New in town: Changed forest, Northwoods Home & Gift, realtors rotate
By Jacob Wheeler
Sun editor
Every Memorial Day weekend edition, this newspaper chronicles what’s changed in Glen Arbor and surrounding communities since the previous summer. Our “new in town” story is typically a roundup of new businesses, or old favorites that have changed hands, or an ode to local characters who won’t be returning this year.
What’s new in town in 2016 — particularly if you haven’t visited Glen Arbor since last July — are the forests around the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. They are completely different. That’s because of the Aug. 2, 2015, megastorm, which packed “straight line” winds of 100 miles per hour, leveled thousands of hardwood trees across Alligator Hill, along the east side of Big Glen Lake, across Leelanau County and on Old Mission Peninsula north of Traverse City. The storm was the most dramatic thing to hit Glen Arbor in modern times, and it changed the experience of visiting our beloved National Lakeshore for generations to come.
The key facts are: no one died in the maelstrom, though some were injured and many faced perilous conditions, and Glen Arbor’s business community and the National Lakeshore took about a week to re-open roads, regain power, re-fill hotel rooms, and wobble to its feet in the busiest stretch of the tourism season. The havoc cost millions of dollars to homes, property and lost revenues. Still, 2015 broke the record for visitation to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and proved a banner year for local businesses. This year looks to be no different.
The “big blow” put Glen Arbor in the national spotlight, it inspired the publication of the crowd-sourced book Stormstruck by an independent publisher, and the Glen Arbor Sun turned its Aug. 13, 2015 issue into a “storm commemorative edition” that covered the community’s resilience and how Glen Arbor picked itself up after the megastorm. Look for copies of our storm edition on display around town.
Home, gifts, unexpected surprises
Jeff and Georgia Gietzen have given the local business community a shot in the arm since they moved to Glen Arbor and bought the hardware store by the tennis courts in July 2010. They have infused the Glen Lake Chamber of Commerce and Glen Arbor Art Association with their passion and savvy, and now they’ve upped the ante again.
Late in April the Gietzens opened Northwoods Home & Gifts in the building previously occupied by Lake Affect next to the Leelanau Coffee Roasting Company. Home & Gifts features classy home accessories and décor, specialty foods such as Food for Thought jams and Stonewall Kitchen products, Dash & Albert rugs, candles, decorative items and unexpected surprises. Plus, it frees up space at Northwoods Hardware for more everyday needs and items.
Home & Gifts gives the Gietzens a prime location in the heart of downtown. “We realized we were getting good foot traffic at the hardware store for fix-it needs, but not as much for home, gift and garden items,” said Jeff. “We knew we were missing out on the traffic in the village. … When people are on vacation, they like to wander around and find things for family members or friends. Some have homes up here for which they need decorative items.” Northwoods Home & Gifts will stay open until early January and perhaps open on weekends through February.
Meanwhile, Northwoods Hardware recently changed suppliers and is now part of the “Do it Best” family of hardware stores. The switch allows the Gietzens to offer “an expanded line of products to better serve its unique customer base which does not always fall into ‘traditional’ hardware retail.” They include more paint products, the ‘largest selection of Weber Grills’ on the Leelanau Peninsula, products for marine and boating, RV, camping and outdoor recreation — important categories for a highly vacation-oriented community. “Because cottages are in need of annual repair and painting, Northwoods is now in a better position to serve our clientele with this change to Do It Best,” said Jeff.
Northwoods Hardware will host a hot dog cook-out in the Garden Center on Saturday, May 28, from 11:30 a.m. until 2.30 p.m.. Come see what’s new, pick up your spring flowers, and get your grill on.
The Gietzens’ expansion downtown saves Glen Arbor from having a glut of prominent retail vacancies as the tourism season kicks into gear. Nevertheless, the pharmacy next to the Western Avenue Grill sits empty, as do a few spaces on M-109 as one heads east toward Glen Haven. Rumors abound that an antique store will open in one of the retail spaces next to Ruth Conklin Gallery, and that the Momentum clothing store across M-22 from the Totem Shop has new, local owners.
Some Glen Arbor realtors appear to be playing a game of musical chairs. Connie Kroll and Northland Vacation Rentals, which also operate under the Century 21 name, recently moved into the building across from the Western Avenue Grill formerly occupied by the late Steve Netherton and Glen Arbor Realty. And by early June Rob Serbin will move Serbin Real Estate from their home on Oak St. to the building on M-109 which used to be a dentist office. [Look for more coverage of changes in Glen Arbor’s business district in future editions of the Sun.]
