Get the barbecues fired-up, grab some sunscreen and bug spray, and prepare for the busy season as Memorial Day weekend approaches.
Visitors are filling up their gas tanks and traveling up to their Pure Leelanau getaway.
Jamie Jewell, President of the Leelanau Chamber of Commerce, has positive thoughts about the upcoming season.
“The early spring and great weather has been a positive indication for what the busy season has to hold,” she said. “People are coming up and enjoying some summer weather already.”
In recent years, the month of May has blossomed with more business and visitors than the decades of the past.
“We’ve really had an extended month which is exciting,” Jewell said. “There’s some new offerings in various communities throughout the county, as well as new businesses and older businesses that have new offerings and added services.”
The Leelanau Chamber of Commerce provides resources for local businesses that need help with promoting and hiring.
“Just embrace it, this is the reason we are all here and we help,” Jewell said.
Brad Anderson of Anderson’s Market in Glen Arbor is celebrating the store’s 30th anniversary this summer. The store held a cookout on Sunday to celebrate the remarkable anniversary.
“We are always ready for Memorial Day. We will see a lot of times it is a little weather dependent. People are opening cottages and cabins, and it’s usually pretty similar every year in the grocery business.” In 2023, Anderson’s had trouble with its supply chain in terms of distribution with trucking. This year, Anderson says those issues have mostly been resolved.
Staffing is ramping up for the Glen Arbor grocery store as they are still hiring full-time and part-time help. Anderson’s Market is a large employer of J-1 visa workers, who have begun to arrive this week, and the rest will trickle in over the course of the next several weeks from countries including Turkey, Jordan, Mongolia, Jamaica, and China, to name a few.
Don’t wait to make a campground reservation, now is the perfect time for a Leelanau getaway.
Indigo Bluffs Assistant Manager Kathy Walsh says people are watching the weather very closely as they head into this Memorial Day Weekend.
“We still have some spaces available and it seems like they are going to fill up,” Walsh said.
Indigo Bluffs is making improvements to its slice of Leelanau pie as the bath houses will be improved with laundry as well as adding family bunkhouses that are in progress.
Brian Spinniken of Wild Cherry Resort in Lake Leelanau says this May has been the best in the last 10 years. The 200-acre campground has had camping residents since May 1.
“The first people here don’t come until the second week of May, so for May, we are on target,” he said.
Spinniken added that the economy isn’t affecting booking throughout the summer months.
“We are already on target for last year. People aren’t concerned about the economy (for camping) and they plan on taking their vacation. No better place than Wild Cherry Resort,” he said.
The campground was established in 2001 with 17 sites and has expanded since to 90.
