Greetings, Coffee Lover!

Happy May Day! When I was a child I recall that one of our family friends used to leave a little potted flower on all her friends’ porches to ring in the day, and celebrate spring. And with the sun out right now, leaves still emerging on the trees, and the temperature today in the 60s, it’s beginning to feel like what we call spring up north. Morel mushrooms are popping up, and so despite that quick launch into warm weather in March, the season has evened out and we’re back on a normal track.

Last month I started to tell you about the changes in retailing in Glen Arbor with the opening of the Cyclery in the “recreation district.” Here’s more of what we’ve learned:

–Lake Affect opened today next door to our cafe, where the vacation rentals used to be. It has lake-themed clothing, home accessories, and lots of really fun stuff. Amy, the owner, has an eye for things we’ve not seen, and you’ll especially like the children’s toys and games.

–Next door to that, in the former Thyme Out, Haystacks is opening a shop. Many of you know them from Leland, Suttons Bay, and TC, and this women’s clothing store has a lot of fans.

–Brightly Twisted Clothing is then opening in Barb’s Country Oven next to the Post Office. They are based in Dearborn, and this is their first retail store. They feature unique and brightly dyed clothing.

–Anderson’s Market is replacing the garden store with a Beach Shop. Monty in board shorts, really? The other big development for anyone who’s waited in line for groceries is that they’ve installed new cash registers (I can hear your cheers from far and wide!).

–Tiny Treasures closed

–The Black Swan is open, and it is for sale if you seek a retail opportunity in Glen Arbor.

–Northwoods Hardware is expanding the garden center, and will have some beach supplies of their own.

–Down M-109 by Ruth Conklin two new shops are opening. The first is called The Beach Shop I believe, but is actually a shoe store. And there is word that a t-shirt shop is going into another space. Our friends the Sobrans, who sold paintings down there and next door are taking a break from GA and moving up to Harbor Springs this summer, so look for them there.

Remember when you could only buy jewelry, books, rubber snakes, dried cherries, and coffee in town? We’ve grown a lot in the last twenty years, and give you even more reason to come visit us in Glen Arbor. With the addition of the new bike trail (opens in June) we have even more recreational options, but of course the dunes, woods, and lakes are still most important to all of us, and why we meet our family and friends here year after year, and have such fond memories and attachments. Still, don’t forget to pick up some coffee! See you all Memorial Weekend

Greetings, Coffee Lover!

Oh, Michigan weather! How we love & despise you so.

It’s been warmer than usual, with less snow. And while Glen Lake was off the mark on freezing, it did eventually on the evening of February 19th—a month late. Only 38% of the contestants guessed that it would freeze, and the random winner from that group was Traci Barker.

The bigger weather news has been this past week’s blizzard and resulting power failures (three of them). I’ve been up here 25 years, and this is the worst storm I’ve seen, besting the tornado of 1987. We all survive these storms, but the severity of this one is what was remarkable. Of course, after the snow brought down all those branches and power lines, it promptly melted. If you tried to call us over the weekend, or even yesterday afternoon, the phones were off with the power.

You know we love our sports, and the NCAA basketball tournament is really exciting for us this year, with both Michigan and Michigan State in contention, along with a team from down south. We suggest that you have plenty of coffee on hand.

We do not have any basketball mania specials, but we have put up the Pancake Mania special: pure local Michigan maple syrup, and our Organic Pancake Mix at a special price. Along with being basketball month, it’s also the time of year the sap runs through the maples, so it just seems fitting.

Go Blue!

We hope that you all had a lovely holiday season with your family and friends. We sure did! It was a little hectic with all the gift boxes going out, but we all managed to keep smiling, and overall had a productive and efficient December.

The big change we made was offering the catalog online rather than printing it, and mailing the post card instead. Sales were strong so we know it was well-received, but I would welcome any feedback you have on the experience. Did any of you load the PDF to your iPad, for instance? Let me know.

Like everyone else, we are having a mild winter so far. The squirrels are really fat, and I took that as them needing to have extra for the tough winter ahead. Perhaps it’s just that they’ve been able to forage longer. While the snowfall has been dismal, all of our northern ski resorts have very large and high tech snowmaking operations, and with the modern groomers are able to keep 65-100% of their runs open, despite the lack of natural snowfall. Crystal Mountain is 90% open according to this morning’s report, and everyone skiing there has reported it to be excellent, not just good. So, don’t stay home…come north and ski!

I’m one of those who cross country ski, so it looks like I’m going to be renting and going downhill.

We are part of a group that put up an ice skating rink this winter, over on the basketball court by Northwoods Hardware. The mild temperatures have been unkind to it, but we think we’ll get some skating in this weekend. Mine are sharpened and have new laces! When you come north, bring your blades.

Chocolate Mistletoe Mint has been a huge hit since it’s introduction, and we’re pleased so many of you gave it a try, and have come back for more. If you ever think that there’s a flavor we should offer, let me know and I’ll run it by the research and development department.

See you on the slopes!

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This winter will feature open skating on a new rink in Glen Arbor.  Located in the Lake Street Woods (behind Leelanau Coffee Roasting and the Cottage Book Shop), the 40′ x 60′ sheet of ice will be open to skaters of all age.

Spearheaded by Lee Houtteman, “it will be a true family-style skating rink. We’ll have some lights and music, and just bring folks together for some fun,” says Lee.  “All ability levels are welcome, we will have milk crates on the ice to help the younger kids get started.” Ed Connolly, Lee Houtteman, Glen Arbor Athletic Club, Cherry Republic, and Leelanau Coffee Roasting are the lead donors, with several others helping out to pay for the site preparation, boards, and plastic liner.

Skating will occur from when the ice freezes until it melts in the spring.  Lights, music, and overall skating times will be developed as demand is recorded.  Stephanie & Bob Sutherland will keep an eye on the rink, and encourage folks to park on Pine Street and walk down the lane to the rink.

“Leelanau Coffee Roasting will try and adapt to the hours if there is demand–we usually close at 3 p.m. on Friday and Sunday,” says Michael Buhler.  “Coffee, hot chocolate, and the bathrooms will all be available, but we can’t have skates inside the cafe,” he adds.

If you’d like to submit feedback on skating and Cafe hours, you’re welcome to contact Mike in the Cafe, or via email: mike@coffeeguys.com

Greetings, Coffee Lover!

It’s hard to believe that December is upon us. It seems like it was just July. Or is that wishful thinking? The snow hasn’t arrived yet, but I think that’s because of two things: I bought a snow blower, and haven’t put my snow brush in the car yet. I’ll toss it in tonight!

Glen Arbor is still festive without the snow because all the businesses are lit up for the Holidays, and the tree at the Town Hall is properly decorated this year (the lights were a disaster last year). The cafe is all trimmed for Christmas (thanks, baristas), and everyone around here is in a very festive mood. We hope you are too

This year we tried something radically different, and did not mail out a catalog. Instead, we sent you a post card, and asked you to download it, saving paper, and hopefully cutting down on waste. The reaction has been positive, and we have printed and mailed a few dozen to those of you who requested them (and you may do so here). Most everyone is ordering online, and has broadband internet, so we hope you like this move. I would appreciate any feedback. Did anyone try it on an iPad?

I roll my eyes every time I hear “Black Friday,” since it’s a contrived term, and seems so negative. Cyber Monday is okay (this year we quadrupled last year’s sales on that day—but why?). I like our little contribution to the shopping vernacular, Green Saturday. Next Saturday, December 10th, place your order online and type in the coupon code green for 10% off your gifts. It’s always been a hit with you (and good for us too), and just in time for any last-minute gifts. And since you, dear newsletter reader, are among our best customers, you clearly deserve the best deals we can offer.

Finally, I have a great new item for you: Ekobrew. It is a nifty little device that allows you to spoon in your favorite Leelanau Coffee (we recommend a finer, cone filter grind) and then brew it in a Keurig! This gives you the one-cup convenience you like, but with any Leelanau Coffee you like as well. You know how important fresh coffee is, so we’re able to deliver that, and cut down on waste and cost (K-cups cost twice as much as our coffees!). The packaging is great, too, making it perfect for a gift box of Leelanau Coffee.

Have a great Holiday, relax with some Leelanau Coffee, and we’ll hope to see a bunch of you up here for New Years. And don’t worry, I made a reminder to put my snow brush in the car.