Severna Park Blossoming With New Businesses

By Darrell Mak
A number of new businesses or new business owners have sprung up in the Severna Park area, offering residents more choices and more selection for their buying needs.
Kirsten’s Cakery, a new face in Park Plaza Shopping Center, opened in early March. The cakery specializes in weddings, birthdays, graduations, anniversaries or can create something special for practically any occasion. The bakery is dedicated to creating specialty and wedding cake designs that will present lasting memories and is committed to giving customers quality products, made from scratch.

“I chose Severna Park because a bakery was long overdue,” said Kirsten Klein, owner of Kirsten’s Cakery. Klein has lived in the area her whole life. “I worked in a bakery in Laurel and was amazed by the number of people who went there from this area to pick up a decent cake,” she said. “So when I was choosing the location, Severna Park was a no brainer.”
Klein says business has been fantastic so far, with patrons coming in, placing orders, buying cupcakes, and returning for more. For the future, she plans to continue growing the business. “I think it'll be really successful,” she concluded.
At the beginning of this year, Dr. Lee Lianides took over as the new owner of Severn River Animal Hospital on Benfield Road. The hospital strives to offer consistently superior healthcare for pets in a gentle and compassionate environment.
After working 10 years as a fill-in veterinarian at different animal hospitals, Lianides decided to look for a “tightly knit, civic-minded community” to start her own practice. “Severna Park is that place… it has tremendous pet owners,” she said. “I really enjoy it and am really excited to be here.”
Lianides said owners in this area have a real bond with their animals. They are truly members of their family and want to do whatever they can for them. “It’s really a pleasure working with people like this.”
Lianides has already begun expanding the practice and has added two employees since the beginning of the year. She plans to hire another veterinarian and offer more services if business continues to grow. “I am pretty optimistic,” she said.
Not too far from Severna Park, a brand new Chick-fil-A restaurant opened with typical fanfare on March 31 at the intersection of Ritchie Highway and Jumpers Hole Road. It’s the chain’s first restaurant in Pasadena and it will be headed by operator Patrick Cozadd, who transitioned as operator from the Marley Station Mall Chick-fil-A.
“Chick-fil-A may have grown to be the second-largest chicken restaurant chain in the country, but our ideals today are no different than those Truett Cathy exemplified when he started Chick-fil-A 43 years ago,” said Cozadd. “We want our customers to enjoy our freshly prepared food in the same friendly neighborhood environment he created.”
The restaurant drew a large crowd to its grand opening “First 100” celebration. During the event, Cozadd awarded the first 100 adult customers a one-year supply of free Chick-fil-A meals.
Continuing to expand despite the country’s economic challenges, Chick-fil-A opened 80 new restaurants last year. After reaching $3 billion in sales for the first time in 2009, Chick-fil-A continued the positive trend in 2010 reporting sales of nearly $3.6 billion.
“We are thrilled to continue expanding and responding to the requests of our loyal customers to bring Chick-fil-A closer to where they live,” said Dan T. Cathy, president and Chief Operating Officer of Chick-fil-A, Inc.