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Apr182010
April 18, 2010Neil and Jane Lemme find their future in Gardener's Folly
Published: Sunday, August 23, 2009, 9:18 AM Share Email Print
Jane and Neil Lemme own Gardener's Folly, a furnishings and accessories store for home, cottage and garden in Pentwater. They recently changed locations and nearly tripled the size of their store. For 20 years, Jane and Neil Lemme vacationed in Pentwater, always leaving a little bit of themselves behind.
Some day, they dreamed; some day, they'd let go of their high-pressured careers and big city lifestyle in Chicago and retire to the charming little resort town they'd grown so to love.
| GARDENER'S FOLLY | ||
 • Owners: Jane and Neil Lemme. • Where: 150 S. Hancock, Pentwater. • Information: (231) 869-7773 or www.gardenersfolly.com • Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays through October. Winter hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays; noon-4 p.m. Sundays. • What to expect: "Coastal cottage style with attitude." • On the shelves: Mackinac coffee table with glass, $275; Hyannis Sandbagger model sailboat, $210; Aegean picnic basket, $81; Pinecone suet feeder, $32; Saponificio Artiginale Italian soaps, $9.95; Wickles pickles, $5.99. |
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But as summers came and went, and the seasons changed, it got harder for the Lemmes to leave -- until finally in 1997, Jane Lemme says she convinced her husband they needed to forget the notion of retiring early and make the move right then.
"Financially, it was a good time," Neil Lemme says.
"We were empty nesters, our kids were gone, and I don't know, there was some kind of harmonic convergence going on. A lot of us were moving to Pentwater from Chicago right about then," Jane Lemme says.
She resigned from her marketing job at the real estate and investment business owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, whose public claim to fame is as owner of the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls. Her husband, who owned his own painting and contracting firm, pulled up his business stakes as well, convinced he could set up shop in Oceana County once he got there.
The Lemmes' first year in Pentwater, a little village with fewer than 1,000 year-round residents, they spent time finding a place to live and getting acquainted with the community.
"In Chicago, maybe we knew the neighbor across the street or next door, but here, we know everyone," Neil Lemme says.
He went to work on getting customers for the painting and maintenance business he re-established, but Jane Lemme had a tougher time.
"I started my own business because I couldn't find a job," she likes to joke.
In 1998, Jane Lemme opened Gardener's Folly, a little shop filled with things for people who love to garden, in downtown Pentwater. She had no retail experience, but she had a detailed business plan and a career in marketing, and in no time, her clientele outgrew the space she was renting. She moved to larger digs. From the start, it was a two-person job. After Neil Lemme was done with his work, he'd join her at the shop -- and business continued to boom. Good news, but their 1,200-square-foot shop was bursting at the seams again.
Kelly Seaver, left, and Michelle Schultz, both of Grand Haven, compare the scents of various candles at Gardener's Folly in Pentwater."Success begets success, I guess," she says.
In 2005, the Lemmes earned the National Retailer Excellence Award from the retail association, and they started looking for "the perfect place" to put down new roots. There were those who suggested they head north to Ludington with its larger population base.
"But I moved here because I adore Pentwater. I wanted to stay here," Jane Lemme says. "You have to have a rock steady belief in your community."
She and her husband continued the search, certain they'd find the right place if they were patient -- and persistent -- enough.
"We started chasing a dream that keeps getting bigger," Neil Lemme says.
Decorative items at Gardener's Folly, a furnishings and accessories store for the home, cottage, and garden in Pentwater.He joined the local Chamber of Commerce, serving a year as president, and got involved with the Downtown Development Authority. Jane Lemme volunteered with Harbor Hospice and other nonprofits. The two took lead roles in raising funds to send Pentwater High School's band to Carnegie Hall in New York City.
"I never want to say 'no' to the community and its needs," she says.
In the meantime, they kept looking for a new home for Gardener's Folly. Finally in the winter of 2008, during what Neil Lemme calls "the worst economic times I've seen in 65 years," the couple decided to make the move into a former art gallery at 150 S. Hancock.
"We couldn't pass it up," Neil Lemme says. "I guess there's opportunity in adversity."
When businesses all over the country were pulling in the reins, the Lemmes more than doubled their business space. Over Easter weekend, they opened their new shop in 3,000 square feet of space filled with everything from garden accessories to imported soaps, jewelry and furniture.
With the opening of the story came an "aha" moment for Jane Lemme, who said it took time to find her "niche."
What started as a garden shop has grown and expanded to what she describes as "a lifestyle store for resort living."
Gardener's Folly, a furnishings and accessories store for the home, cottage, and garden at 150 S. Hancock in Pentwater."In a sense, you grow up as a retailer after 10 or 11 years," she says. "You know who you are, what your style is."
On a beautiful August weekday early last week, the store was filled with customers, some on day trips to the picturesque resort town; others, regular customers who call Pentwater home all summer.
The poor economy hasn't hurt sales in the least, Jane Lemme says, although she says she has seen buying change. Customers who can't afford more expensive outfits or jewelry indulge on something whimsical, like Italian fine soaps that sell for a more affordable $9.95 a bar.
"We sold 12 bars in an hour. We couldn't keep them on the shelf," Jane Lemme says. "It's been like this all summer. I think there's been so much bad news about the economy, and we had such a brutal winter, people are overwhelmed with negative news. They're ready to party. They're ready to be in Pentwater."
She could add: So are her husband and she.
"We love it here," Neil Lemme says. "It's been a nice ride."