From one Michigan roaster to another, Leelanau Coffee stays grounded
Photos: Tim Volkema, owner and CEO of Schuil Coffee (l), has acquired the Leelanau Coffee Roasting Co. from Steve and John Arens (4) who started the iconic Glen Arbor company in 1993.
By Cameryn Cass
Sun contributor
Thirty-three years after two brothers started the locally loved—and widely recognized—Leelanau Coffee Roasting Co., they sold it.
The acquisition officially took place on New Year’s Day when Grand Rapids-based Schuil Coffee Co. took it over.
Like Leelanau Coffee, Schuil is a specialty, Michigan-based roaster that’s withstood the test of time. In fact, when Garry and Gladys Schuil started the company in 1981, it became the first specialty coffee roaster in the state.
Schuil boasts bean flavors like Blueberry Crumble and Michigan Sweet Cherry, not unlike Leelanau Coffee’s Manitou Blueberry and Leelanau Cherry.
“There’s a ton of overlap,” said Tim Volkema, the owner and CEO of Schuil Coffee, of the two companies. “And I’ve been really impressed with everyone I’ve met so far. You never know how these things will go, but I’m more encouraged the more people I meet.”
Inside the Glen Arbor cafe, things feel unchanged.
“Right now, it’s business as usual and will be for the foreseeable future,” said Mara Miller, the cafe’s manager and one of its longest working employees.
“It’s like Art’s,” Miller explained, which sold last June. “You go in, and not much has changed for customers.”
Volkema echoed that sentiment.
“From a product standpoint, we’ll continue what Leelanau has built,” said Volkema.
Both companies buy similar specialty beans, he said, so “there’s no scenario where it makes sense to change Leelanau to Schuil.”
“They’ll sit next to one another on the shelf,” he continued. “Most people won’t even notice the change.”
Plus, Steve and John Arens, the brothers who started Leelanau Coffee so many years ago, are still involved—at least for now.
“John will keep doing his thing, he’s hired on as an employee indefinitely. Steve is on a one-year transition contract,” said Volkema.
Changes, and things that’ll stay the same
“We’ll definitely update the packaging, the website, the store, within the first year,” Volkema said. “But we’re not in a huge rush to do that.”
By no means will those changes be the first that Leelanau Coffee has seen over the years.
When it first opened in 1993, it was housed in a 600-square-foot space on Lake Street, where Cherry Republic is located. In 1998, it moved to where it is now, on Western Avenue.
Production has moved too. Nearly a decade ago Leelanau Coffee started roasting its beans in Maple City instead of where it had always been, attached to the cafe in Glen Arbor.
Inside the coffee shop, a mural once adorned a wall, as did a bright, “burn your eyes yellow” color, said Miller. Nowadays, it’s painted a more agreeable, cool blue.
“People come and go, too, but it always seems they find their way back here and work for a spell,” said Miller, whether it’s for a short stint or all summer long.
The Schuil acquisition might also make things internally “a little more structured,” said Miller.
“We get a lot more benefits,” said Carrie Giesler, a Leelanau Coffee barista of roughly eight years.
Employees can now opt-in to health and life insurance, 401Ks and profit sharing.
“There’s even holiday pay,” Giesler added.
Externally, for the Leelanau Coffee customer, few things will change.
A shared emphasis on customer service
“Schuil—and I could sub Leelanau in for this—has been around forever,” Volkema started.
He emphasized its heritage, bean variety and high quality for the price—all commonalities between the companies.
Of all their similarities, Volkema said the “customer service element” is of utmost importance, which just so happens to be barista Karen McIlvried’s favorite part of the job.
“I live in town, but I’ve met more people working in this coffee shop,” McIlvried said with a laugh. “I really feel like I’ve become part of the community, and that happened here.”
Miller said she’s also met a lot of people at the cafe.
“The hardest part is their names,” she laughed. “I’ll know their order, but not their name. There’s double cap Bill, au lait Sharon.”
Forgotten names aside, the familiar faces of loyal locals are cherished—especially now, in the bowels of winter.
“You’ve got to treat your locals well and look out for them,” said Myles Wall, a Leelanau barista of seven years and new addition to the maintenance team.
“They support us in the dead season,” he said. “They keep this place active in the Dark Ages.”
Come spring and summer, when the ice melts and tourists come north in numbers, some folks make Leelanau Coffee their destination.
“People come from all over the world to try our coffee,” said barista Clayton Morrow.
He remembered the time a few Ethiopians came in, which is a country that Leelanau sources some of its beans from. Morrow added that the cafe has historically employed seasonal workers from Mongolia and Turkey as well.
Though much is expected to remain constant through the change in ownership, Sean Ramsdell, a Leelanau Coffee maintenance worker since 2016, said he’ll miss working for the Arens brothers.
“I’m sad to not work for them anymore, it feels like part of me was taken away,” said Ramsdell. “You know,” he started, “I never drank coffee before working here. Now, I like it.”
“You only just like it?” I challenged.
“I love it,” he conceded with a smile. “It feels good to be part of this place.”
“I just hope we keep getting free coffee,” Wall said with a smile.
“Yes, we are,” Miller said.
