The business dynamic in Glen Arbor is in flux. A recent walk from one end of town to the other to ask “What’s the buzz?” took four hours because so much is happening. Both facts and rumors abound. And it’s the youthful energy of several newer business owners that is leading the transition.
Photos (l-r): Cherry Republic owner Bob Sutherland (photo by Taro Yamasaki); Jamaican workers employed by Anderson’s Market in 2017 (photo by Norm Wheeler); Leelanau Fruit manager Ben LaCross (photo by Madeleine Vedel) By Jacob Wheeler Sun editor Farmers and retailers in Leelanau County who rely on seasonal migrant and guest workers are sweating through the […]
“Knock, knock; Housekeeping!” That will be the mantra for the dedicated group cleaning and laundering their way through the busy summer season under the direction of Kristin Frodl, housekeeping supervisor for Leelanau Vacation Rentals (LVR) in Glen Arbor.
Young entrepreneurs Katy and Matt Wiesen are re-opening their Coastal retail clothing store this spring in a swanky new building on the east side of Glen Arbor.
Glen Arbor pedestrians and shopping tourists have one more reason to walk west on M-109 this spring. Just past the Good Harbor Grill and the Pine Cone ice cream shop, Katy and Matt Wiesen have opened the clothing apparel store Coastal in the space formerly occupied by Great Lakes Tea & Spice. The tea & spice shop hopscotched west to the other side of Ruth Conklin Gallery, and now shares a space with Arabella Concepts jewelry store.
Benzie County natives Ethan Przekaza and Meg Doby — the latest in our occasional series on northern Michigan boomerangs — are exceptions to Michigan’s brain drain. Earlier this year they moved back from Colorado, bought a house in nearby Beulah and landed work in March at Matt and Katy Wiesen’s Crystal River Outfitters in Glen Arbor.
Katy and Matt Wiesen’s M-22 Store has doubled in size. The clothing brand homage to the state highway already anchored downtown Glen Arbor if you crossed the Crystal River and entered from the northeast. Now the M-22 Store boasts a second floor and a sleek, galvanized steel and soft, barn wood exterior.
Glen Arbor and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore area enjoyed an economic and tourism boom in the mid-1990s, and now the businesses borne of that boom are coming of age. Brad Anderson was a youthful 27 years old when he bought Steffens IGA in 1994 from Bill and Jan Heston and renamed it Anderson’s Market. Bit by bit he updated the interior and modernized the inventory, but not until this year did the grocery store in the heart of Glen Arbor get a complete facelift.
The Glen Arbor Sun spoke to Crystal River Outfitters co-owner Katy Wiesen about the impact this early, snowy winter has had on their business. “The key to surviving a Northern Michigan winter is getting out and embracing it. This year’s early winter definitely started winter business off much sooner than expected! Our first cross-country ski and snowshoe rentals went out Thanksgiving weekend. The snowy conditions give visitors even more of a reason to come up north knowing that there are more recreational opportunities.”
Katy and Matt Wiesen, owners of Crystal River Outfitters, the Cyclery and the M-22 Store in Glen Arbor were named among the region’s 40 most influential people under age 40. The honorees were treated to an exclusive fete hosted by Northwestern Michigan College inside its Dennos Museum Center, as reported this morning by the Ticker.