{"id":4744,"date":"2026-04-15T03:49:04","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T03:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/after-33-years-krazy-jims-blimpy-burger-changes-ownership\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T03:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T03:49:10","slug":"after-33-years-krazy-jims-blimpy-burger-changes-ownership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/after-33-years-krazy-jims-blimpy-burger-changes-ownership\/","title":{"rendered":"After 33 years, Krazy Jim\u2019s Blimpy Burger changes ownership\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blimpyburger.com\">Krazy Jim\u2019s Blimpy Burger<\/a>, located at 304 S. Ashley St., temporarily closed March 17 due to a change in ownership following the death of previous owner Richard Magner, who ran the establishment for over 30 years. The restaurant, now undergoing renovations, plans to re-open by the end of May.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Blimpy Burger is a long-standing Ann Arbor burger restaurant which prides itself on its affordability, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blimpyburger.com\/how-to-order\">efficient service<\/a> and uniquely curt treatment of customers who slow down their service. Blimpy\u2019s motto since opening has been \u201ccheaper than food,\u201d and the restaurant only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blimpyburger.com\/menus\">charges<\/a> $5.49 for a double cheeseburger.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Before Magner became the owner, Blimpy Burger was owned by James \u201cJim\u201d Shafer, who founded the restaurant and ran it at its original location on 551 S. Division St. from 1953 to 1992. Magner purchased Blimpy Burger in 1993 and moved the restaurant to its current location in 2014 after the University of Michigan <a href=\"https:\/\/regents.umich.edu\/files\/meetings\/12-12\/2012-12-IX-6.pdf\">purchased<\/a> the original property.<\/p>\n<p>The restaurant will be taken over by a new management team including Noah and Ethan Kaplan, owner and chief operating officer, respectively, of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leonspeakers.com\/about\/our-story\">Leon Speakers<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mothfire.com\/home\">Mothfire Brewing Co.<\/a>; Pete Levin, owner of Ann Arbor\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joespizzanyc.com\/locations\">Joe\u2019s Pizza<\/a> and partner of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bosbagels.com\/locations.html\">BO\u2019s Bagels<\/a>; and Doug Botsford, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesbeard.org\/stories\/james-beard-awards-restaurant-and-chef-nominees-2026\">James Beard Foundation<\/a> award-winning restaurant owner of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/accounts\/login\/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fjuicyoistre%2F&amp;is_from_rle\">Juicy Oistre<\/a> food truck.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Levin said Noah Kaplan approached him for help with renovating the restaurant.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy good friend Noah Kaplan \u2026 had come to me because he knew the Blimpy family and had been talking to them about eventually taking over Blimpy,\u201d Levin said. \u201cAs busy as I am with Joe\u2019s and other projects with Joe\u2019s partners, a project like this is so important to Ann Arbor and to the culture of Ann Arbor \u2026 that it almost felt like I had to help him get this deal done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blimpy has been a staple among students for generations and has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/uncategorized\/04best-ann-arbor-burger-blimpy18\/\">dubbed<\/a> \u201cthe best burger in town\u201d by The Daily several times in its yearly \u201cBest of Ann Arbor\u201d awards. The shift in ownership has sparked conversation among students about which characteristics of the restaurant will change once it reopens in mid-June.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with The Daily, Information sophomore Nathaniel Mitelman said he hopes the unique ordering style stays the same because it creates an intense and entertaining atmosphere inside the restaurant.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFirst, you tell them if you want anything in the deep fryer \u2026 then you tell them how many patties you want on your burger, then you tell them what bun you want, because you have to be very specific,\u201d Mitelman said. \u201cThen the toppings, and then later they ask you if you want cheese or any lettuce, ketchup, mayo, anything like that. We like to say that you eat with your eyes first, and then you actually eat the burger.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>In an interview with The Daily, LSA sophomore Benjamin Gordon said he and his friends feel the environment and attitude at Blimpy gives the restaurant a unique charm.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want the idea of the restaurant to stay the same,\u201d Gordon said. \u201cYou walk in, get in line, you speak to the person that\u2019s cooking your meal, you tell them what you want, and if you mess up, you get a little thrown back at you. But it\u2019s all fun and jokes, like a good environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Levin said the new management team plans to maintain continuity at the restaurant, while upgrading some of the appliances and adding an additional grill to support third-party delivery.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, the new owners do plan to make a few small changes to the restaurant. According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blimpy-burger.com\/press\">press release<\/a>, the renovated location will serve beer, extend its hours past midnight and expand service to food delivery platforms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile the new team is committed to keeping the \u2018classic soul\u2019 of Blimpy Burger intact\u2014including the ground-fresh daily smashburgers, the iconic ordering etiquette and unique counter culture, and the bear mascot\u2014strategic improvements are planned to ensure the brand thrives for future generations,\u201d the press release read.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Levin said his priority is ensuring that Blimpy remains a significant part of Ann Arbor\u2019s culture and maintaining the reputation the previous restaurant owners have built.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe purpose of this project primarily is to make sure Blimpy remains in Ann Arbor as Blimpy,\u201d Levin said. \u201cIt\u2019s part of what a lot of us grew up with, even as a New Yorker, going to (the University of) Michigan here, like in the old location, those are some of my fondest memories of going to Blimpy with my friends. All of those memories are very important to me, and we want to make sure that sticks around for people to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Daily Staff Reporter Samantha Schaefer can be reached at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/business\/after-33-years-krazy-jims-blimpy-burger-changes-ownership\/mailto:samipage@umich.edu\"><em>samipage@umich.edu<\/em><\/a><em>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Krazy Jim\u2019s Blimpy Burger, located at 304 S. Ashley St., temporarily closed March 17 due to a change in ownership following the death of previous owner Richard Magner, who ran the establishment for over 30 years. The restaurant, now undergoing renovations, plans to re-open by the end of May.\u00a0 Blimpy Burger is a long-standing Ann [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[4412,4413,4411,4410,4414,388],"class_list":{"0":"post-4744","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-blimpy","9":"tag-burger","10":"tag-jims","11":"tag-krazy","12":"tag-ownership","13":"tag-years"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4744"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4746,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4744\/revisions\/4746"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}