Popular Cedar bookstore The Folded Leaf is moving to Commongrounds in Traverse City, a new gluten and dairy-free dessert café and lounge is opening on West Front Street, and more businesses are on the move in The Ticker’s latest look at restaurant and retail news.

New Chapters for Bookstores
After a tumultuous year in Cedar that included building constraints jeopardizing the bookstore’s future, The Folded Leaf has found a new home: the Commongrounds Cooperative building on Eighth Street in Traverse City.

Owner Rachel Zemanek will start leasing 980 square feet in the front of the building February 1. The space, which has large windows facing the street, is smaller than the 1,100 square feet Zemanek has in Cedar but still large enough to feature the same inventory of new and used books, local art, merchandise, and goods from Great Lakes Tea and Spice and Higher Grounds. Zemanek is targeting a soft launch in March, followed by a grand opening celebration April 26 – the one-year anniversary of The Folded Leaf and the weekend of Independent Bookstore Day.

The Folded Leaf, which remains open in Cedar for now Wednesday-Saturday 11am-6pm, will continue to host book club meetings, fundraisers, and some “new and exciting” live events in Traverse City, Zemanek says. She plans to keep the bookstore’s live music series going in Leelanau County by partnering with local businesses to host “The Folded Leaf Presents” concerts. Leelanau remains an important part of The Folded Leaf’s future, according to Zemanek.

“I think it’s important to grow where we planted the business,” she says. Zemanek is in talks to open a future Cedar location in the historic bank building being redeveloped by Corey Flaska, she says. “My goal is to have a permanent location in Traverse City, so that would be a second location,” Zemanek says.

Also on the bookstore front, four booksellers who formerly worked for Brilliant Books have launched a new venture called Artemis Books & Goods. Rachel Sang, Sam Duby, Carissa Yonan, and Caitlin Marsh are planning a series of upcoming author pop-ups, book fairs, online shopping in partnership with Bookshop.org, reading recommendations, and other events as they search for a permanent physical location in the Traverse City area.

Other Downtown Updates
A new dessert café and lounge with a focus on clean ingredients is coming to 436 West Front Street.

Mary Westbrook is taking over the ground floor of the Kayak Bike & Brew building for a targeted late February soft launch of Clean Crumbles. The business will feature 100 percent gluten-free and dairy-free offerings for both food and beverages, with the menu featuring house-made cinnamon rolls, mini pancakes, banana bread, protein bars, desserts, coffee/tea bars, and more. The lounge area will be outfitted with board games, books, magazines, and seating to “socialize, gather, and relax,” Westbrook says.

Westbrook, who started baking at a young age, has spent the last decade perfecting her recipes after developing severe food intolerances. She began selling her baked goods as a side passion project. Westbrook thought it’d still be years away before she opened her own café, but when the Front Street space became available, “it just all lined up immediately,” she says. Along with an emphasis on minimal clean ingredients, Westbrook says Clean Crumbles will stand out among local bakeries for its hours. “I could just never get to these little places when I worked a 9-5,” she says. She’s planning off-season hours of seven days a week 7am-6pm, with late-night hours and a storefront walk-up window offered in the summer.

Also downtown, Becki Barnwell and Susie Wipperman are launching new brand The NeedlePoints North (NPN) as both an e-retailer and pop-up shop on the second floor of 109 East Front Street (unit 215-A). The business will feature hand-selected canvases from up-and-coming designers plus an exclusive NPN canvas collection designed by Barnwell, needlepoint essentials, and local classes. While the owners are on a “mad search for a permanent home,” the Front Street space will serve as a “temporary clubhouse” in the interim, they say. A grand opening/open house is planned for February 12 noon-4pm, followed by weekly pop-in hours of Thursday-Saturday noon-4pm.

Further down Front Street, retail store Eelo has closed for a “quick redo” and will reopen on February 4, says owner Jen Vander Roest. “We are prepping to expand our brand and studio supplies as well as bring back our raw materials and fabric soon.”

More local updates…
Peninsula Market is adding a "pretty sizeable hardware department" to its store on Center Road on Old Mission Peninsula. The business posted Thursday that it’s renovating its backroom space for the addition, which should open in late March or early April. “We have knocked down some walls, done some painting, and are currently building the shelving for this product,” the store posted. “We spent some time last week at a large hardware trade show purchasing product for delivery in March. We are excited to be able to offer this product and to save everyone on the peninsula some driving into town for basic DIY repair products.”

Several changes are coming to the area’s two shopping malls. After more than a year of review, Garfield Township planning commissioners recently approved an application for a proposed nightclub, sports bar, and restaurant center called High Tops to open in the former Younkers space at the Cherryland Center. The approval had several conditions attached, including a requirement that all customers park on the south side of the building to avoid noise impacts to residential neighbors. The township had extensive discussion about noise and required a sound study prior to approval; the conditions require that the modeled sound levels be verified before the club receives its certificate of occupancy.

The Grand Traverse Mall – which was recently purchased by Namdar Realty Group, a sprawling development group that owns mall properties across the U.S. – is also undergoing several changes. Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, which is taking over the former T.J. Maxx space, is targeting a mid-March opening, a company representative confirmed to The Ticker. Ollie’s, which describes itself as “America’s largest retailer of closeout merchandise and excess inventory,” has hundreds of stores selling overstock goods at bargain prices.

Francesca’s, a long-time mall staple at locations across the country including the Grand Traverse Mall, is liquidating its inventory and closing all boutiques nationwide. Meanwhile, the future of JCPenney stores remains an open question as a deal for Onyx Partners to purchase the brand has hit rough waters, with both entities still working through whether the transaction can be finalized.

Finally, several changes are underway at local furniture and carpet stores. Longtime employees Michael and Kristi Watkins have purchased Floor Covering Brokers Carpet One and Carpet Galleria from Denny and Jo Lauterbach, who are retiring. The two stores together comprise the largest floor covering business in northern Michigan. Along with the same staff, “our customers can expect the same great service, quality products, and professional installation they’ve always received, with the added energy and innovation we’re excited to bring into the next chapter,” says Michael Watkins.

Golden-Fowler Home Furnishings is also under new ownership, with Amanda Eshleman purchasing the Garfield Avenue business. “I worked very hard behind the scenes and in front of our valued clients to gain the knowledge and confidence I need to carry on our legacy,” said Eshleman, who previously worked for the company for almost a decade, including as general manager. Finally, Value City Furniture is closing all of its stores – including its Traverse City location on Oak Hollow Drive – after parent company American Signature Inc. filed for bankruptcy.