a little later. Going to seven days a week had its challenges, but the community has definitely responded in a positive manner to the changes. One of our big focuses for this coming summer is expanding our grab-and-go capabilities—we hear about ever-increasing wait times at sit-down establishments, which we feel like is an opportunity for us. Who doesn’t love a to-go Judy with a view?  

Current: What kinds of things do you do for fun, when you are not working? What other things are you involved with? How did you get involved with them, and why are you passionate about these causes?  

Kelly: As a family, we love being outdoors—hiking, biking, swimming, playing in the snow, anything to move our bodies! One of the biggest surprises so far, since moving to Benzie County, has been the homeschool network.  We are involved in a few different groups, but it seems like we are always being exposed to new opportunities within the community. 

Kevin: I spend a fair amount of time working, which is why it means the world to us to be able to unplug outside. The forest offers a lack of spreadsheets, vendor calls, and accounting that I yearn for, ha. One thing that we’ve been trying to become more involved in is our small business communities, like the CLCBA [Crystal Lake Community Business Association] has been a good “peak behind the curtain.” They put on fun events like Beulah’s Fall and Winter Fests, as well as the summer concert series, where Benzie Boulevard is shut down to cars and people put their lawn chairs right in the street in front of our shop.

Current: How have you seen Benzie County change since you first came here to visit? What are your hopes for the area in the future?

Kelly: We’ve loved getting to know some of the gems off the beaten path—the upgrades to Memorial Park in Benzonia, some of the nature preserves that we hadn’t previously explored. In the future, we’d love to see more continued economic opportunities for people in Benzie county.  

Kevin: Certainly the demand in housing has changed—even since we bought our cottage in 2022. I’d love to see expansion of year-round employment opportunities for people in the area; if we could figure out a way to entice some manufacturing or industrial employers, that would be a key step.  

Current: What are the biggest challenges and rewards of living/working in Benzie County, and in Northern Michigan, in general? What is the best or most rewarding part of your job?

Kelly: Working in the shop, you get to meet just about everyone, it seems like—long-term residents, summer-goers, business owners, and everyone in between! It’s a small enough community that, after a short while, we were able to draw some connections to people we’d met and instantly felt like we were members of the community.  

Kevin: Last summer was a crash course on Market operations for us, so it was fairly a blur. But one day, I realized amidst the chaos, that we are now a part of people’s summers-in-Northern-Michigan memories. Someone had brought their newborn in, along with their mom and grandma, and explained to us that they’ve been coming to the area and getting a Judy at East Shore Market for the past 20 years—and that this was baby’s first trip to East Shore. I thought to myself after that experience, This is so much more than a sub shop. This is a part of people’s summer traditions; how cool is that?

Current: What could Benzie County do to attract more talented people to this area? What else does Benzie County need?

Kelly: Affordable housing is a must, which I know is a more difficult problem to solve than just saying it out loud. But the drastic rise in home costs makes it seem like nobody can afford to move to the area.

Kevin: I think, since we’ve been in the community, we’ve experienced a shift in people migrating here from city centers—including ourselves. Definitely expanding on broader year-round employment, I think, would help a great deal. Selfishly, we’re excited for the talk of the new aquatic center [at the site of the old Crystal Lake Elementary] and anything that can be done to expand indoor winter activities!  

Current: What are your favorite local events and activities? Any favorite dining, recreation, hiking spots?

Kelly: Our libraries across the county put on such wonderful programs for our family and kids. The Darcy Library in Beulah, the Benzonia Library at the Mills Community House, the Betsie Valley Library in Thompsonville, and the Benzie Shores District Library in Frankfort  all do such a wonderful service for our community.  COGNiTiON Science & Discovery Center in Beulah, as well, plays a big part of our family’s activities in the area, when not outside! Outdoors-wise, we spend a lot of time at Old Baldy Dunes, Old Indian Trail, Mt. Minnie off Deadstream Road with views of both Platte lakes, the Michigan Legacy Art Park at Crystal Mountain; otherwise, pick a beach, and we’ll meet you there! Esch Road at Otter Creek, near Empire, has always been the place we frequent to remind us of why we live in Northern Michigan.  

Kevin: The first weekend that we owned our cabin in the area, we went to St. Ambrose and have always loved it there, in every season. Anything that the Beulah Boosters are putting on is always a must for our kids and family in downtown Beulah! Outdoors, we love the Betsie Valley Trail, canoeing on the Platte River, and yeah, like Kelly said, pick a beach and we’ll meet you there—with the snacks!  

Current: What does your perfect spring day look like in Benzie County? How would you spend it?

Kelly: Anytime that I can get all four kids outside without four sets of snow gear, ha! Early morning bike ride, mid-day hike, late-night fire.  

Kevin: Anytime the sun is shining, and we can open up the windows at home—we prefer colder weather to warmer weather, so it doesn’t take much above 50 degrees to make us happy!  

Visit EastShoreMarket.com online to learn more. Keep up with wine tastings and menu features at “East Shore Market” on Facebook or @EastShoreMkt on Instagram. Stop by the Beulah location, which is open seven days a week, or visit the Frankfort 2Go location, which is open weekdays from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. with summer hours to be extended in May.  

Featured Photo Caption: Kevin (39) and Kelly (39) Masters purchased the beloved East Shore Market—both the Beulah and Frankfort locations—close to a year ago. Pictured here in front of the Beulah store with their four children George (left, 6), Hazel (8), Nora (4) & Margaret, called “Greta” (1). Photo courtesy of East Shore Market.