The Yarn Shop celebrates 50 years in Glen Arbor

By Maggie Meyers
Sun contributor
Among the woods, among the trees
The Yarn Shop sits in peace and ease
The shop is more than ordinary
The yarns are magical, people merry
It holds great yarns, a different kind
No other place these yarns you’ll find
It’s full of color, full of light
The greatest pleasure for your sight
Creating gifts fit for a queen
No greater gift has yet been seen
Among the trees, among the wood
The Yarn Shop sits just where it should.
— Rob Glauz, age 10 (2002)
The poem above, inconspicuously hanging near the entryway of The Yarn Shop in the Village Sampler shopping center in Glen Arbor, speaks to a particular magic that been by hundreds of people — of all ages, female and male alike — have experienced over the past 50 years. Amidst endless yards of yarn, in a shop filled with eager knitters-to-be and seasoned regulars working on various projects, I was lucky enough to sit down with Owner Mary Turak to hear first-hand the history of The Yarn Shop, a family business that has been a major fixture in Glen Arbor culture for more than four generations.

Half a century ago this year, Turak’s parents, Marge and John “Doc” Standen, then-staff members at The Leelanau School, took up selling yarn — as well as sport clothes and photography — as a summer business venture, in what is today the dining room of the Good Harbor Grill. In the following summer of 1956, the Standens purchased and relocated to the space that is now the Western Avenue Grill. In 1960, upon the suggestion of Andy Turak — Mary’s father-in-law and inventor of a cutting-edge soda fountain spicket — the Standens transformed half of the building into a soda shop. Turak recalls that her husband, Theodore, expressed some contention over such a strange combination of businesses, joking that “You either get fuzzy sodas or sticky sweaters.” Yet while the novelty and popularity of fountain soda rendered it a more promising product than yarn — especially in a summertime economy — Marge Standen insisted that the other half of the space be maintained as The Yarn Shop.
For her mother, the moneymaking aspect of The Yarn Shop was always secondary to its significance as a meeting-place for close friends, Turak says, and without a doubt, she inherited her mother’s business ethic. In large part, the Yarn Shop’s success as a business has been sustained by a long-standing network of friendships in the Glen Arbor community that is rooted in a shared passion for knitting. Turak vividly remembers her mother seated by the shop’s fireplace surrounded by the women who were both her mother’s closest friends and most loyal employees, chatting while working industriously on projects to sell in the shop.
The centrality of The Yarn Shop in the lives of its regulars is perhaps most poignantly illustrated by the passing of Turak’s mother-in-law, Ulga “Oggie” Turak in 2001. Having just had her hair done, Oggie came to the shop and began her daily ritual of knitting. Shortly thereafter, she put her head down and quietly passed away. As Turak herself candidly commented, “She had quite an exit. I can’t think of a more appropriate way to go.” It is extremely evident that as generations have turned and regular faces have changed, The Yarn Shop’s unique charm has survived, while the business, under Turak’s ownership, has thrived.
To date, The Yarn Shop has occupied seven different spaces in central Glen Arbor.
In 1976, upon the passing of both of her parents, Turak — established in her career as a public school teacher for Montgomery County Public Schools in the Washington D.C. area — inherited the family business. She admits that she was overwhelmed by the thought of filling her mother’s shoes as owner, and she had some self-doubts about being an adequate instructor. However, Turak told me, “I quickly realized that running this shop isn’t all that different than running a classroom,” and her anxiousness disappeared. For six summers, during her time off from her teaching position on the east coast, Turak managed The Yarn Shop out of a smaller space behind the main building, and delegated responsibility of the soda shop to then 19-year-old daughter Elizabeth Edwards and best friend Carol Hilton. In the summers 1982-83, The Yarn Shop was temporarily located on Lake Street, before it moved into one and then another of the original spaces in the Village Sampler shopping center. Over time, it became evident that a larger space was necessary to accommodate the sheer volume of yarn and other knitting materials and the shop’s growing clientele. According to Turak, “It was when we actually started wading in yarn that we realized those spots were too small, and so we moved [to a new space in the addition of the Village Sampler] in 1995.” For 11 years, Turak has kept the shop open year-round.
Turak’s firm dedication to teaching — as suggested by the poster on the wall that reads, “To Teach is to Love” — is without question the secret to her success. For Turak, “Every day is completely different and new. We welcome and give free instruction for anyone. Just last week, a five year old came in and left knitting.” Turak and other resident knitters are always forthcoming with advice, and generously and patiently spend countless hours teaching newcomers the ropes (or the yarns, as the case may be). Next to her commitment to instructing others, innovation and creativity are arguably Turak’s highest values as a knitter. She explained, “I don’t like to use pattern books to make something ordinary. I like to invent something that is different, but not too hard to teach others to do.” Turak orders yarns from over 25 different companies around the world — only one of which is domestic — which are made from materials ranging from high quality wools to shredded silk Nepali saris, to the remains of processed tofu and even banana bark. Additionally, there is a crucial humanitarian aspect to Turak’s business. In her own words, “The minute I find out people are making hats for premies or blankets for older people in need, or want to knit but can’t afford supplies, I donate yarn.”
Turak has witnessed a transformation in her own small business in the last few years that she claims reflects an expanding knitting industry driven by larger cultural influences. According to Turak, “Knitting was dying out and then suddenly Hollywood stars — Julia Roberts and Darryl Hannah — were doing it. The minute something was published about celebrities knitting, it was the suddenly the thing to do.” Suggesting another insight regarding the remarkable visibility of knitting in recent mainstream American popular culture, Turik added, “After 9-11, people needed comfort, and I think knitting just took off.” What is certain is that in an industry that is constantly subject to changing fashions and swings in the level of popular interest, Mary Turak embodies the integrity of the knitting craft, by experimenting with new trends while upholding the old tradition of sharing ideas, teaching, and collaborating with fellow knitters.
The Yarn Shop, in its current spot in the Village Sampler in Glen Arbor, is open Monday thru Thursday from 10 to 5, Friday 10 to 8, and Sunday 11 to 4. Any and all interested are invited to an all-day Open House, complete with door prizes and refreshments, which will be held on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend.