After spending three years on a side street in Lansing's Frandor shopping center, Rae’s Yarn Boutique owner, Rachael Blackledge, moved her shop to a more visible 
Michigan Avenue spot on Lansing’s Eastside.
“We definitely get more foot traffic,” Blackledge, 25, says.
She also has more space. The 2004 E. Michigan Ave. location is 1,700 square feet, 1,000 square feet larger than her Frandor location. Now she has plenty of space to store her thread and host knitting classes.
When Blackledge was growing up, she was a regular at the Eastside Italian restaurant, Emil’s, and says she always had an interest in opening a shop on the Eastside.
“It seems like this area, especially this block, is really vibrant,” Blackledge says.
Source: Rachael Blackledge, Rae’s Yarn Boutique
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.