After almost 19 years of owning and operating Lake Leelanau’s Jaffe’s Resale & Consignment, Phil and Pat Thies announced just last week the news of their retirement and the selling of their business.
“It’s a wonderful community, there’s people years ago and currently that make the world go round,” Phil said. “You reach a point in life age-wise when you have to know when to leave the party… We’ve really put it (the store) on the map and created a go-to destination.”
While retiring is bittersweet for the couple, the sale marks a full circle moment for the store and its nearly two decades of history. Jaffe Wade, who originally started the business in 2003 and ran it for two years, is once again taking the reins of the one-stop shop and will be the new owner moving forward.
“I never thought this would happen again and it’s really exciting to be back in the building… I just really enjoy the idea of consignment and what it does for the community, for the planet — everybody wins with consignment,” Wade said. “I’m also very excited because my mother (Mary Kay Davis) really helped me start my business and get it off the ground and she worked for me for the two years that I had it. She passed away this year, and it’s really neat to be back in there and using her memory and what I know would be her good graces and her excitement. She would be thrilled to know this is what I’m doing again.”
Under her ownership, the store will be rebranded as Evergreen Consignment starting April 1, mirroring her current store in Traverse City that she opened in 2015. The Traverse City Evergreen Consignment located off E. 8th Street will continue to stay open during and after the transition, and is renowned for its curated selections and is also a go-to destination for unique finds in the region.
In April, the Lake Leelanau Evergreen Consignment will continue to offer a diverse range of products including men’s and women’s clothing and accessories, home decor, and furniture. The Lake Leelanau store, which is about 2,500 square feet, is more than double the size of Wade’s 950 square feet Traverse City store, so she’ll have plenty of room to display larger pieces of furniture and a much wider variety of items for sale altogether.
Wade said she plans to continue the legacy of the store while adding Evergreen’s touch and style to the mix, so customers can expect to keep discovering hidden gems in downtown Lake Leelanau.
“This is an addition, so it is a business growth move. I’m bringing that (Evergreen Consignment) vibe and style to the new location,” Wade said. “I think one thing we’re good at is knowing what to select and what to fill the store with that will make it a unique shopping experience so that there’s something for everyone.”
Wade said she’s going to spend about a week or so in April making some major transformations inside the store and reorganizing the space, whether that be getting all items priced, reworking, and restyling everything. She will announce the grand opening date in early April and hopes to have the doors open at that time again to accept consignments.
“My manager in Traverse City will be splitting her time to start and then I’m going to be hopping in there,” she said. “It’s been my dream to be a stay at home mom with my kids, and I’ve been so fortunate to do that up until this point, so the timing is quite perfect as well because my daughter will hop into full time preschool in the fall.”
Besides having time to travel and seeing family, Phil and Pat will continue to own the building as landlords, so the new Lake Leelanau Evergreen Consignment will be a tenant of his. He’ll also be keeping busy serving as a maintenance man, completing different improvement projects for the building in the months ahead.
“The vibe is really good (in Lake Leelanau) compared to some days going back when there were for sale and for rent signs and empty buildings with no lights on and the only place to come to town was Jaffe’s or NJs. Now there are a lot of places, so the village is kind of becoming a destination in and of itself, and all the businesses feed off of that,” Phil said. “Our community Lake Leelanau has certainly become a very dynamic little village from what it was 20 years ago. Nonetheless, we hope the best for Jaffe and the shop and all the people who’ve come to love it and make it their destination.”
