A Leelanau County Synggery From Cedar to California to Colorado to North Carolina and back, Rachel Zemanek has lived a lot of life already. Now, with help from her good friend Kimberly Robinson, she is opening a bookstore in Cedar.
She’s starting a new chapter, if you will.
The idea for a bookstore has always been in Zemanek’s plan for herself, and she was going to wait until retirement to make that dream come true.
Unfortunately, an injury while working in North Carolina made it impossible for her to continue her work as an EMT and firefighter, so her bookstore dream became a reality a lot sooner than she had expected. “While I was working down there, I tried to start The Folded Leaf as a traveling bus, like a bookmobile,” Zemanek said from the work-in-progress interior ofthebookstore. “Iwas doing all the renovations on the bus myself, and I hurt my back and ended up with severe nerve damage.”
She’s better for now, but the reoccurring condition meant an end to a career she considered a calling.
“I love caring for people,” She said. “I love being involved in my community.”
Both Zemanek and Robinson embrace the value reflected on the signs entering Cedar.
“Our signs say we’re a community that cares,” said Zemanek. “We really wanted to make a space where people can get together and hang out.”
“A space where people can do the caring,” added Robinson, who moved to Leelanau five years ago after falling in love with the county on a trip from Arizona with her boyfriend, who happened to be Zemanek’s brother. And that’s how the two met and became good friends. “They broke up, but I kept her,” Zemanek laughed.
The Folded Leaf opens officially on Saturday, April 26, which is also Independent Bookstore Day and Robinson’s birthday.
They are transforming the former Northern Boater Nautical store into their vision for The Folded Leaf and will be one of the three shops to occupy the building, which was originally built in the 1960s as a gas station and parts store. The building also houses Dana Fear jewelry store and on the lower level, Bee Well, the recently opened parent and child playspace destination that also sells beautiful and fun learning toys. The bookstore’s tagline is “A Leelanau County Snuggery.”
What is a “snuggery?” “Snuggery is a word I came across in a book series I was reading from the Victorian era,” said Robinson. “A snuggery is a comfortable, cozy space. And I want people to feel comfortable and cozy when they come in.” In addition to both new and used books, The Folded Leaf will offer original art by Robinson and other local artist and, eventually, native plants.
“My family has a 25-acre farm in Leelanau with a beautiful garden, and Kim has the greenest thumb of all time” said Zemanek. Robinson will be growing and potting up native plants and putting together flower bouquets for the store. “She can grow anything,” said Zemanek.
The Folded Leaf will have a stage, a kid’s corner, comfortable seating, art on the walls and shelves of books. There will be a dedicated outdoor patio space and garden for people to read and relax.
“We want it to be more than just a retail store,” said Robinson. “We want to be a place for people to just come andhangout.”They have plans for live music, poetry slams, book clubs and workshops such as candle making, flower pressing for book marks and flower arranging for native plants.
Robinson and Zemanek will also be partnering with Bee Well’s art-making space which opens to the outdoors, expanding the event and crafting area. The two are also collaborating on a children’s book. But for now, they’re busy scrambling to get The Folded Leaf ready for the grand opening in April. “We have a really cute kid’s book that we want to write,” said Zemanek. “Once we get the store going, maybe we’ll have some time to breathe.”
