John Arens reflects on the coffee company—and Glen Arbor mainstay—he and his brother Steve launched 33 years ago. They sold the company early this year to Grand Rapids-based Schuil Coffee Co. Leelanau Coffee opened in 1992 on Lake Street, sharing a 500-square-foot space with another startup called Cherry Republic.
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. 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.
John Arens, co-owner with his brother Steve of the Leelanau Coffee Roasting Company, reflects on 30 years of running their iconic business in Glen Arbor during a time of rapid growth and visibility. The Coffee Roasters will host a celebration on Saturday, June 24, in the closed-off parking lot in front of the café. Stop by for live music, coffee drinks and specials.
The Early Bird breakfast and lunch destination in downtown Leland has a new tenant—one whose brand is already ubiquitous in northern Michigan. In mid-June, John and Steve Arens, who own the Leelanau Coffee Roasting Company in Glen Arbor, will open a breakfast bistro that combines high-quality food with fresh-roasted coffee on the main drag in Leland. They are leasing the space from Skip Telgard, who owns the Blue Bird restaurant next door. The Early Bird sat empty through much of 2020 as Telgard struggled to find enough employees to staff the popular eatery.
Morgan Arrowood, 25, Vince Grimaldi, 26, and Levi Garrett, 23, all work full-time, 40-hour-a-week jobs. Arrowood and Grimaldi work as baristas at Leelanau Coffee Roasting Company in Glen Arbor and Garrett works in construction. But after they finish work for the day, they turn their attention to their real passion: music.
Ever since Wednesday, August 17, Northern Michiganders have both embraced and grappled with the news that the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and surrounding region are considered the “most beautiful place in America” — at least according to 22 percent of 100,000 voters who participated in the ABC show Good Morning America’s online competition the second week of August.
Steve Arens founded Leelanau Coffee Roasting in January, 1993, and rented a space on Lake Street (now the Cherry Republic Soda Fountain). Steve’s brother John quickly partnered in the business in 1994, and as Cherry Republic and Leelanau Coffee grew, we moved over one block to Western Avenue, opening the new shop in 1998. The cafe quickly became too small, so an addition was built.